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…

Making our way to the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and another hiccup!

I finally finished helping our son build his outdoor kitchen so we headed back to the RV at Canyon Lake for a few days of rest and relaxation before moving on down the road. One thing we always love to do when visiting Canyon Lake is take the drive down the old River Road to New Braunfels Texas.

As always this drive was very cathartic and very scenic. We checked out the New Braunfels area then headed over to Greune TX for a mid afternoon stroll. There was some live music going on at Greune Hall so we stayed and listened for  awhile.

Afterward we drove up to San Marcos to have a cold beer at Aquabrew one of our favorite Texas breweries. They moved to a new location, not nearly as nice as the old one, but at least their beer was still good!

We left Canyon Lake and moved a short distance eastward to Lockhart State Park in Lockhart, TX. Lockhart has one of the coolest court houses (see above) and is the BBQ capital of Texas. This is an annual stop to get our Barbeque fix. While we were only there two nights we had some great hikes within the park and were able to enjoy BBQ at both Smitty’s in Lockhart and City Market in Luling Tx.

All things weren’t rosy however because when we first arrived I noticed a “Check Trans” light, come on as we backed into our site. Since we didn’t experience any transmission issues driving over to the park I kind of figured it might be electrical.However we still had to have the code read to know for sure. Finding a mobile mechanic just before New Year’s eve was a bit tricky.

We finally got a mobile mechanic over the morning we were to leave and his opinion was that it was just an electrical issue. He checked everything and just didn’t see anything wrong with our transmission. We can highly recommend Rush Truck Center’s near Austin Texas if you need mobile service in this area.

Whew, dodged a bullet there so we packed up to move on to our next location. It would be an overnight stop at Southbound RV Park and Cabins in Victoria Texas. Before leaving Victoria we made a run over to the last Aldi’s grocery store we will see for a while to stock up on some of our favorites. Then it was back on the road.

The next stop would be in V I P - La Feria RV Park in  La Feria TX. This would be a longer drive than we prefer but I wanted to stop in Kingsville TX to meet up with an old friend who had a proposition for me while we are in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. I will save the news about the proposal for the next blog after I receive more details…

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