Last night we thought which of the places that we have visited already and would we like to revisit again. Colleen suggested Salineno and we thought yes that would be a good choice. So we set off on the almost two hour trip west with overcast skies. It stayed in the 50's all day. From the photos you can see we dressed for the weather. On the side road to Salineno, there was a Caracara sitting on top of a flowering Yucca/Spanish Dagger. This was a perfect photo up. We took photos.
We had a lovely time at Salineno and the feeding station was quite active with a Audubon's Oriole and a leucistic Red-winged Blackbird.
Barbr and I decided to go look for the White-collared Seedeater. I talked with the refuge volunteer Glen for the exact directions to the area where the birds are and we set off hoping that this time we would see them. We walked the hard sand trail for about a mile and then walked up a small hill and found ourselves in an arroyo, an open area with a canyon wall on one side. It was also an informal dump and we saw some little chihuahuas running around. We looked and looked for movement and waited. Then I looked at a mostly bare tree to see what the two light rusty spots were in the tree. White-collared Seedeaters!!! They were sitting quietly and we got as close as we could and took some photos! Strong grosbeak-type cone bill. Rusty light brown breasts. Almost pinky-orange in the overcast light and round balls of fluff. Sweet birds!!! They flew off and we celebrated with smiles. We walked back and Glen looked at the photo and confirmed the birds. We were thrilled.
From here we went to Chapena and saw a pair of Cactus Wrens pretty close to us. This is a beautiful bird, the biggest wren in North America. More photos. We then drove on to the El Rio RV campground right on the Rio Grande at Chapena. We were greeted by an assortment of fierce looking pooches, little and big but all waging their tales. The owners of the property came out to the car and we paid the fee and off we went with our lunches down this path into a canyon with huge cacti and rocks. We walked to the shore of the Rio Grande where there was a covered deck over the water. We ate lunch I walked the rocks into the river to look for the Ringed Kingfisher and our efforts paid off. One flew out of a small bay and gave us an flying show, hovering over a spot in the river and then it flew off. We walked out of this beautiful spot. The new 20-foot border wall will go up here someday and ruin it all.
Coming back to Alamo on the 83 East at the Rio Grande City the blimp or what we have named it, the Eye in the Sky was back up along the border and in the sunshine it glowed white. Very pretty. Now why can't the high technology tools be used instead of the ancient fortifications-wall concept. Oh well, no room for common sense here.
We checked this morning and did not see Our Buff-breasted Hummingbird but when we came back, it was "tsking" in its bush in front of our window. It made it through the chilly night!
We had a great day and toasted the birds tonight with another big can of Michelob Ultra! It was a perfect day.
We have not looked for Barn Owls yet, so Colleen and I went out just a dark (Barbr was shopping) to drive the nearby farm fields area to search for any hunting Barn Owls. We did find a couple of shorebirds in the wet ditch areas that flew out into the road. It had rained so there was mud and water for them along the dirt road. That was it.
We had a lovely time at Salineno and the feeding station was quite active with a Audubon's Oriole and a leucistic Red-winged Blackbird.
Barbr and I decided to go look for the White-collared Seedeater. I talked with the refuge volunteer Glen for the exact directions to the area where the birds are and we set off hoping that this time we would see them. We walked the hard sand trail for about a mile and then walked up a small hill and found ourselves in an arroyo, an open area with a canyon wall on one side. It was also an informal dump and we saw some little chihuahuas running around. We looked and looked for movement and waited. Then I looked at a mostly bare tree to see what the two light rusty spots were in the tree. White-collared Seedeaters!!! They were sitting quietly and we got as close as we could and took some photos! Strong grosbeak-type cone bill. Rusty light brown breasts. Almost pinky-orange in the overcast light and round balls of fluff. Sweet birds!!! They flew off and we celebrated with smiles. We walked back and Glen looked at the photo and confirmed the birds. We were thrilled.
From here we went to Chapena and saw a pair of Cactus Wrens pretty close to us. This is a beautiful bird, the biggest wren in North America. More photos. We then drove on to the El Rio RV campground right on the Rio Grande at Chapena. We were greeted by an assortment of fierce looking pooches, little and big but all waging their tales. The owners of the property came out to the car and we paid the fee and off we went with our lunches down this path into a canyon with huge cacti and rocks. We walked to the shore of the Rio Grande where there was a covered deck over the water. We ate lunch I walked the rocks into the river to look for the Ringed Kingfisher and our efforts paid off. One flew out of a small bay and gave us an flying show, hovering over a spot in the river and then it flew off. We walked out of this beautiful spot. The new 20-foot border wall will go up here someday and ruin it all.
Coming back to Alamo on the 83 East at the Rio Grande City the blimp or what we have named it, the Eye in the Sky was back up along the border and in the sunshine it glowed white. Very pretty. Now why can't the high technology tools be used instead of the ancient fortifications-wall concept. Oh well, no room for common sense here.
We checked this morning and did not see Our Buff-breasted Hummingbird but when we came back, it was "tsking" in its bush in front of our window. It made it through the chilly night!
We had a great day and toasted the birds tonight with another big can of Michelob Ultra! It was a perfect day.
We have not looked for Barn Owls yet, so Colleen and I went out just a dark (Barbr was shopping) to drive the nearby farm fields area to search for any hunting Barn Owls. We did find a couple of shorebirds in the wet ditch areas that flew out into the road. It had rained so there was mud and water for them along the dirt road. That was it.
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