Monday, October 4, 2010
Twin Palms RV Park, Rio Hondo, TX - Feb 8-14
This park is centrally located for visiting birding spots near Brownsville; there are so many that the place deserves a longer stay. Laguna Atascosa (muddy lagoon) has several hiking trails & interpretive drives. Unfortunately, due to several years of drought, the lagoon was completely dry. Also, due to construction, the main drive was closed. However, we enjoyed the rest of the NWR. The "new" birds we saw were White-tipped Dove & Common Pauraque. Other birds of interest - Eastern Screech Owl & Golden-fronted Woodpecker.In nearby Harlingen we visited the Iwo Jima War Memorial at the Marine Military Academy. This is the original working model for the casting of the bronze in D.C. It is 32-ft high with a 78-ft flagpole. It & the accompanying museum were a very interesting stop.
Another day trip was to S Padre Island. At the north end of the road you could walk & drive on the beach. The lovely beach is covered with shells. The paved road ends where a sand dune has blown across it. You can see segments of pavement continuing, so who knows how far the road is buried? We visited Sea Turtle, Inc., founded in 1977 by Ila Loetscher, known locally as the "Turtle Lady." The goal of Sea Turtle, Inc. is to aid & assist in the preservation & protection of the Kemp's Ridley turtle. They also support conservation & rehabilitation of all marine turtle species. The final stop on SPI was at the birdwatching pier, a 1500-ft boardwalk made of recycled materials on the bayside of the island, passing thru dunes & wetlands. We were fortunate to see an elusive Clapper Rail.Our other birding trip was to the Brownsville area. Our first stop was the Brownsville dump, a birder "must". You line up with the garbage trucks & sign in as a birder. They give you a map to the special parking area for birders. Unfortunately, the area doesn't currently live up to its reputation, but it is a unique experience. We continued on to Sabal Palm Audubon Center, south of Brownsville in a bend of the Rio Grande. The endangered Ocelot & Jaguarundi are believed to reside in the wildlife sanctuaries in this part of TX, but we were not fortunate enough to see either. However, we hit the jackpot with birds, seeing 5 new species - Plain Chachalaca, Ovenbird, Ringed Kingfisher, Altamira Oriole & Cave Swallow. What an exciting day of birding!
In our remaining day here, we will continue our roadside birding search for the rare Aplomado Falcon. So far, our roadside birding has only turned up a Peregrine Falcon -- pretty exciting in itself.
The cats have not appreciated being on the move again, but we keep them settled down with the help of Rescue Remedy (a Bachflower formula for humans & animals) added to their water.
# posted by Doug and Willie @ 10:14 PM 
