One fine day Birding along the Rio Grande

Birding in Southeast Texas is highly rated and indeed meets it all of its promises. The sky was shrouded with gray/white clouds and the temperature in the high 70's. Not bad for the first day of February of 2015.  To the Jeep for a drive From Falcon State Park east toward Mission, TX and one of our favorite birding spots, the Great Texas Coastal Birding trail and wildlife center, in Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park.

 It was a 90 minute drive accompanied by an audible book; Vol 3 of Laurie King's Sherlock Holmes/Mary Russell Series. (Delightful and highly recommended--full of surprises, I promise.) After what turned out to be a delightful lunch at the highly rated and popular Taco Ole in Mission, we drove to the birding headquarters planned our walk that would last for several hours.

a fleeting glance at the Chachalacas

Stops included the well supplied feeding stations, a bird blind and a climb onto the Hawk Tower.  The birding headquarters is not huge nor overwhelming, having been transformed from a former RV campground.

Delightful encounters with Cardinals, Green Jays, Orioles, Kiskadees, doves, and the humorous Chachalacas, brought joy to us and folks we met along the trails. In the bird blind, the sighting of the flock of Chachalacas was brief. Soon after our taking stations inside the blind, the big birds flew away in panic, not because of us but from a hawk circling overhead. Disappointed but not discouraged we stayed our ground. After 10 or 15 minutes, two of those birds reappeared but stayed well hidden behind the brush, reluctant as yet to show themselves in the open space for food and water. They were determined to hide and we finally continued on our way, content at least to have spotted the birds, apparently only found in Southern Texas and Costa Rica.

The Hawk tower is not what I pictured, a typical 2 story structure with staircase. It is indeed 2 stories high but with a ramp to make the tower easily accessible. How thoughtfully planned. No hawks flew overhead, but we had a wonderful 360 degree panorama. Peering through my binoculars I spotted a deep reddish structure, a church dome. With bare eyes and off to the right I spotted what looked like a white square shape. When seen through the binocs, it turned out to be head in white with a hint of a bright yellow dress and one hand raised. We believe it is an add for a ice cream store. Both structures are in Mexico as shown through the Maps app on the cellphone. What an era of wonder.

I collect images of many things, tree trunks are sculptural indeed

As usual, it is almost closing time and we are among the last to leave. We had to tear ourselves away, such a great day it was. At least on the road we have lots to discuss and our book to keep us entertained and happy. It was a fulfilling day on the Birding trail. Happy trails to you too.