Quinta Mazatlan

We decided a small road trip was in order so we took the short drive over to Quinta Mazatlan. Quinta Mazatlan is a 1930’s country estate located pretty much in the middle of McAllen. What is it? It is a “adobe hacienda surrounded by lush tropical landscaping & native woodland”. This unnatural oasis is comprised of more than 15 acres of lush vegetation typical of this area before agriculture changed its face forever. It is also an active birding hot spot but has some wonderful art on display around the park..

 

The habitat surrounding the large villa is known as Tamaulipan Thorn Forest. If you are a birder of a buterrflier – I guess that is a word???, you will love this place.
Quinta Mazatlan literally means “country estate” in Spanish and the place is free if you don’t want to see the historical house and only $2.00 to see the house too (Seniors 65 and over only a $1.00).

         

When we got to the place there was a small parking lot just outside the entrance that provided free parking for visitors. We walked into the park past a small building and when we did a fellow popped out and chatted with us a bit. This friendly Hispanic park employee asked if we were birders and we said yes! He told us he had a treat for us and took us to a place where a Pauraque was day roosting (I will talk more about this bird in another blog). It was a fun sighting and not easy to find as it blended in perfectly with its surroundings. We were glad to see it and thanked the fellow we chatted with for showing us the bird.

 

This may be a great birding and butterfly place but we also came to look a the art found along The Forest Sculpture Trails. There are many beautiful pieces by an artist named Douglas Clark that were sponsored and donated to the park. These non-natural inhabitants are a real treat to see as you amble along the trail. And every now and then you might even see one of the real critters exhibited in his artwork.

The plaza and grounds in and around the hacienda were beautiful. We could certainly see why so many couples choose this place for weddings.  It was such a pleasant walk that I am sure we will return to Quinta Mazatlan again soon.

A Birdy Place…

We have been enjoying the park and its proximity to some excellent biking, hiking and birding at the nearby Bentsen Rio Grande State Park. The header shot today is that of a Great Kiskadee and a Green Jay at a small watering hole. The sounds these two birds makes one feel they are in the tropics…

I finally did get to see a few “Lifer” birds while down here in the Rio Grande Valley. The first lifer I got to see was the Long Billed Thrasher which are fairly common in this part of the USA but found nowhere else. They even have them in our park. The second new lifer I got to see was the Clay Colored Thrush and I have only spotted one of these since I have been here. Interestingly it is also the national bird of Costa Rica.

The last lifer was spotted by a small group of people on an organized birding tour at the park. They have these every Tuesday and Sunday mornings. Although this lifer is not endemic to this area like the others as its natural habitat is of the lower elevations of the Rocky Mountains. Rarely spotted in this part of the world but nonetheless we spotted and photographed the Red-naped Sapsucker which turned out to be a possible first sighting here at the state park.

There are lots of other non-lifer birds we have enjoyed watching in the park. We even enjoy watching some very overfed squirrels as they eat at the all you can eat buffet (park bird feeders) a bit too frequently. Although the park is still suffering from a mix of being flooded for an extended period to an extended drought it is still a nice place to visit on a frequent basis. You simply never know what you might see in this part of Texas…