Monday, we drove 175 miles to our home for the next month. We are at Park Place Estates, a gated community in Harlingen, Texas. (Literally, we had to have access for the gates to open to let us drive in). We are centrally located to South Padre Island, Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, and Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge.
We have a lot of friendly folks here, a nice camping site, and a lot of other amenities that we probably won't partake in. We have 80 degree temperatures. The only downside, is the 30+ mile an hour winds.
Our first choice for our camp site was not available for the entire month. Our second choice was. After sitting outside this afternoon in this horrendous wind, we are glad our first choice was not available, The camper gives us a wind block, otherwise, we would have been inside all day.
Shortly after setting up camp, we got the Ferny Kat approval for this campground.
We took a late afternoon stroll around the the park, then came back to our site and watched a couple of Golden-fronted Woodpeckers pecking in the palm tree. The Golden-fronted Woodpeckers gave us another iNaturalist species.
We watched the sun going down with a few pretty clouds right before calling it a night.
It was nice to wake up Tuesday morning with the breeze blowing in the windows. We had a colorful sunrise to get the day started. Our adventure today takes us to Santa Ana NWR.
We walked the Pintail Trail at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. There were several different species of ducks and other waterfowl enjoying the lakes.
We grabbed our first new species of the day near the lake, a Green Kingfisher.
The trail meandered along the Rio Grande with many opportunities to see the Mexico border.
The birds were plentiful on the trail with several first bird species sightings.
Ladderback Woodpecker
Black-crested Tit-mouse
Dusky-capped Flycatcher
Altmira Orioles
We checked out all 3 observation towers. Two of the towers were connected by a rope bridge.
We saw "The Wall" on our way to Le Feria Nature Center. There were plenty of ducks and a Vermillion Flycatcher hanging around the area. It didn't take long with the howling wind to send us back to our gated community.
We had another great day touring around the area Wednesday, even though it was a rainy kind of day. The prediction was for a 10th of an inch of rain today, which doesn't sound like a lot, unless you are out in it. It didn't spoil our day, we were prepared with our rain jackets.
Our first stop was Dixieland Park, where plenty of waterfowl were enjoying the reservoir.
Our second stop was Harlingen Thicket Birding Center. We enjoyed the hike, with on and off light rain getting a few pics along the way.
One of the species that was on our bucket list, was the Green Jays, which we found at our last stop of the day, Hugh Ramsey Nature Park.
We enjoyed our leisurely stroll looking at plants and watching birds. We got a pic of our first Buff-bellied Hummingbird.
As an added bonus, we got a lot more new species sightings.
The last blind/bird feeder area, made me take a step back, when we saw a couple of Collard Peccary aka Javelina. I later learned that the musky, kind of skunk smell, and the bark we heard, was them feeling threatened. Lucky for us, they didn't charge.
We enjoyed watching more Green Jays and a lot of other cool birds feasting at the feeder. We will definitely be back here.
After we got back to camp, we got on our heavy jackets and went outside to grill. Ferny Kat came out for a while then went back in. We were surprised to find that she snuck out the door and was in the middle of Jelly Bean Drive, which is the road in front of our camper. She was drinking rain water out of a puddle. There is no doubt, this is a Ferny Kat approved campground, and no doubt, we will be keeping a closer eye on her and make sure the door is secured.
The race was on, late afternoon at Park Place. The old farts were racing their radio controlled cars on the track. It was quite entertaining.
Thursday, we woke up to a foggy day, and it stayed that way all day. We made the most of it and didn't let it dampen our fun.
We checked out another wildlife refuge, Laguna Atascosa. We got our hawk fix in today seeing lots and lots of them.
Our Lakeshore Drive to the Osprey Overlook. There were plenty of shorebirds, but not good visibility.
We made a walk to the alligator pond, which was dried up, but found a some more hawks, a few birds, and a Snipe.
We spent a few hours hiking the trails near the visitor center. We watched a Cooper's Hawk, that was eyeing White-tipped Doves, that finally went after it's meal, chasing one of them across the way.
We found a lot more pretty species of birds that are only found in this little part of the U.S. before making our way back to camp.
When we got back to camp, Ferny Kat was well rested, and waiting for her outdoor time, which of course, she got.
We took a ride to South Padre Island on this cloudy, Friday, morning. We enjoyed being here about 20 years ago. It was laid back and quiet. Not anymore, it is way too touristy for us.
We did enjoy the walk along the beach at the end of the road, without all the hustle and bustle of the commercial life.
We couldn't find a picnic area that had the ambiance that we wanted, so went headed back to Laguna Atascosa NWR Osprey Point. It was a no fog day, so we were able to finally see the lake and all the shorebirds.
We had talked to a biologist yesterday, that told us every time you come here you can see something different. She was right, we saw Road Runners and a Nilgai.
We made a stop at the visitors center to look for butterflies. We didn't find any butterflies, but did see plenty of Green Jays and other birds feasting at the feeders.
I got up and got at it. I had the bathroom and kitchen spruced up before breakfast. We continued with our getting it done, by doing a couple of weeks of laundry, which is an easy feat with the park's laundry mat.
We took a walk around the park while the clothes were washing and found some House Finches.
After we got back to the camper, Lauren washed the truck, and I cleaned up the camper.
We have had Amber strapped in the garage since we left home over 2 weeks ago. We unstrapped her, and rolled her out today.
We enjoyed the afternoon, relaxing at our campsite. A Cooper's Hawk perched nearby, then the resident American Kestrel swooned it. Let's just say, the Kestrel is not happy with the intrusion.
Sunday was the first day since we left home that we just chilled out. The only reason we cranked up the truck, was to take the garbage to the bin.
We thought the wind was strong when we got here Monday. Monday's wind was just a breeze compared to today. The wind hitting the camper, made us feel like we were riding on a ship in rough seas.
We did walk the outskirts of the park, cooked some ribs on the grill, and went to the track today. It was a great way to spend a windy day.
