Today was a long drive day to one of the furthest corners we can get to in one day. We left just after 7 am and we just arrived home after 7 pm. It was a mostly overcast day with the sun partly coming out in the afternoon. It was 72 degrees in the afternoon, so not a hot day but a perfect day.
From State Highway 83 we turned down this poorly kept road, guarded by dogs. We checked and this was the road. We continued down and came to residential streets with lots of bird song. We got our of the car and immediately we had every little dog on the street barking at us. These dogs were on the street and very threatening for chicuacuas when there are about 5 of them barking. We must have woken up the neighbourhood!! We got back in the car and continued on to the Salineno Refuge.
We arrived at the refuge where there was a huge gathering of over twenty Green Jays, Kiskadees, Altamira Orioles, Northern Cardinals and some Olive Sparrows feeding on seeds, cracked corn and peanut butter. There were also White-winged and White-tipped Doves in the huge mix of birds. It was amazing.
Red-winged Black Birds were in the hundreds in this group of feeding birds. Salineno is managed by volunteer RV'ers and Glen from Oregon was the volunteer for the past two weeks and will stay until the winter bird feeder program ends in later March. Glen continually fills up the feeders and puts out the corn meal/lard/peanut butter mixture on logs and throws seed on the ground.
The place is magical. the most common bird is the Red-winged Blackbird. So many birds come to the feeders and there is continual activity. Golden-fronted Woodpeckers, Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Olive Sparrow, Black-crested Titmouse and Orange-crowned Warblers were also hanging about. There were little birds having territory squabbles. There was a single Clay-coloured Thrush that came in for the peanut butter. We sat there for a bit and more people came to the sit. One pretty well has to sit as if one gets up, then all the birds fly away. Salineno also had White-collared Seed Eater reported but walking several trails in the bushes did not reveal any. Back at the feeders, Glen said that it has been four days since any have been reported. We sat down and watched the birds and ate our picnic lunch, not a scoffed lunch... One of us got a souvenir on their bag but hey if there are at least 500 birds flying around doodoo happens.
We thanked Salineno volunteers with a donation to their feeder fund and their portapotti rental. This place is perfect. We walked the 100 feet to the Rio Grande which is about 100 feet wide at that point. There were some ducks and cormorants on the Rio Grande.
From here we went to look over the spillway of the Falcon Dam, like it said in the bird book. In stead, following the directions in the book we found ourselves in the lineup for the Mexican border crossing. A multi-point u turn brought us back to the instructions. The book is over 10 years and things change in 10 years. One cannot go to the Dam spillway anymore. So we tried another road and found that there was no trespassing. Then we read the book's explanations. So no viewing over the spillway for birds.
Off we went 5 miles down the road to the Falcon Dam State Park. Colleen and I had visited this place in 2014 and at that time the place was so hard to find due to all the construction to the entrance road. This time is was easy, right off the highway. The renovation of the park cut down the general picnic area which is where it used to be good to bird by the dam. We did however go down the RV'ers campsite and when we turned into the campground a Road-runner walked across the road. Both Colleen and Barbr jumped out of the for the photo op. They had smiles on their faces. We continued on and found a bird feeder jewel at a campsite. The neighbours next to this campsite told us to go to the patio and sit down and watch the birds, which we did and made ourselves at home. In minutes the owners showed up. They were very gracious (Liz and Norm) and Liz put out more bird seed and peanut butter and Marshmallow's. Yes marshmallow!! It is like putting out orange slices for the sugar and the birds like Green Jays, Great Kiskadees and even Golden fronted and Ladder-backed Woodpeckers like to take little bites out of them. Colleen was thrilled to finally see a Pyrrhuloxia and we got great views about 10 feet away from us of both the male and female which are both spectacular birds. There was also an Orange-crowned Warbler taking a bath and one can almost see his tiny wet orange spot. It is miniscule in the photo below.
We got our fill of great birds here and we waited a bit for the Northern Bobwhites to show up as Norm said that about 15 show up to feed several times a day. But not this afternoon. Walking back to the car we passed several RV sites and in one corner there was a wild pig or wild boar feeding. It looked as us for a few seconds then strolled away. We then looked for and found the park "bird blind" which has seen better days but we did see a Carolina Wren and that was it.
This morning while on the highway we passed by a Crested Caracara on a post. I barely saw it as we were moving and one can't stop on the highway easily here, so we kept driving. I told Barbr who wanted a Crested Caracara and we passed it without stopping, that we would see others. By 5:30 pm, while in Falcon Dam State Park we had not mentioned the bird and I had not thought of it. We went down a rough road (at least it was a road) and I turned around halfway down to the water as it was a rough ride and it looked like the worst was yet to come. So we came out and drove down the rest of the paved road and turned around as the park has been truncated since the last time we visited. Coming back along the same turnoff on the dirt road which we had just been on, there was a pair of Crested Caracaras!! They must have been a couple and in the sunshine they looked spectacular. They were on top of a 15 to 20 foot tree. Barbr quickly got out to take her photos and Colleen and I followed quickly too. In less than a minute, the pair left. Thank you Caracaras!
We started our drive of almost two hours in traffic to return home to the Alamo Inn with a stop at the Roma Bluffs observation deck. Here one looks over the Rio Grande to the city of Ciudad Miguel Aleman, Tamaulipas and also known as Roma Los Saenz, about a 100 feet across the Rio Grande. One can see the shoreline on the Mexican side and what is being cooked on the park's BBQ's. There are people fishing and kids and dogs playing. One can see the main street of the city also and the buses going by, so one gets a view of a very different slice of life. As for birds here we saw the Black Phoebe and the Ringed Kingfisher.
Now it was dusk and we made a stop for wine at Walmart (they have a good selection in Texas) and arrived home in the dark. We had supper along with a splash and dessert and now are talking about the day. Barbr's favourite bird of the day was the Crested Caracara, no surprise there! Colleen's bird of the day was the Pyrrhuloxia and mine was the Ladder-backed Woodpecker as it was up so close to us today. We are still talking about the birds right now. It was a good day!
From State Highway 83 we turned down this poorly kept road, guarded by dogs. We checked and this was the road. We continued down and came to residential streets with lots of bird song. We got our of the car and immediately we had every little dog on the street barking at us. These dogs were on the street and very threatening for chicuacuas when there are about 5 of them barking. We must have woken up the neighbourhood!! We got back in the car and continued on to the Salineno Refuge.
We arrived at the refuge where there was a huge gathering of over twenty Green Jays, Kiskadees, Altamira Orioles, Northern Cardinals and some Olive Sparrows feeding on seeds, cracked corn and peanut butter. There were also White-winged and White-tipped Doves in the huge mix of birds. It was amazing.
Red-winged Black Birds were in the hundreds in this group of feeding birds. Salineno is managed by volunteer RV'ers and Glen from Oregon was the volunteer for the past two weeks and will stay until the winter bird feeder program ends in later March. Glen continually fills up the feeders and puts out the corn meal/lard/peanut butter mixture on logs and throws seed on the ground.
The place is magical. the most common bird is the Red-winged Blackbird. So many birds come to the feeders and there is continual activity. Golden-fronted Woodpeckers, Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Olive Sparrow, Black-crested Titmouse and Orange-crowned Warblers were also hanging about. There were little birds having territory squabbles. There was a single Clay-coloured Thrush that came in for the peanut butter. We sat there for a bit and more people came to the sit. One pretty well has to sit as if one gets up, then all the birds fly away. Salineno also had White-collared Seed Eater reported but walking several trails in the bushes did not reveal any. Back at the feeders, Glen said that it has been four days since any have been reported. We sat down and watched the birds and ate our picnic lunch, not a scoffed lunch... One of us got a souvenir on their bag but hey if there are at least 500 birds flying around doodoo happens.
We thanked Salineno volunteers with a donation to their feeder fund and their portapotti rental. This place is perfect. We walked the 100 feet to the Rio Grande which is about 100 feet wide at that point. There were some ducks and cormorants on the Rio Grande.
From here we went to look over the spillway of the Falcon Dam, like it said in the bird book. In stead, following the directions in the book we found ourselves in the lineup for the Mexican border crossing. A multi-point u turn brought us back to the instructions. The book is over 10 years and things change in 10 years. One cannot go to the Dam spillway anymore. So we tried another road and found that there was no trespassing. Then we read the book's explanations. So no viewing over the spillway for birds.
Off we went 5 miles down the road to the Falcon Dam State Park. Colleen and I had visited this place in 2014 and at that time the place was so hard to find due to all the construction to the entrance road. This time is was easy, right off the highway. The renovation of the park cut down the general picnic area which is where it used to be good to bird by the dam. We did however go down the RV'ers campsite and when we turned into the campground a Road-runner walked across the road. Both Colleen and Barbr jumped out of the for the photo op. They had smiles on their faces. We continued on and found a bird feeder jewel at a campsite. The neighbours next to this campsite told us to go to the patio and sit down and watch the birds, which we did and made ourselves at home. In minutes the owners showed up. They were very gracious (Liz and Norm) and Liz put out more bird seed and peanut butter and Marshmallow's. Yes marshmallow!! It is like putting out orange slices for the sugar and the birds like Green Jays, Great Kiskadees and even Golden fronted and Ladder-backed Woodpeckers like to take little bites out of them. Colleen was thrilled to finally see a Pyrrhuloxia and we got great views about 10 feet away from us of both the male and female which are both spectacular birds. There was also an Orange-crowned Warbler taking a bath and one can almost see his tiny wet orange spot. It is miniscule in the photo below.
We got our fill of great birds here and we waited a bit for the Northern Bobwhites to show up as Norm said that about 15 show up to feed several times a day. But not this afternoon. Walking back to the car we passed several RV sites and in one corner there was a wild pig or wild boar feeding. It looked as us for a few seconds then strolled away. We then looked for and found the park "bird blind" which has seen better days but we did see a Carolina Wren and that was it.
This morning while on the highway we passed by a Crested Caracara on a post. I barely saw it as we were moving and one can't stop on the highway easily here, so we kept driving. I told Barbr who wanted a Crested Caracara and we passed it without stopping, that we would see others. By 5:30 pm, while in Falcon Dam State Park we had not mentioned the bird and I had not thought of it. We went down a rough road (at least it was a road) and I turned around halfway down to the water as it was a rough ride and it looked like the worst was yet to come. So we came out and drove down the rest of the paved road and turned around as the park has been truncated since the last time we visited. Coming back along the same turnoff on the dirt road which we had just been on, there was a pair of Crested Caracaras!! They must have been a couple and in the sunshine they looked spectacular. They were on top of a 15 to 20 foot tree. Barbr quickly got out to take her photos and Colleen and I followed quickly too. In less than a minute, the pair left. Thank you Caracaras!
We started our drive of almost two hours in traffic to return home to the Alamo Inn with a stop at the Roma Bluffs observation deck. Here one looks over the Rio Grande to the city of Ciudad Miguel Aleman, Tamaulipas and also known as Roma Los Saenz, about a 100 feet across the Rio Grande. One can see the shoreline on the Mexican side and what is being cooked on the park's BBQ's. There are people fishing and kids and dogs playing. One can see the main street of the city also and the buses going by, so one gets a view of a very different slice of life. As for birds here we saw the Black Phoebe and the Ringed Kingfisher.
Now it was dusk and we made a stop for wine at Walmart (they have a good selection in Texas) and arrived home in the dark. We had supper along with a splash and dessert and now are talking about the day. Barbr's favourite bird of the day was the Crested Caracara, no surprise there! Colleen's bird of the day was the Pyrrhuloxia and mine was the Ladder-backed Woodpecker as it was up so close to us today. We are still talking about the birds right now. It was a good day!
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