Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge and the Bat Falcon!

While staying in La Feria for three nights we took advantage of visiting one of my favorite Rio Grande Valley (RGV)  places, the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. There is no better place in the RGV to experience what this area has to offer.

There are several miles of trails in the park taking visitors through the sub-tropical RGV vegetation all the way down to the Rio Grande River, the bordering river between Mexico and the USA. We love this park as it not only offers excellent hiking but is also one of the best birding hotspots in the RGV complete with cat walks and hawk towers to spot raptors.

One day we hiked a bit over two miles while birding within the park. We saw a lot of interesting species of birds. Some of our finds are below (click on photo to enlarge)

Above is a Black-necked Stilt. We love their long pink legs and their long thin bill along with their formal black and white striking plumage. Enlarge the photo to sneak a peak at their cool eyes!.

Above is a pair of Glossy Ibis. They use their long downwardly curved bill to feed below the surface of the water by prodding the mud . Another bird looking similar to them is the White-faced Ibis but it has brightly colored legs ranging from pink to red instead of the dull grayish legs found on the Glossy Ibis

Since it doesn’t hardly ever freeze down in this part of the RGV there are still plenty of flowering plants and thus butterflies such as this Queen Butterfly.

We saw several hawks while we were in the park. I happened to spot this Cooper’s Hawk perched high atop a tree scanning the horizon for food, I assumed. Cooper’s Hawks are very similar to Sharp-shinned Hawks but can be distinguished by their blocky head and the fact that their tail is rounded at the tip and not squared like the Sharp-shinned Hawk.

While looking at the various species of ducks we spotted a Red Striped Ribbon Snake in the water.

While we were at the refuge there was lots of chatter about a rare bird sighting. We were told where the bird is usually found so we headed over to try our luck at seeing it. As we were walking there I spotted a Common Skipper feeding on an Anacahuita.tree above picture.

Well the word had obviously gotten out about this rare bird as there was about 50-60 people lined up with binoculars, spotting scopes and cameras on tripods with super long lenses. Suddenly just as we were informed this rare bird showed up and perched atop the telephone pole. It was almost as if it knew all the people were there to see him as he seemingly posed for pictures. Below is my picture of the Bat Falcon! This bird had never been recorded in the USA until this particular bird wandered in from Mexico. We have to admit it sure was fun seeing this adventurous fellow…

NOTE: We are currently in South Padre Island TX until March 1st or later if we change our minds…