Another Refuge and Some Other Stuff

This past week, on South Padre Island, we endured winds of 40 miles per hour and got more rain, but we also had an opportunity to visit another wonderful refuge. I had spotted the sign when we were coming back the other day. Located just 25 miles northwest of South Padre is the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge.

Within the refuge, there is a 15 mile drive and around every bend, we found something to capture our interest. Who knows what kind of a bird this ornery thing is... Some kind of heron I suppose.

The park is famous as a wintering spot for osprey and it wasn't long before we spotted one. Osprey are members of the hawk family and have wing spans 45-75 inches. We saw some remarkable demonstrations of their fish catching skills and I was able to capture a few pictures of them "dining". This one was not about to let the gull have any after he captured and carried the fish "to the table".

And then later, we saw this one try to enjoy his catch while half perched on a post... And this is probably my best picture of a bird in flight, complete with his prey. I wish I knew the wing span of this Osprey. We saw many other shorebirds, including a Spoonbill, and a variety of hawks, but we didn't see the elusive Oselot. The Oselot is an endangered species but there are 30 that are known to live in this refuge. We saw where they have been spotted, but we did not see one. We did see deer and a coyote and this pair of very charming Caracara birds. When we stopped this time, it was because I thought I saw something in a distant tree and then right in front of us, not even 50 feet away, was this delightful Crested Caracara pair perched ontop a cactus. They almost look fake in their cute little hats.

When we got back to the visitor center, several hours later, we got to see Green Jays and Javalinas enjoying supper. Look closely at the first Jay and you will see he is missing a tail...

It was a great day filled with interesting sitings and I hope we get a chance to return before we leave the area.

Whenever we return to the Island, we have to cross Queen Isabella Causeway and this is a sign that makes me grin, each time I see the flashing lights.
And then, of course, there is this sign on the walkway to the beach. In two languages, it is telling us not to use soap... took me a minute to realize there was a spigot on top the pole for rinsing off salt water... still the sign is a unique one.

One evening. we took a drive around the town of Port Isabel's harbor district and were rewarded with some very dramatic sunset scenes. We spotted crusty old fishing boats on one end of town. We saw a fishing boat just going out for a night's work,

near a Pirate's Ship that is a tourist attraction, both going out of the channel.

This statue of Jesus sits at the end of our park and welcomes ships into the harbor. On another day, we took a drive to the other end of the Rio Grand Valley and visited some of mom's friends from Kenyon. Maxine and Duane gave us a tour of the park they call home in the winter and Mary invited us into her home to visit. These people are 2 of the 800 or so who live in this Mission area park for part of the year. Each of them have citrus trees in their yards and they shared grapefruit and lemons with us. When we left, we agreed that it was a nice park with a wide variety of activities, but we also agreed that we are not ready for that kind of living yet... and when we are, I am pretty sure it will not be in Texas.

More later. Another week on the Island, and then we head west.