See the bird in the above picture and how well it blends into the background? Estero Llano Grande State Park, one of the World Birding Center sites in South Texas, is the only place I’ve seen a common poorwill. One was pointed out to me when I was here a few years ago. On this visit I looked in the same area I had seen it before…and there it was. It is right next to a walking path. It doesn’t move or open it’s eyes when you walk near it. With my eyes, I will probably never see another one, unless it’s pointed out to me.

Common yellowthroat

Curved-billed thrasher

Golden-fronted woodpecker

Chachalaca

The rv park I’m staying at doesn’t do much to attract birds, but to my surprise, there are some black-bellied whistling ducks there and a loggerhead shrike perches right next to my rv. The ducks are often having disputes. Someone is putting out some birdseed and I think they are fighting over it.

Always enjoy visiting the Frontera Audubon Thicket in Weslaco, Texas. It is on 15 acres that used to be a grapefruit ranch. There are still many grapefruit trees that provide fruit for the birds. The curved pathways through the thicket provide a meditative walk. It is a small area, but you can feel like you are lost on your first visit there. There are several feeding stations, with grapefruit, birdseed, and hummingbird feeders put out for the birds and chairs for people to sit and watch them. You hear the sounds of plain chachalaca’s running through the bushes.

The two warblers above are two I’ve never seen before. They both took advantage of a small stream to bathe. The top picture is a black-throated green warbler and the bottom one is a Wilson’s warbler.

Plain chachalaca.

First picture this year that I’ve gotten of a black-crested titmouse.

Orange-crowned warbler

Curved-billed thrasher

Lots of butterflies. Didn’t see any eaten by flycatcher’s.

The bird above is a common poorwill. It may be common, but it’s the first one I’ve seen. A volunteer at Estero Llano Grande State Park pointed it out to me and several other people. It was not more than 5 feet away with 4 or 5 people standing around it, but it didn’t even open it’s eyes! Someone had tried to point one out to me last year, but it was 15 or 20 feet away and I couldn’t see it.

A little closer look.

I was afraid I was going to have to leave the area without getting a picture of a great kiskadee. They, and the green jays, are my two favorite birds in the area. The kiskadee isn’t great at posing, but finally got a picture on an overcast, rainy day at the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge.

Red cardinal at the Santa Ana Refuge on a sunny day.

Northern shovelers at Estero Llano Grande State Park.

Above, either a broad-tailed or a buff-bellied hummingbird. It, and the chachalacas below were seen at the Frontera Audubon site.

Below, chachalacas. There seem to be more of them this year. Not sure what predators they have.

Queen butterfly, Mexican blue-wing butterfly and a green kingfisher seen at Estero Llano Grande State Park. Finally got a half decent picture of a kingfisher, and a green one at that. Lots of beautiful butterflys here as well as butterfly enthusiasts.

Great kiskadee, altamira oriole, and two chachalacas seen at Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park. Really enjoyed riding my bike through the park. It is a easy ride with no hills.

I have moved around 50 miles up the Rio Grande Valley to Alamo, Texas. The rv park I’m staying at gives me  a view of a freeway, with three lanes going each way, and  “frontage roads”, with three lanes on each side of the freeway. That makes 12 lanes of traffic! There are lots of rv parks in south Texas, but all the ones I’ve seen charge a lot if you are staying less than a month. This current rv park had the best price…and now I see why. It is nice to have good internet coverage, which I really missed in the rural area of Arroyo City.

I wanted to stay in Alamo because it is close to the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge, which I didn”t get to visit last year. Also nearby, is Estero Llano Grande State Park, the Frontera Audubon Thicket, and the Valley Nature Center. Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park, that I visited last year, is also not far.

The pictures above were taken at the Estero Llano Grande State Park. An anhinga (snake bird) caught a fish and tried all sorts of ways to swallow it, but it was just a little to big. It ended up getting away after about 3 or 4 minutes. Don’t know what shape it was in. This state park has the best variety of birds I’ve seen so far. Have never seen so many anhingas.

Grebe at Estero Llano Grande State Park.

A chacalaca at Frontera Audubon Thicket. This is a historic home surrounded by native trees and plants, a grove of grapefruit trees full of fruit, and water areas. There is a trail that goes through the “thicket”.

Also at the Frontera Thicket: Above, male and female rose-breasted grosbeaks—the first grosbeaks I have ever seen; Below, a woodpecker like I saw through my screen in Arroyo City.

I am at the World Birding Center at Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park in Mission, Texas. It is made up of a number of sites in the Rio Grande Valley, but this is their headquarters. Cars are not allowed in the park. A tram circles the road every half hour, so you get on and off where you want. Very nice for biking and hiking. Have to get a bike!

Above is a great kiskadee, a tropical flycatcher found only in South Texas in the U.S.

An altamira oriole

Chachalaca’s. They are a chicken like bird that moves like a road runner and likes to climb up trees.

A dove and a squirrel on a bird feeder.

A mother javelina grooming her child. The tourists here love seeing the javelina, but I noticed that nearby Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge considers them a pest.