Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge…

One of the great things about wintering in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas is the abundance of wildlife refuges, state parks and nature centers. One park I will be spending a lot of time describing is the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge about a 40 minute drive from our park on South Padre Island along the southern Texas coastline.

Laguna Atascosa is the largest protected area of natural habitat left in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The refuge is 98,000 acres in size and is still actively seeking additional tracts to purchase for inclusion into the refuge. First established in 1946 to protect waterfowl and migratory birds it is now also focused on the preservation of an endangered cat, the ocelot.

Ocelots are endangered in the USA only because their habitat is endangered as they thrive in very dense thorny vegetation found in a only a few places in south Texas. Most of their habitat has been turned into farmland leaving the wildlife refuges as their only havens for existence in the USA.

Ocelots are opportunistic hunters and eat a range of animals including rodents, rabbits, young deer, birds, snakes, lizards, and fish. Why am I talking about ocelots so much? Well one of the reasons we are back in the Rio Grand Valley of Texas this year is because I agreed to be a volunteer for an old college classmate of mine who is now a professor at a Texas University studying ocelots.

My responsibilities include occasional trips back and forth to the refuge because I am helping to set live traps on the refuge in hopes of capturing ocelots for study and radio collaring. We have less than 25 traps set out over a large area since ocelots have a home range of several square miles. These traps are baited with live pigeons but fear not as the pigeon are safe in a cage of their own within the trap. They also have food and water provided as they sit in their cages to entice a predator.

We fully expected to catch many other species in the process however ocelots are the main goal. Bobcats are also being studied when/if they are caught and will be radio collared as well. The traps have been out for a couple of weeks off and on  dependent upon weather conditions.

What have we caught? We caught and released lots of raccoons, opossums and skunks as well as a wood rat who somehow encaptured himself. We also caught three bobcats so far and one ocelot. What I enjoy the most about this project besides the ability to see my first ocelot is watching the vets and scientists process the cats collecting as much data as possible before the cats wake up from their anesthesia.

Also fun is watching the cats wake up and leave their traps with their new radio collars. This project will last into March and we hope to catch several more ocelot's. I am also looking forward to following the tracking data these collared cats will provide the scientific community.

I am not at liberty to provide pictures from the actual project so I have instead included some photos of the refuge and from the internet. I will say that I have really enjoyed this opportunity!

NOTE: We are currently in South Padre Island TX until March 1st…

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…

Daytripping to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge…

Aransas National Wildlife Refuge is only about a 40 drive from the park we stayed at in South Padre Island, Tx However, the drive over to it is not all that scenic. It is on the Coastal Prairies ecosystem of Texas and as such is very flat with rich soils. Nowadays instead of prairie grasses, plowed fields and agriculture are as far as the eye can see.

Once inside the park we used our seniors annual pass to gain entrance into the refuge. Aransas National Wildlife Refuge is a 115,324-acre protected area situated on the Blackjack Peninsula along the Gulf Coast of Texas. It is most well known as the the winter home of one of the rarest birds in North America, the whooping crane.

 

Today’s population of whooping cranes are all descendants of the last 15 birds found wintering in Texas in 1941 as the bird was nearing extinction. We did see a few Whooping Cranes but too far away for a worthy photo. They have made a nice comeback from those original 15 birds as the whooping crane population assessed last winter cited 506 whooping cranes, including 39 juveniles and 192 adult pairs. This marks the 3rd year in a row that the population has topped the 500 mark.

The refuge is also home to many other species of creatures as it is comprised of wetlands and barrier dunes. The shoreline is interspersed with islands that together making this a great refuge where animal life can thrive.

There are several hiking trails within the park as well. One of our favorites is the Heron Flats Trail. Along the trail remain the remnants grasses such as bushy bluestem which adorn the perimeter. Along the Heron Flats trail there were several large alligators out soaking up the sunshine prevalent that day. We even came across one on the other side of a small impoundment that was as big a gator as I have ever seen.

After enjoying Heron Flats Trail, we drove down to the observation towers and boardwalk further south along the shore of Blackjack Peninsula.  We walked up the observation towers and were able to see a few Whooping Cranes but again but they were way out in the distance as can be attested by the only photo I could get..We also walked onto the adjacent boardwalk which took us out to the beach through a rich and diverse wetland:

Lastly we took the driving loop around the interior of the park which takes up much of the Blackjack Peninsula. We really didn’t see a lot of wildlife on this particular day but we did see a few deer, some feral hogs and a few javalina.

The down side of the day was there were a lot of the trails and areas around the park that were closed.  As a result we were not able to go on many of the trails we wanted to hike. However, all in all it was a nice day at the refuge…

NOTE:  While Sharon is in North Carolina I am currently at Angler’s Retreat in Rockport Texas until at least mid May…