Near the lowest end of the Rio Grande, less than ten miles from where the river empties into the Gulf of Mexico, is the wide plain called Palmito Hill. Covered in grassy brush and cactus and edged in Honey Mesquite thickets, this area hosts Eastern Meadowlarks, Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers, Couch’s Kingbirds, Gray Catbirds, Blue Grosbeaks, Lark … Read more
As I send out this week-old report, I’m staying with my good friend Jerry in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Many of the birding venues we’d hoped to explore during my visit remain closed, but we all hope that things open soon. 2020-05-08 Friday I pulled away from my Breeze Lake haven in Brownsville, Texas at about … Read more
On Monday March 23rd I settled into the Breeze Lake RV Campground in Brownsville Texas expecting to stay for one week to get my refrigerator repaired. One thing led to another and six weeks later I began formalizing my plans to leave Texas. I’ve met some kind people in camp and made new friends. I … Read more
I believe I’ve identified the birds in the gallery below correctly, but I welcome any corrections that experienced Texas birders might care to share. I’ve always tried to be a glass-half-full person. I could complain how I’m in the middle of bird heaven, but shut in and not able to experience some of the best … Read more
I had an errand to run recently that took me to Port Isabel. While looking for roadside birds, I met my first Northern Bobwhites grazing in a grassy flat. They were near enough to get group photos, but too far for nice portraits. I watched the direction they were moving as they foraged, then I … Read more
Being trapped, so to speak, by the COVID-19 pandemic, my bird explorations have been curtailed. Rather than attempt a series of long yarns, I thought I’d share a few image sets of the birds I found nearby, starting with the parrots I found a few feet from my door. The fruit tree appears to be … Read more
I had done no bird photography since arriving in Brownsville on March 19th. With my backlog of stories about my birding adventures on the Central Gulf of Texas finished, I felt the time was right to explore my new backyard. My “home base” in Brownsville Texas, has a “Resaca” or Oxbow lake is on its … Read more
In Harlingen Texas, where I stayed Sunday night, I noticed Red-Crowned Parrots. So I did a little research and read about a neighborhood where they’d been seen before. I set a course and drove there, but they never showed. Instead I saw and photographed Great Kiskadees. The images I captured were not stellar, but I … Read more
After I left Corpus Christi, the measures against the COVID-19 outbreak began tightening. Restaurants were only allowed to seat a limited number of customers and grocers were limiting the amount of products like milk a customer could buy. I’d called a couple or restaurants on South Padre Island before leaving Corpus Christi and learned they … Read more
By Thursday I knew it was time to explore my way south into the Lower Rio Grande Valley. I’d had three days to explore Aransas NWR, and a couple of delightful afternoons in Rockport. The Central Texas Coast had been generous with her gifts, but every knowledgeable person I’d communicated with prior to embarking on … Read more
