Monday, January 18, 2016

BENTSEN-RIO GRANDE SP AND BIRDING CENTER

Monday, January 18 – We spent the morning at the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park and World Birding Center. The 760-acre Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park, together with over 1,700 acres of adjoining U.S. Fish and Wildlife refuge tracts, is a  treasure trove of "Valley specialties," tropical birds found nowhere else in the United States.

Admission is $5 per person but Paul, being an old fart, has the Texas Parklands Passport for Seniors which provides a 50% discount on the entrance fee for him. Interesting the way they “round off to the nearest dollar,” so his discount is only $2 instead of $2.50. Those Texas State Legislators know how to squeeze every penny out of us since there is no state income tax in Texas.

Great Kiskadee
Great Kiskadee

Northern Mockingbird
Northern Mockingbird

We began our hike at the bird feeders near the entrance. The Rio Grande Valley hosts one of the most spectacular convergences of birds on earth. Almost 500 species have been documented in this unique place. There were numerous chachalaca, green-jays, cardinals, and many smaller birds feeding at this station. We enjoyed watching these birds for quite awhile before heading down to Resca Vieja Trail.

Red-Winged Blackbird…we think.
White-tipped Dove

The famous Green Jay.
Green Jay

Green Jay

The entertaining Plain Chachalaca.Chachalaca

We think we may have been interupting something private.
Plain Chachalacas

The Resca Vieja Trail is a short 1.5 mile hike through the mesquite trees to a small nature observation area. There wasn't any wildlife in this area, but it was an enjoyable hike regardless.

Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley Birding Center

Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley Birding Center

Our next stop was Kingfisher Overlook along the La Parida Banco (a river). This is an area one might see birds that prefer aquatic areas. Unfortunately, again there were no birds enjoying the water. There were cardinals and green-jays at a nearby feeder.

Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley Birding Center

We continued our hike to the Green-jay bird blind. This was a very enjoyable stop with many birds and even a raccoon robbing the bird feeders. It's nice to relax in the blind and watch the birds through the small windows of the blind.

Northern Cardinal
Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley Birding Center

Northern Cardinal
Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley Birding Center

Golden-fronted Woodpecker
DSC05795

Never saw this guy at the Birding Center before.Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley Birding Center

There is a shuttle available, and we considered hopping aboard for a ride to the hawk tower observation deck but when the trolley passed it was full. We hiked out to the tower on our previous visits to the Birding Center, but Paul has been bothered by a soar knee, so we decided to call it a day and hiked back to the entrance. He has meniscus surgery already scheduled when we return to Houston.

Paul and knee brace 

Due to the high winds and the flood of 2010, many of the trees having amazing shapes.

World Birding Center

World Birding Center

It was an enjoyable morning at the World Birding Center. We hiked a little over 4.5 miles and saw quite a few birds and some other wildlife.

Paul and I

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!