National Butterfly Center

After our river cruise, and while we were still so far up the valley, Skip and I visited the National Butterfly Center, only a few kilometres away from our cruising dock.

A very small red-eared slider (turtle) was sunning on a rock in the water feature at the entrance.

They are working very hard to establish gardens with habitat to attract the 200+ species of butterfly that frequent this area.

Small type of hibiscus

There is also a nice treed walkway on the eastern side of the property leading to a bird feeding/water station in the SE corner. In various spots, there are logs or stumps with little channels in which 'butterfly brew' is smeared to attract butterflies.

Red Admiral Butterfly

One of the first birds we spotted was a golden-fronted woodpecker.

Then a ladderback woodpecker flew in.

An 'as yet to be identified' butterfly.

We sat at the feeding area for over an hour just watching the birds come in. I took a LOT of photos of green jays.

This is the best one I have of its eye - the same colour as the eye markings.

Then in flew the Altamira oriole.

This was the best pic I had of the markings on the back.

We've seen a lot of cardinals at various sites around the RGV.

It was hot and the ladderback woodpecker seemed to be panting.

Then the golden-fronted woodpecker flew into the feeding area.

One of the butterfly photographers identified this as the orange crowned warbler.

There was also an olive sparrow but I wasn't fast enough to get a shot.

The Altamira oriole really dug into the grapefruit (Texas red).

This is a fairly good photo of the beak.

And some parting shots from the feeding station.

White-tipped dove.

More shots of the red admiral butterfly.

Way off in the distance was this hawk.

Although it was primarily a butterfly place, the birding at the feeding station was really good. It was a very enjoyable way to spend the afternoon of an already excellent day.

Rio Grande (Bravo) Birding Cruise

Janet from our birding group, Bay Area Birders, organized a birding cruise on the Rio Grande (Mexicans call it the 'Rio Bravo') about 80 miles up the river at the Riverside Club on Chimney Rd., in Mission, TX.

A beautiful flowering tree in the parking lot:

There were over 35 in our group for our privatecruise on the Riverside Dreamer. The greenery you see over the boat is Mexico.

The river is very narrow in many places - making it easy for people to enter the US illegally. The US Border Patrol is very visible. Here, we observed two boats lashed together. The agents appeared to be conferring on some issue. We also saw Border Patrol helicopters flying overhead.

We first went downriver towards the Anzalduas Dam, the final one before the Gulf of Mexico. Here, I'm looking downriver with the walkway for personnel) of the dam overhead, the dam at the bottom and the view of the area below the dam. Again, Mexico is on the right. There are lots of little, rocky islands, making a very convenient place for people to wade/walk across.

This tower on the left probably has heat detecting sensors and other surveillance equipment to thwart illegal crossings.

At the halfway point on the dam, are the flags of the US and Mexico.

We got close enough to read the 'Anzalduas' inscription on what appears to be a block of granite at the base of the two flagpoles.

One of the birds that frequents this area is the black phoebe - a western bird whose eastern winter habitat appears to only extend this far down the RGV. We saw many of them, but they were very active and difficult for me to capture a good shot, until I got this one as it was perched on a statue of the madonna on an islet in the river.

We saw many of them flycatching around a ladder at the dam and all along the riverside.

There were a couple of pied bill grebes

And the odd Couch's kingbird.

The highlight of our spotting was a green kingfisher - the smallest of the three that we see in the area.

Adult male green kingfisher facing to our right, with bill at a downward angle.

I also caught this belted kingfisher in flight.

Upstream from the dock is this old pumphouse chimney built over 100 years ago. Steam engines used to pump the water from the river for crop irrigation. The pumphouse itself has been demolished but the chimney remains. A mobile home community surrounds it as well as a Border Patrol station, evidenced by the elevated 'box' on the right.

Abreast of the 'box' we can see the launching ramp probably used by both pleasure craft and Border Patrol boats.

A noble osprey on the highest point (stump) in the river.

This bird was very far away on a wire but I believe it is a loggerhead shrike - if not, some type of flycatcher.

Once off the boat, we had lunch in air-conditioned comfort at the Riverside Club. The washroom facilities are clean and bright and there are several dining options - indoors, outdoor patio, and at the riverside patio.

Inset on walkway at Riverside Club

The temperature was 96F (almost 36C) by the time we got off the boat - possibly a record breaking temperature and certainly the hottest we've experienced this winter. By the time we got to back to the island almost at sunset, it had dropped to a very comfortable 23C (73F).

Palo Alto Battlefield

This morning we went birding at Palo Alto Battlefield, a Texas National Historic Park in the north end of Brownsville. It was the site of the first battle in 1846 of the Mexican-American war that changed the map of North America. It is an interesting historic site with cannons and information plaques around the area. It is also an interesting place to go birdwatching.

The vegetative area around the parking lot is always interesting. The first thing I spotted was a road runner up in a tree. I've only seen one a couple of times on the ground. I heard it first - a clattering sound. When I saw the shape, I was pretty sure it was a greater roadrunner. Then it started cooing, probably looking for its mate.

On the way in, we were cautioned to watch for horned lizards.

Sure enough, I spotted one on a yucca plant. Those points are really sharp so it would be quite protected from a predator.

There are lots of flowers starting to bloom. These pink flowers remind me of field bind weed back home.

I'm not sure what these are.

There are covered areas on higher spots of land with descriptive plaques. I'm sure the shade is very welcome in the sweltering summer temperatures. Today it was about 28C.

Skip, the intrepid birder

This is some type of sparrow we think is a savannah sparrow.
 Quite far away, we spotted a Harris hawk.

I heard this guy and spotted it on a beat up cactus - a curve-billed thrasher

-  in the US it's only found in TX, NM, eastern CO, and AZ.

It has those beady orange eyes.

And no spots on its chest.

This rabbit hopped around nearby.

Skip believes it to be a cottontail.

 This red ant was heading across the asphalt path.

I got a really good macro photo. See the hairs on its back end (abdomen)?

At another spot on the pavement, we spotted an ant trail from one side to the other.

Nilgai were introduced to the area for grazing and hunting. When we were here last March, we saw them in a far-off field. Today we saw lots of evidence that they walk along the same trails we did. There are lots of hoof prints,

and scat (poop) deposits.

We also saw evidence of a bobcat's path across the paved trail.

Last year we visited in late March and saw lots of meadowlarks. I heard several and was able to capture this shot of one quite far away.

I whipped out my Peterson app and confirmed by the call that it is an eastern meadowlark.  Here's the best shot I got of its bright yellow breast and black throat spot.

This little lantana was growing between the cracks in the pavement.

 Back in the parking lot this brambly tree was showing little red flowers.

We were out there for about 3 hours. Also spotted was a cardinal and a crested caracara.

We didn't see a large number of birds but what we saw was quite impressive.