Mission, TX–part 2B

In the blog I posted a few weeks ago, I mentioned one of my goals while in Mission was to get a good Road Runner picture.  Well, I ended up finding a place  in the State Park where I saw them fairly regularly.  I also saw them most times I rode to Conway on the bike path.  Most of the time they would see me and run off, but a few times I watched them for several minutes.  It was interesting watching one of them catch bugs. 

 

I don’t know what the Road Runner in the middle was looking at, but I saw them do this several times.  I thought perhaps he was looking up for an Acme Safe falling from the sky!!

In my first Mission, TX blog, I posted a picture of an owl peeking around the tree looking at me.  I thought I was special and he just liked me, but I learned he did that to other people also!  Here is a better picture of him making sure that I am leaving.

Another bird that folks around here were excited about was the Red-Naped Sapsucker because they are typically not in this area.   I didn’t see him the first few weeks, but finally spotted him and then saw him several days hard at work on the same tree.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notice in the last 2 pictures the sap is running down the tree.  A day or 2 later I noticed some butterflies and bees enjoying the sap.

Another first for me was a Verdin.  

Most days, I walked, rode my bike and watched the birds.  At the Birding Center, they have several Bird Blinds. 

Some of the blinds have a water fixture where the birds would drink and bathe.  Below is a Green Jay taking a bath.

I leave here on Monday.  My original plans were to take about a week and head up to Utah.  But in looking at the weather, I decided to take a few weeks to get to Utah.  It’s still a bit cold there!!  So I am going to quickly go across Texas and New Mexico, then I will spend a couple of weeks in Southern Arizona and make my way up to Northern Arizona for a few days.   Hopefully by the time I get to Utah it will be a bit warmer!

Mission, TX– Part 2

Usually at this point, I say I am behind in my blogging.  But can you believe this?   I am actually ahead in my blog.  I had planned on doing part 2 of my Mission, TX blog after I left (which is what I typically do), but I am writing this a couple of days before leaving.  I figured I don’t have anything too exciting planned for the next couple of days, unless you count getting ready to move again, so I decided to go ahead and do it.

I went back to Estero Llano Grande and did another bird walk.  While waiting for it to begin, I saw more Yellow-headed Blackbirds.  If you remember in my last blog, I posted a picture of one.  This time 15 – 20 flew in and landed on a tree.

The day I did the walk, it was a fairly chilly morning.  The butterflies had not woken up yet.   These are Queen Butterflys.

Just around the corner from the campground is the National Butterfly Center.  I only went there once as you can see many of the same butterflies in the campground or at the State Park next door.   While there I saw this green butterfly/moth enjoying the nectar from a Lantana flower--

I looked on-line to verify what I thought the following was --

Look closely – it’s 2 butterflies and they are mating!

In my last blog, I mentioned that I was going to search for the Red-Crowned Parrots and I found them.   I would guess that 200 or so parrots flew in to Oliveria Park in Brownsville the evening that I was there.  They ate for a few minutes and then headed to some trees across the park to sleep for the night. 

 

Mixed in with the Red-Crowned Parrots were a few Yellow-Headed Parrots.

On the same day I saw the Parrots, I first went to Sabal Palms Sanctuary in Brownsville.  I did a bit of hiking and I saw a Crimson Collared Grosbeak.  This is a rare bird for the U.S. and many people went to the park just to see him.   It’s not a great picture, but I only saw him for 30 seconds or so and some of that time he was flying.

I saw the sign for the entrance to the Park and didn’t quite get it until I paid more attention when I left.

“Through the Fence, Over the Levee  -- No Passport Needed”??  I knew I was very close to the border but …

The above is a picture of the Border Fence.  I think this is the first time I have ever seen it and I guess I always thought it was actually on the border. In this case the park was between the fence and the Rio Grande (the border of the U.S. and Mexico). The gate was open, but there was a Border Patrol Agent beside it. 

Another day, I went to Quinta Mazatlan.  This is a 1930’s Adobe home and garden that is now a part of the World Birding Center.   While there I saw a Cedar Waxwing.  I was talking to some people there who said they were common where they live, but I think this is the first one that I have seen.

 

I am going to break this up into 2 parts as I have too many pictures. 

Mission, TX - 2013

I have now been in Mission, TX for a month.  While here I have been walking, biking, bird watching and a quite a bit of just relaxing!  Once again I am staying at Bentsen Palm Village RV park, which is next door to the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley location of the World Birding Center (link to World Birding Center).  It’s a great place to bird watch and bike.  For some reason there are not as many birds as in the past, but I still enjoy looking.  Even at their common birds -

The above is a Green Jay.  The only place to see this Jay in the United States is Southern Texas.  Below is a Great Kiskadee.  These 2 birds are fairly common in the Birding Center next door and even in the RV Park.

Another bird I see fairly regularly is the Altamira Oriole.  They enjoy feeding on the oranges and grapefruits that the Birding Center puts out for the birds.  I watched the one below attempt to eat from this orange and the orange started spinning.  So the Oriole took his foot and held the orange still.  In watching birds, I often think about the phrase “Bird Brain” and wonder who made that up.  From what I have seen birds are pretty smart.

I was also fortunate to see a Black-headed Grosbeak.  It appears that he had been eating some type of berry just before I took the picture.

Below is a Cooper’s Hawk that occasionally visits the areas where there are bird feeders so that the can find a meal.  Unfortunately for the birds, he is not eating the food in the feeders, but birds that have come to the feeders for food. 

An Eastern Screech Owl has made a home in a tree on a very popular trail.  He doesn’t seem to like crowds but since I am typically alone, I see him/her a lot.  He has a natural camouflage in this tree.

When I am by myself and I leave, the owl turns his head and watches me.  At first I thought I was imagining it, but after it happened several times I realized he was really doing it.  Below is a picture of him making sure that I am leaving!

Above is a picture of some neighbors (they are in an RV a few sites down from me) taking a picture of a Road Runner.  I have not been able to get a decent picture of a Road Runner yet since I  typically scare them off as I am biking. One of my goals over the next few weeks is to get a good picture of one. 

I have also visited some of the other locations of the World Birding Center.   I have been to Estero LLano Grande Park a few times.  I went on their bird walk twice.   While there I saw the Common Pauraque.   Even though the name says Common, the only place they are found in the U.S. is very Southern Texas.  This bird has some of the best natural camouflage that I have ever seen.  Even knowing there is a bird in the picture below, it’s hard to see him.

A close up --

On one of the Bird Walks a Green Kingfisher followed our group for a while. 

While the pictures below are not good, I enjoyed watching this Yellow-crowned Night Heron eat a Crayfish. 

Just before the bird walk began, a Yellow-headed Blackbird flew up.  I had never seen one before and was excited to see one even though he was quite a distance away.

For those of you who follow Jim and Gayle’s blog, http://littleadventures-jg.blogspot.com/ some of the above may seem very familiar.  They are currently here also.   They and another Lazy Daze Friend, Debbie, are work campers here at Bentsen.  They spend a good bit of their time working with all the activities that the park has.   Actually it was in their blog that I was reminded that I wanted to find the Green Parakeets.  These are not native to North America, but have established feral populations in parts of Southern Texas and Florida.   I went to the local K-mart where they birds had been coming in to roost at dusk.  I waited and waited -

and was about to leave, when I saw a few parakeets.  Then I saw and heard lots of parakeets.  They are loud!!

There are also some Red-crowned Parrots that I am hoping to find in the next several weeks. 

I finally decided that when I leave here, I will head to Utah.   I have been to some of the National Parks in Utah many years ago, but would like to see them again.  Also, there is much more to Utah to see, so I will probably spend 2 or 3 months there.  If anyone has any suggestions of things to do while there let me know.  I am starting to make plans now.  I leave Mission on March 18 and will give myself a week or 2 to get to Utah. 

GA for Christmas and the trip to South Texas

I went back to the North Georgia mountains for Christmas.  On the way North from Sanibel Island, I stayed overnight at Twin Oaks RV Park in Elko, GA.  It’s a Passport America park, so I get 50% off!  They had a Christmas decoration across from the park office.

Perfect for an RV park.

My nephew, his wife and new baby boy (Jackson) came down and visited one day.  My mom’s dog didn’t seem to understand this person who was her size.

I stayed at a campground in Dillard, GA about a week and then I took off for Mission, TX.  I gave myself a little more than 2 weeks to get there, so I stopped a few places on the way.  My first stop was Foley, AL.  From there, I visited Gulf Island National Seashore (in Florida).  I wanted to check it out and see if it is a place I would like to visit later.  I liked it, but don’t know that I would want to camp there.

It was fairly cold and windy the day I was there, but I still enjoyed a walk on the beach.  I also did a short hike in a wooded section of the park.   Another day, I went to Gulf Shores, AL and walked the beach. 

From Foley, I headed to Sulphur, LA.  I have stopped here a couple of times before.  I like it because it is close to the Creole Nature Scenic Drive.  While there I went to Sabine  and Lacassine National Wildlife Refuges. 

I saw this Great Egret who had just caught lunch.

The above is a Scaup, I’m not sure if it is a Greater Scaup or a Lesser Scaup. 

After Sulphur, I went to Beaumont, Texas.  Since I am a Texas resident and had not been to Texas in 2 years, I had to get both my car and RV inspected.  It was much easier this time as I found an inspection place at a quick oil change station that could inspect both.  When I was here 2 years ago I had problems finding a place that could and would inspect the RV.  (long story, and I don’t want to bore you).

While in Beaumont, I went to Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge.   One of the first birds I saw was a Vermillion Flycatcher.

I also saw a few Snow Geese--

After leaving Beaumont, I stopped in Victoria, TX for an overnight stop and then finally got to Mission, TX where I will be for 2 months.  I blog about my first few weeks in a few days.