Saturday, February 16, 2013

QUINTA MAZATLAN WORLD BIRDING CENTER

Saturday, February 16– On Wednesday, we visited the Quinta Mazatlan McAllen Wing of the World Birding Center.

birding center sign

The Center is housed in a 1930's historic Adobe home on the South side of McAllen.

house

The home is an attraction by itself. We were free to roam around many of the beautiful rooms – what a magnificent place.

inside house

porch area

living area

backyard

Outside the grounds can be explored using one of the many trails that loop through the vegetation. Much of the area is overgrown giving plenty of hiding places for the numerous birds. Feeding areas are spread out giving private viewing areas to enjoy the wildlife.

walking trail

walking trail

There are hundreds of hummingbird feeders and orange slices in the trees. We came across several water features that make great places for birds or animals to get a cool drink or go for a swim on a hot day.

hummingbird

watering hole

Almost 500 species have been documented in this unique place. We saw many green jays and numerous other birds scattered around the property.

Green Jays
green jay

Great Kiskadee
Great Kiskadee

We know it is a hummingbird but not the specific name.DSC03113

No idea.
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The best find was several rather large Chachalaca birds. We were quietly walking down one of the trails and two walked out of the brush right in front of us. We quickly stopped and sat down and enjoyed four of these big birds parading through the thick brush and crossing the trail all around us. How cool!

DSC03173

DSC03181

This little guy was causing a stir at the bird feeders.

squirrel

We spent about two and a half hours wondering around the Birding Center before calling it an enjoyable day and heading home. Once home we sat outside soaking up some of the beautiful sunny days we've been having here in the South Texas Rio Grande Valley.

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

15 comments:

  1. Wow, what a treasure. The house was beautiful...the birds magnificent!

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  2. You have been visiting so many interesting places! :)

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  3. Terrific bird photos! I would LOVE to see some of those. Glad I got to see them through your eyes....The birding center was very beautiful, too.

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  4. Nice trip and another thing to add to my todo list. Thanks.

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  6. Looks like that one Chachalaca was performing for you --- what a treat.

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  7. We really enjoyed Quinta Mazatlan, too. You gotta love those chachalacas! Someone told us there is a hunting season for them in Texas:(

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  8. Not positive about the hummingbird, but your other mystery bird is the ubiquitous House Sparrow. It is a non-native species that is not protected in the US. Nasty things. I bet the birding center isn't happy about having them around.

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  9. What a wonderful place. I love the Green Jays. I've never seen one in person....someday!

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  10. It's strange, but I am less and less impressed with 'man made,' but love nature. As we know, nothing can compare to God's creation.

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  11. wow what a place...gorgeous...and great bird shots...

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  12. Just wandering through that magnificent house and grounds would have been a great day. Then you got to see so many birds too! Great pictures.

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  13. Thanks for sharing. . .adding the link to my Evernote file.

    Definitely want to go and see it.

    I'm copying your pic of the feeding platform to show Dave. . .that is exactly what we need to build for the wildlife viewing area here.

    Great post!

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  14. What a beautiful setting. This looks like a must visit when in Texas.

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