Friday, January 25, 2013

It’s All About The Birds

 

For birders, the Rio Grande Valley of Texas is famous for birds that aren’t  seen anywhere else in the U.S., including some subtropical species of Eastern Mexico that are not found north of the border beyond extreme southern Texas.

Although we are by no means serious birders, we do enjoy watching them. Since this is our second winter here, we’ve become accustomed to the birds which were so exciting to see for the first time last year, like the colorful green jays and kiskadees.

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Yesterday morning we took a walk over to Bentsen State Park. Just before we got to the Nature Center, we saw a crowd with cameras and binoculars. There on the ground not far from all the people was a Cooper’s hawk getting a drink and taking a bath in a puddle.

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We watched him for a few minutes until someone tried to get closer, and away he flew.

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He’s been hanging around the feeders at the state park and in our RV park since he has easy access to little birds for a snack. The volunteer told us he caught 2 birds first thing yesterday morning. Good for him, but not for the birders, since the other birds tend to stay away when they realize he is nearby.

We had also heard that a flock of green parakeets was hanging around Mission, and our friends at Where’s Weaver got some good photos of them a few days ago. We got to K-Mart around 4:40 and when we first pulled in didn’t see or hear any birds. We then drove around the side of the garden center, and there they were, flying down to land on the gutters and the nearby power lines.

You can’t believe how loud they are! It was a pleasure to see them in the wild and not in a cage at a pet store.

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And to make it even better we capped off our day with a beer and pizza at BJ’s!

11 comments:

  1. That new camera is serving you well... and vice versa :)
    Nice shots!
    Box Canyon Mark

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  2. Glad you saw those beauties. They are amazingly loud.

    We are going to finally start our sight seeing adventures next week. Glad you could get away and enjoy the beauty around your park.

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  3. Very nice bird pics. Makes me wish I was in the RGV again. :)

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  4. Good photos of the birds. Nice you got to see the Cooper's Hawk.

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  5. Beautiful photographs. I'd love to see such gorgeous birds in person. Looks like I'll have to spend a winter in Texas. Hope I can.

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  6. I do you know the different names of all the birds? Is there a specific book or website that you use to identify them?

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  7. Hey you two! Excellent photos of some beautiful birds! Hope we cross paths this year! Maureen & Eric

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  8. Gayle, Jim - I'm full of ennui on this gray February day! Please post some more cat and bird photos, stat!

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  9. Ellen, I will get Gayle on that but I understand that coffee enemas will cure that too.

    Jim

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  10. Looks like you all are having fun in the Valley! Great birding there and the dental care is reasonable. I hope Jim is better..I married and older man also and right now he is napping ..ha ha
    Take care and Happy Trails!

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