March 17 Birding in Hidalgo

Today, we accomplished several things on our wish list of things-to-do on our 'vacation from our vacation'. First, Skip shot a bucket of balls at the Palm View Golf Course in McAllen.  He is getting tuned up for his golf leagues which will resume when we get home next month.

We wore our green shirts in honour of St. Patrick's Day.

We then headed southward to Hidalgo to visit the world's biggest killer bee. It's located right in front of Hidalgo's City Hall and Public Library.

Then we continued down to the World Birding Centre at the Old Hidalgo Pumphouse. It is located on an estuary branching from the Rio Grande River.

The border wall and a gate through it (which is monitored 24/7) is adjacent to the park.

The park is a very popular place for wedding photos. In fact, there are signs informing photographers (except bird watchers) that they need to register at the park office.

This pavilion provides lots of shade for park visitors.

I imagine it serves as the site for many weddings as the surroundings are green and lush with bird- and butterfly-attracting vegetation.

First, I spotted a Couch's (or possibly tropical) kingbird.

The buff-bellied hummingbird is the symbolic bird of Hidalgo. There were lots of feeders in the trees. This guy posed for us for quite a while.

Then several monk parakeets flew into the trees overhead. Then 3 of them flew down to the grassy area and fed on seeds dropped from the tree above for about 20 minutes.

Monk parakeet

Then one of them flew up into the tree just in front of us.

This male cardinal and a female were also spotted here.

We also saw a vireo of some kind, grackles, many mockingbirds, and great kiskadees.

We worked up quite an appetite so popped into Delia's (a tamale fast-food franchise restaurant) for lunch.

Do you have a craving for tacos? Enchiladas? Chalupas? Chiles rellenos? You're out of luck. They only serve tamales. Several different kinds, mind you. And they're only sold in packs of 6 or 12 for dining in or to go. They may also be among the best tamales I've ever eaten. Our 6 pork tamales were $4.69. Adding in our drinks, the total bill with tax was $9.13 US.

After lunch we went to Jo-Ann Fabrics - probably the only one south of Corpus Christi - so I could pick up some more cross-stitch and sewing supplies.

We're back at the suite hotel (Drury Inn & Suites) now where we are getting ready to consume our three free drinks and free snacks .

It was a very productive and fun day. Oh yeah, and it's 29C and sunny here.