South Padre Island Birding & Nature Center is part of a network of birding meccas in south Texas, collectively called the “World Birding Center”. It sits next door to the Convention Centre, which I love, and so I’ve not bothered to pay my fees to enter its grounds. On Monday, with my time in Brownsville … Read more
Visiting South Padre Island has never disappointed me. I began February with a visit to test this trend, and it fulfilled its promise to entertain, though a slow start in the morning caused me to have doubts. I began with a stop at the Sheepshead Preserve, but the few birds I could detect seemed content … Read more
It was a foggy morning ten days ago when I visited Sabal Palm Sanctuary for the first time. It added an air of mystery to my introduction to this amazing location. Tucked into the serpentine curves of the Rio Grande at the southernmost boundary of Texas with Mexico, it is so far south it hides … Read more
Friday morning I launched out of my campsite on a mission to explore one of the crown jewels of birding in south Texas; Estero Llano Grande State Park, south of Weslaco. It was a little over an hour’s drive via the Military Road, which follows the Mexican border. I drove through a drizzling overcast sky, … Read more
As I write this episode, I’ve been so involved taking pictures this past week that I buried myself under a ton of work to prepare them for my stories. I also had to honor a request to deliver images for a published report from the amazing February 2017, nineteen day science expedition I took aboard … Read more
My trip to Arizona finally was launched Thursday morning. I used the opportunity to visit some of my favorite bird destinations. My first stop was Poe Road, but I was disappointed with the visit. On my drive from the highway to the shore I passed several acres of bulldozed and burned mesquite stumps where once … Read more
Low tide was early on this Tuesday morning. The mudflats at J Street were alive with waterfowl and shorebirds. I don’t get as many opportunities as I’d like to spend time with Blue-Winged Teals, but this morning I was able to enjoy their company. Red Knots are some of the most well-travelled birds in the … Read more
The still and brackish waters at the mouth of the San Luis Rey River in Oceanside California can be attractive to migratory birds passing by on their southbound route from the far north. The stream only pours into the sea during heavy rains. Most of the year it stalls at the sand berm that separates … Read more
