There are Hog Pits and then there are Hog Pits

Yesterday was sunny but very windy - gusts up to 50kph. We went to the convention centre to do some birding but it wasn't very productive. Any birds we did see were really hunkered down. We did a bit of shopping and came back to the condo for lunch. Skip went to get a haircut at 12:45 with Velma who works out of LaVina's shop where I got my pedicure a couple of weeks ago.

After Skip's nap, we decided to explore the Port Isabel lighthouse.


















We climbed to the top to take some pictures.













We then had our requisite kiddie cones at the DQ. I made pork chops, applesauce, broccoli and sweet potato for dinner.

This morning we got up early in order to be at Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge (our 4th time) for our birding tour by7:45am. Our guides were Christine and Gordon from Vermont who spend half the year at Atascosa. There were two other couples with us in the van on the 4 hour tour. On this tour we got to go on trails that the general public are not permitted to drive on. Biking and hiking is permitted, however, on these trails. Personally, I liked being chauffeured and having 7 other pairs of eyes to help spot birds and animals. Christine also let us see with her spotting scope.

We saw an altamira oriole right in the parking lot, (click on any picture to enlarge)













several night herons,













great kiskadees,













a couple more gators,













ibis,













crested caracaras (the Mexican 'eagle' that appears on the Mexican flag),













and many, many other birds.

We also saw this:

a wet bobcat carrying its newly killed meal - a coot.








I'm loving my new camera. Although it's not perfect, the 10x zoom is exactly what I wanted in a compact unit. The optical image stabilizer came in really handy today when I was zooming to take most of my pictures.

I purchased an aplomado falcon pin as a memento of the occasion. Skip and I then headed off to 'The Hog Pit' and were guided there thanks to the GPS. It turned out not to be a BBQ place. Whereas my definition of a 'hog' is a critter that tastes great barbequed, their definition of 'hog' is a Harley Davidson. In spite of the confusion, I had a very fine burger and Skip enjoyed his quesadilla.