Last night I made it home from a delightful trip to the Rio Grande Valley with four excited nature enthusiasts. We visited a number of sites across the valley ranging from the Gulf of Mexico to Falcon Lake so we could see what the various habitats of the area have to offer. We were rewarded with great looks of many species of birds at the northern extremes of their normal ranges. We also got some wonderful opportunities to observe lots of wintering waterfowl.

On our way down from Houston our group made a stop at Rockport to see the endangered Whooping Crane. Our efforts were rewarded when we saw six Whooping Cranes along with a couple of Sandhill Cranes that were dwarfed by their white cousins. Also in Rockport we enjoyed several ducks including Canvasback, Lesser Scaup, Redhead and Mottled Duck.

Our next stop was a brief one at the Sarita rest area on Highway 77. As we stretched our legs and freshened up we were treated to looks at Brewer’s Blackbirds and our first looks at the valley birds that everyone was so eager to see. Most of the group got their first ever looks at Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Black-crested Titmouse and Green Jays during the brief stop.

As we made our way to South Padre Island we saw several Harris’s Hawks, Crested Caracara and a White-tailed Hawk. We looked hard for Aplomado Falcon along Highway 100 but it just wasn’t to be. We used our last hour or so of daylight searching for birds at the South Padre Island Convention Center where we were rewarded with great looks of such birds as Tricolored Heron, Reddish Egret and American Bittern. We also heard a Clapper Rail and Sora but they were being secretive and never posed for any photos. We finished up our evening with yummy Cajun food at Daddy’s.

We spent the next morning searching the boardwalks of the convention center and the SPI Birding Center. I am always impressed with what a nice place the birding center is. We spent time photographing oodles of Redheads and American Widgeon around the birding center along with Peregrine Falcon, Marsh Wren, Common Gallinule, Blue and Green-winged Teal, Mottled Duck, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler and lots of herons, egrets, gulls and terns.

It took a lot to pull us away from the ripe birding of SPI but we eventually headed west to Estero Llano Grande State Park. The wind was howling but that didn’t seem to keep too many birds away. Some of the afternoon highlights included Couch’s Kingbird, Vermilion Flycatcher, Green Kingfisher, Eastern Screech-Owl, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Common Pauraque and more ducks than you could shake a stick at.

The next morning we headed back to Estero Llano Grande SP. We just couldn’t get enough of that place. It was a special morning because our group was joined by a special guest. Not long before our trip I was contacted by an 11 year old valley resident who has gotten very interested in birds. He and his family were our guests of honor for the morning and as we enjoyed the birds of the park he shared some of his birding experiences with us and even gave his impression of a Common Pauraque. While at the park we got chances to get some good photos of the Green Kingfisher, Least Grebe, Long-billed and Curve-billed Thrasher, Harris’s Hawk, Green Jay, Great Kiskadee, Olive Sparrow, White-tipped Dove and we even enjoyed seeing an Ovenbird.

Strong wind seemed to be the underlying theme of the trip so it was a relief when the wind died down a little later in the day at Santa Ana NWR. We walked some of the trails and found the refuge to be rather quiet. We did get some more chances to photograph Black-crested Titmouse, Olive Sparrow, Great Kiskadee, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, White-faced Ibis, Cinnamon Teal, Black-necked Stilt and several other birds.

When we headed out to Bentsen State Park the next morning we were once again greeted by strong winds. We quickly forgot about the wind when we walked up to the feeding stations at the entrance to the park. The first bird we saw was a Clay-colored Thrush picking peanut butter suet from a hanging log. When we got closer we were delighted by great views of Green Jay, Great Kiskadee, Inca Dove, White-tipped Dove, Plain Chachalaca, Northern Cardinal, Black-crested Titmouse and the dazzling Altamira Oriole. It was tough to pull ourselves away from the feeders, but we had barely made it into the park and the morning was already half gone.

As we walked around the park we enjoyed seeing Ringed Kingfisher, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Green Jay, Vermilion Flycatcher, Verdin, and the continuing Red-naped Sapsucker among others. We were having such a great time at the park that we didn’t go for lunch until around 1:30pm.

On our way to lunch we made an unexpected stop at a grocery store parking lot to take in a large congregation of Green Parakeets. There must have been at least 200 parakeets in the trees all around us. They were fun to watch as they preened each other and flew around squawking the whole time.

Our day wrapped up at Falcon State Park where we spent the last hours of daylight photographing Vermilion Flycatcher and a number of other small songbirds.

The last day of our trip started out on the banks of the Rio Grande at Salineno. As we started getting some daylight we saw a handful of ducks, several Osprey and several of the other valley birds we enjoyed so much on our trip. We got a brief glimpse of a Muscovy Duck as it flew up the river in front of several boarder patrol airboats. Also startled by the airboats were six or eight Buffleheads. After walking the trails along the river and scanning lots of treetops for Red-billed Pigeons we were met by a couple who were filling up the feeders in the wildlife refuge. It was nice to see that something is being done to try to keep the spirit of the DeWind’s alive in the valley. It sure would be nice if the Valley Land Fund would change their minds and allow the feeding station at Salineno to reopen. We didn’t have much time to watch the birds but there were plenty of them coming in. We were told that all three of the expected species of oriole had been seen on the previous day.

We had a schedule to keep so we headed back to Falcon State Park where we enjoyed great looks at Cactus Wren, Pyrrhuloxia, Scaled Quail, Verdin and Greater Roadrunner before heading back to Houston.

From the smiles on everyone’s faces as we headed north from the valley and the enthusiastic talk on the way home it was obvious that everyone was pleased with our time in the valley. It truly is a special place and it made a great setting for us to build our photography and birding skills. I have a feeling that everyone in our group will be heading back down before long.