Laguna Atascosa

Before even arriving at Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Reserve, we spot a beautiful Osprey on a telephone pole.

The road to the park is under repair and it was a bit rough getting there (it's a gravel road). The entrance to the park is a bit hidden from the road so you have to keep your eyes open wide to see it.

This beautiful park is located near South Padre Island. There are some feeding stations for the birds where rats can also be seen. It only costs $3 to enter the park.

The park has very nice paths to walk around the office/store where numerous birds can be heard, some seen. The vegetation is lush and varied.

Unidentified species. Glen waiting for me and "holding" my hat.

Finally a good sighting of a Green Jay!

We also saw quite a few butterflies on the trails right at the center.

We then could drive up a fair distance to the bay side of the gulf. En route, we saw a trail that we decided to walk, just in case we saw something. All we saw were a lot of animal tracks, some believed to be deer, some bigger that could be the Nilgai. Some ocelots still live in this part of the country but we didn't see any (they are very shy and the only way to see them is if they cross a road). Lots of evidence of coyotes (they are everywhere) and by evidence I mean poop. I have a certain reputation to be the one to bring up poop facts into a conversation. But you can learn a lot by studying and looking at it. Sorry but that is where my curious mind brings me.

It definitely felt longer than 1 mile!

This is an Orb Weaver at the center of his very perfect round web.

We then arrived at the water where there is a small gazebo-like structure with benches to sit. The sun was gorgeous and warm and a wonderful tropical breeze kept us cool. I could have stayed there all day. There were a ton of ducks mostly American Coots and some Ruddy ducks in their winter plumage. It is sometimes hard to identify a bird because of the very different look they can have in summer, winter or during breeding time.

Some Coots in the back and Ruddy ducks in the front.

Least Grebe

From there we walked to the alligator pond. That is the only place we've seen alligators but they have been spotted at the South Padre Island bay side.

A turtle on the path

This we believed to be Nilgai poop which was confirmed the next day.
They tend to relieve themselves at the same spots which is why we could see
older dung with fresher on top. They do that so as to not disclose their whereabouts.

One of the alligators seen at the pond. He was a big one!

Mockingbird. They are very common in this region.

We went back to the blind to get another look at a Green Jay.

We learned while there that they had expeditions every day on a bus with a guide. It was inexpensive at $5/each. So we signed up for the next day's expedition.

This is the bus. Large windows to get a good view wherever you sit. 

What we didn't know is that they take us to another park they own which is on Padre Island and is not open to the general public. Basically the only people that go through are the ones on the bus and the biologists that work there.

It's a very pleasant tour that lasts about 3 hours (incl. getting to the park) with an excellent guide and driver that would spot birds and wildlife for us.

 The landscape is desert like with only low vegetation.

Snowy Egret

Reddish Egret along with a Sandpiper

A juvenile Little Blue Heron in flight

Many species all together getting along.

We're on a mission here.

There is the juvenile Little Blue Heron. When younger he would have been
all white. He's now getting his blue colour.

The road we followed.

White Pelicans

Osprey in flight

Cormorant

A deer that I spotted!

And we got to see a Nilgai. These were imported by the very large King ranch
for hunting. But they got out and are now an invasive species. There are now
about 2500 of them in Texas. This would be a young buck as he
will turn a blue colour as he matures (you can see the change of colour on his neck).

They can get quite large and are apparently very good to eat although the
meat cannot be sold in stores. It has to be purchased from a hunter.
They eat the prickly pear cacti and thus take away food from other species.
I was so happy that we got to see one. 

After the Nilgai ran away, we continued on our journey.

A lone Crested Caracara.

We thoroughly enjoyed both our visit to the preserve and the wonderful tour to the wilder part of the park. I'm sure we will be going back before the end of our stay in Texas.

South Padre Island Bird Center and Oliveira Park

It didn't take long for us to return to South Padre Island to visit the Bird Park. The park is made up of numerous boardwalks that take you to different areas of the bay. It is a protected area for the birds and many different species make it their home or use the area during migration. There are no feeders to attract them. It's all natural environment.

We loved walking the boardwalks and discovering all the birds along the way. I'm sure we'll visit it again during our stay in Texas. Most people visiting are birders so are careful not to make noise when they see you photographing or are quick showing you what they have spotted so you get a chance to take a picture.

Least Grebe

Great Blue Heron

Immature Black -crowned Heron

Roseate Spoonbill

Roseate Spoonbill sharing space with an immature Ibis

Ibis bathing

A Spoonbill showing off its wonderful pink feathers

Little Blue Heron

American Wigeon

Black-necked Stilts

Northern Pintail

American Wigeon

Brown Pelican

Northern Pintail

Common Sandpiper

Immature Little Blue Heron

Sanderling

Green Heron

The center has a boutique and this tower which
can be accessed by elevator to the top of the
observation deck. Lovely view.

Now for something totally different. We had seen in one of the brochures that some parrots congregate just before sunset at Oliveira Park where they roost or the night. It isn't too far from our campground, so we decided to go and see what it was all about.

We thought it would be a bird park but to our surprise, it's a sports park with soccer fields, etc. and games were taking place when we went. The brochure had mentioned that when the parrots first arrive they all perch on telephone wires so we parked at that end of the park where there were visible wires. And we waited. Soon Glen said to me, I hear them! And sure enough, a cacophony of bird chatter could be heard. Then we saw them! Waves of green birds flew overhead to land on the telephone wires. They kept chattering and playing, some grooming themselves. We counted 40. The brochure had said they were red-fronted parrots but after looking at our pictures they are definitely White-fronted Amazons! Maybe we saw another flock. We were busy taking pictures when another bigger flock arrived. Now they were about 100! So very cool to see parrots flying and being free. It soon got darker so we left but apparently they then roost in the trees for the night. They obviously fly elsewhere to feed for the day but always return like clockwork to this park. So weird. Why this particular park flooded in lights and activity when they could find refuge in one of the many bird parks around? Maybe it's safe there since there are no other animals, no predators.

Enjoy the pictures.

A beautiful Golden-fronted Woodpecker seen before the parrots arrived.

A pigeon peeking out from the loft of a red barn at the park

Some of the parrots

It's easy to see the white band on their forehead which makes them
to be White-fronted Amazons

Then, driving home, we saw wires on a corner of a street that were completely covered with Boat-tailed Grackles. The grackles imitate a lot of sounds so it's really fun to listen to them doing all kinds of whistles and computer game-type sounds.

The photo (taken from the truck) doesn't really do it justice.

Texas never ceases to amaze us! More to come!