Tuesday, December 11, 2012

More Critters at Bentsen Rio Grande State Park

Bentsen Birds 006

We realize that the beach is too far to visit so we continue to visit the natural areas nearby and take refuge with the critters that reside down here longer than the Winter Texans. Nearly every time I ride my bicycle into the state park nextBentsen Birds 015 door the beautiful Blue Spiny Lizards (Sceloporus cyanogenys) love to sun along the front entry. Some of the ones we have seen are up to a foot in length.Up close their beautiful blue color is visible just under their belly. We are finding there are other interesting critters here in the RGV!

But it really is the place to come for the birds and as a result I have a few more photos of a Golden Fronted Woodpecker which by the way can actually be found all through the north into the brush lands of Oklahoma. Also a fun little bird to watch at the suet feeders are the Black Crested Titmice. These excitable little birds will flit into the feeders grabbing a bit of suet or peanut butter from the holes in the log feeders and retreat just as quickly.

Bentsen Birds 031Bentsen Birds 032

However, I still just love watching the Green Jays and hope that I never tire of doing so since we will be here a month. There is one feeding station in the state The Big Dig 046park with a watering hole and the Green Jays often enjoy bathing there.

Before the cold weather that just hit the area (temperatures here overnight plummeted into the upper 40’s F and will only rise into the 60’s F) we decided it best to spend some time rearranging the outside bins and and cleaning them out. We were able to identify a few things we have been looking for and we also were able to pull a few things out that will be delivered to our son and his family for safekeeping since we aren’t using the items. This once a year (for us) task is now complete so we will just hunker down and pout about not being able to wear shorts and flip flops for the next few days…

6 comments:

  1. Love the photo of the green jay taking a bath. We volunteered one winter at Santa Ana NWR and frequently drove up to Bentsen and other birding areas. Hope it get warmer down there.... it was 18 degrees up here (outside of Ft Worth) this morning. Too cold for me!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love those Green Jays too. Can't wait to see them.

    Come on back to Florida. We're wearing shorts and flip flops here. Of course, we're getting our feet wet from all the rain.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cooler here today as well. We actually had rain as well as the cooler temperatures, which is pretty much unheard of at this time of year.

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love the Green Jays! Coming from the desert where we have brown sparrows, mourning doves and pigeons I love colorful birds.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Nice photos again today !!

    It is cooler here in Phoenix as well !!

    Take care ... Tnt

    ReplyDelete