Birding at Quinta Mazatlan

After we had lunch at Cowboy Chicken, we all drove over to Quinta Mazatlan to view the birds. They did not want to cooperate here either. It just was not a good day for birding so I suppose we were lucky to get the pictures we did.

The Bougainvillea were in full bloom along the entrance way

There are sculptures all over Quinta Mazatlan and they make a lovely addition to an already beautiful park atmosphere.

 Miriam and Al

 We put on our wings

So did Miriam and Al

 Walking on one of the pathways

This is the patio area behind the adobe home 

 Kiskadee

We had to sit quite awhile in the amphitheater for anything to show up. It was just like Bentsen Grove. The birds were just not interested in showing themselves. These Kiskadees did show up after we sat for 20 minutes. Then we did see a blue bunting but he didn't allow us to get his picture.

A bronze sculpture of an Altimore Oriole Nest 

This little guy was happy to let us take his picture and some kind of frog kept us occupied with what I presume was his music!

Then the red-winged blackbirds made their appearance and we might add grand entrance. They swept up and into the trees making their own really loud rock band music. They would sit in the tree top until something spooked them or moved them and then would all dive down to the ground.

 The Yuccas are in bloom.

 Tropical Giant Bamboo

 Wish we could have seen a Kingfisher today!

 Inca Dove

This little guy was sound asleep until we woke him up. Lee got this picture before he hustled off.

Birding at Bentsen Rio Grande State Park

We picked up our friends, Al and Miriam, and headed for Bentsen Rio Grande State Park which is near Mission, Texas. The weather looked good, not too hot and not too cold,  little overcast and the winds were mild. We thought we had it made for birding today. However, we spent most of our time waiting for birds to make an appearance today. We did have some luck but most of the time at Bentsen Rio Grande we've seen a lot more birds particularly at the bird blinds.

We rode the tram to the wall blind near the water, an old channel of the Rio Grande, but there absolutely was nothing behind the wall and the only egret we saw on the water was way to far to even identify. Bummer. So, we walked on to the next bird blind as the tram was only running on the hour.

 This is how the second bird blind looked when we arrived. We heard lots of chirping in the trees but nothing in the blind at all. We decided to wait it out and about ten minutes later we did get a bit of a break.

 Green Jays

 

A few pictures of Chachalacas

 

 

Then the Altimore Oriole appeared!

 Altimore Oriole

 Orange-crowned Warbler

Okay, this is my best guess on this little guy. We have taken several pictures of him in the past and no one can help me identify him. If you are sure of what this little bird is, please let me know. From the description in a couple of birding books, he seems to me to be the Orange-crowned Warbler especially since they say the orange crown doesn't appear unless they feel threatened.

Orange-crowned warbler from the back

 A Red-winged Blackbird joined the Green Jays at the feeder

 Golden-fronted Woodpecker

When the tram came back, we were glad to see it as the birds just up and disappeared again. Maybe there was a hawk or something in the area but we didn't see it. We had the tram drop us off at the entry point where there are a lot of feeders that we've seen lots of activity on in the past,  however, it was a no go there also. We heard them in the bushes but no one even appeared at the feeders. So, we decided to head over to the Gift Shop. Miriam did a bit of shopping in there.

Then we headed over to Cowboy Chicken in McAllen for some lunch.