South Texas!

(October 17th) I'm out here all my own, entirely to see some amazing wildlife and try and get a few good pictures of it. The Rio Grande Valley in south Texas is famous among birders as being one of the best birding spots in the country. It has some Mexican species that are on the northern limit of the range as well being a wintering ground for many northern species. After getting off the plane in the afternoon, I headed out to check out Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge.

South Texas was not what I was expecting. For some reason, I was thinking it would be arid desert much like what I saw in Big Bend National Park. Some parts of it are scrubby, but the habitat is diverse - dense woods, gulf wetlands, grasslands, and even some palm-dominated landscapes. The wildlife was everywhere - even if it wasn't exactly what I was expecting :) Just outside the visitor's center, this Mexican Ground Squirrel was gorging himself admist several Green Jays.

As I explored the refuge, I ran into incredible spiders, walking sticks, numerous species of butterflies, whistling ducks, grebes, sparrows, herons, egrets, and many other bird species. Around the mudflats, I ran into this long-billed curlew.

The amount of wildlife I saw in such a short time was amazing. If every day goes like this evening, the trip should be a great success!