Amazing Birds in the Lower Rio Grande Valley

We were greeted by the loud, raucous croaking sound of two Plain Chachalacas as we entered Sabal Palm Audubon Center south of Brownsville, Texas. They needed a distinctive call, since their feathers were a drab grayish brown. About the size of a chicken, they easily flew up onto the roof of the visitor’s [...]

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Birding La Copita Ranch and Baffin Bay

“The area we will be exploring here on La Copita Ranch is referred to as tamaulipan (tom-all-ee-pan) scrub,” Tom Langschied, explained. Tom was our local Texas guide and is a research scientist at the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute at Texas A&M University-Kingsville.
He pointed to a nearby tree. “This is a [...]

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A Myriad of Birds Around Aransas

The Laughing Gulls were the first birds up as our American Birding Association (ABA) field trip group alighted from the bus at Indian Point. It was still dark and gale-force winds buffeted us. We quickly huddled in the protection of the bus.
“Royal Term over the car park,” announced Alan Davies, our [...]

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Spring Birding in the Texas Hill Country

The morning was just beginning to lighten in the overcast skies at Kerville-Schreiner Park. It had been dark by time we had arrived in Kerrville the night before, but even in the dim morning light, I was amazed at the jagged hills and greenery. The Hill Country, or Edwards Plateau, was a different Texas [...]

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Looking for Yellow Rails at Anahuac Wildlife Refuge

I had to dig through the box to find rubber boots to fit my feet. The only ones my size were hip waders. After donning them, I strutted outside the visitor center at the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge for our Yellow Rail orientation.
David Sarkozi, our guide from the Friends of Anahuac Refuge, [...]

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Rest and Food for the Weary – Song Bird Fall-out

A slow storm inched its way across western Louisiana and west Texas the prior day, dropping buckets of rain. As I struggled to see the freeway in the driving rain, I thought about the neotropical migrants getting ready to make their way across the Gulf of Mexico that evening.
As we pulled into Peveto [...]

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