It was shorts and t-shirt weather early this morning and in the upper 80's by the late afternoon. We are back at the Alamo Inn and we are doing our laundry right now.
Our first birding stop this morning was Arroyo Colorado in Harlingen. The park should be renamed Prickly Pear Park. We have never seen so many prickly pear cacti any where else that we have been. It is all cacti, big and small, long and short. One can imagine that this place is steamy hot once April comes and the heat probably cooks everything.
We walked our first trail and there was a hide along the way and we had 15 birds in 20 minutes just standing there beside the hide. It was interesting that two Golden-fronted Woodpeckers were holding on to the Hummingbird feeder and were drinking the hummingbird liquid. Later on when we went to take a look before we left these two were still at the hummingbird feeders. There were drips within 10 feet of the woodpeckers and other birds were coming to the little pools of dripping water and either drinking or having a bath. Evidently these two have a preference for a sweet solution. There were no hummingbirds around at this hide.
We walked to the arroyo - a river carved out and this one is the Colorado River. This river is small and gentle and more like a creek and very narrow, maybe 10 to 20 feet wide in places. At the arroyo, we searched for the Green Kingfisher with no luck. We walked another trail and ended up at a another hide where we met a very nice couple from Calgary who have spent six months (Oct to March) on South Padre Island every year since 2005. They also bird the area birding spots and enjoy staying on South Padre very much. When we met them again on another trail, they were looking for us to tell us that they had seen the Green Kingfisher in exactly the same place we had been. We were leaving at that point, it was getting hot and into the lazy part of the day. We found here that most of the bird action was around the feeding station and the water drips. Everywhere else it was very quiet. We saw the odd Yellow-rumped warbler here and there, and of course the Northern Mockingbird is everywhere.
From here we drove a couple of miles to the Harlingen Thicket which is also along the Arroyo Colorado and again lots of Prickly Pear Cacti here. Both of these Harlingen birding spots are very similar in environment and are reported to be excellent birding spots during migration. We knew this when we decided to come in February when the winter specialties and the year-round birds are around. We had a picnic lunch at the pavilion and then set off on the trail, hoping to view the Arroyo at a different spot in the river. We had a great vista view of the river from a high hill and we watched and listened and took our time. No luck today!
The next week is supposed to be hot and according to the locals, the trees will go into leaf in a couple of days. It seems nature moves very quickly here. So the birding will even become more challenging.
Barbr is doing well, she is a trooper and we were done birding before the hottest part of the day. We are planning our day tomorrow. During the fogged-in days she was cold and finally she has days that are warm and comfortable. Don't we look happy! Now that we are back at Alamo we miss Colleen as we were here for nine nights with her and it all went so so fast. Why does time do that, when one is enjoying the days, they seem to go faster.
Our first birding stop this morning was Arroyo Colorado in Harlingen. The park should be renamed Prickly Pear Park. We have never seen so many prickly pear cacti any where else that we have been. It is all cacti, big and small, long and short. One can imagine that this place is steamy hot once April comes and the heat probably cooks everything.
We walked our first trail and there was a hide along the way and we had 15 birds in 20 minutes just standing there beside the hide. It was interesting that two Golden-fronted Woodpeckers were holding on to the Hummingbird feeder and were drinking the hummingbird liquid. Later on when we went to take a look before we left these two were still at the hummingbird feeders. There were drips within 10 feet of the woodpeckers and other birds were coming to the little pools of dripping water and either drinking or having a bath. Evidently these two have a preference for a sweet solution. There were no hummingbirds around at this hide.
We walked to the arroyo - a river carved out and this one is the Colorado River. This river is small and gentle and more like a creek and very narrow, maybe 10 to 20 feet wide in places. At the arroyo, we searched for the Green Kingfisher with no luck. We walked another trail and ended up at a another hide where we met a very nice couple from Calgary who have spent six months (Oct to March) on South Padre Island every year since 2005. They also bird the area birding spots and enjoy staying on South Padre very much. When we met them again on another trail, they were looking for us to tell us that they had seen the Green Kingfisher in exactly the same place we had been. We were leaving at that point, it was getting hot and into the lazy part of the day. We found here that most of the bird action was around the feeding station and the water drips. Everywhere else it was very quiet. We saw the odd Yellow-rumped warbler here and there, and of course the Northern Mockingbird is everywhere.
From here we drove a couple of miles to the Harlingen Thicket which is also along the Arroyo Colorado and again lots of Prickly Pear Cacti here. Both of these Harlingen birding spots are very similar in environment and are reported to be excellent birding spots during migration. We knew this when we decided to come in February when the winter specialties and the year-round birds are around. We had a picnic lunch at the pavilion and then set off on the trail, hoping to view the Arroyo at a different spot in the river. We had a great vista view of the river from a high hill and we watched and listened and took our time. No luck today!
The next week is supposed to be hot and according to the locals, the trees will go into leaf in a couple of days. It seems nature moves very quickly here. So the birding will even become more challenging.
Barbr is doing well, she is a trooper and we were done birding before the hottest part of the day. We are planning our day tomorrow. During the fogged-in days she was cold and finally she has days that are warm and comfortable. Don't we look happy! Now that we are back at Alamo we miss Colleen as we were here for nine nights with her and it all went so so fast. Why does time do that, when one is enjoying the days, they seem to go faster.
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