Hugh Ramsey Nature Park

 

For some time now, I have been wanting to check out the Hugh Ramsey Nature Park in order to check out the birding. Well, I finally made it today. Next time I will know to be camera-ready when I approach the park, as my only bird sightings were as I was entering the birding habitat. As I walked up, I saw an Altimira oriole and a few green jays making a quick escape . By the time I got my camera ready to go, the habitat was quiet and bare. Lesson learned!

So, having scared off the beautiful birds, I set about walking through the park to take in the scenery and get a little exercise.

Like all the nature parks I have seen so far in the Rio Grande Valley, For the most part, it was all a jumble of overgrown gnarled trees and cacti - but a beautiful overgrown jumble!

When I finished making the rounds, I stopped by the birding habitat again, but it was still abandoned. I hope to go back another time soon, and this time I will be a little more stealthy! Hopefully, I will have some nice bird pictures then. 

Sunny Day on SPI

Another sunny day on South Padre Island... with waves on the island...

and still waters across the Jetties...

 And lots of fisher folk in between. 

There was lots to see in the air, as well...

And not just pelicans!

Birds on Stilts at Santa Ana

One of the sights I saw while walking the trail to the Rio Grande was rather surprising. I saw what looked like a group of black and white ducks sitting alongside a pond. As I got closer, I knew that they were ducks by their long, skinny beaks. But I wanted to see more. So I walked toward them stealthily, a few steps at a time, practically on tiptoes. As I got closer, the birds picked up on my presence and started to stand up, a few at a time. And that's when I was surprised to see that they didn't have the short, proportionate legs one would expect. No, but rather, they looked like they were standing on stilts! 

I was not surprised, when I searched the web to find out what they were, to find out that they are actually called "stilts." Black-necked stilts. They certainly were very comical to watch, with their long, lanky, toothpick-thin legs. After walking away for just a bit, they finally all flew away at once, and pretty gracefully, at that. I hope to go back and see the black-necked stilts again sometime soon. 

Trail to Rio Grande

 

 After all the craziness in Port Isabel, due to empty shelves in the stores and all the water machines cut off, I decided it would be worth my while to take the 2-hour drive to McAllen to get some produce and water. Of course, while I was out that way, I made sure to stop off at Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge again. Though I really wanted to go through the shrouded forest again, but I also wanted to take the hike down to the edge of the Rio Grande. I certainly couldn't have taken both trails today, so I opted for the one I hadn't seen. 

\I decided to give some of my photos along this trail a sepia tone to accent the rustic nature of the trail.

I really like the effect. 

Besides the rustic scenery, I saw much more wildlife along this trail, which I will add in a separate post. And finally I saw the river. It was not particularly impressive - certainly not a river that I would expect to separate two countries and to have had an impressive history, but it was quiet and peaceful pretty, and I was glad to witness it. 

Heading Out to Sprouts

 

Well, with the local grocery store shelves still pretty bare - and even more importantly, the water stations still blocked off - I thought it a good time to head to McAllen, a few hours away. I called to make sure they had produce and water available, and after a positive confirmation, I headed out. 

In the future, I will have to remember to dress in layers when I come out this way, because not only does it warm up quickly here, but just a few hours west, the temps are always considerably warmer. Hmmm... maybe I should have moved further west. But, no, I would sure miss those morning walks along the beach, once it gets warm enough to tempt me. 

I got a nice supply of veggies and water and headed back. I was trying to decide whether to go to the Quinta Mazatlan birding place I had heard about or to stop again at Santa Ana. I went for the familiar this time. Next time it will be Quinta Mazatlan for sure.

Pelican in the Kitchen

 Being pleased as I was with the photos I ordered recently, I came across a good deal on canvas prints and decided to get some of those made up as well. Mostly, I got some little 8x8's, just to try them out, but I sprung for one bigger print for my kitchen wall. And now I have a pelican in the kitchen. 

I'm happy enough with how they look, although up close and touching them, they kind of resemble a vinyl tablecloth stretched across a frame. But, what can I say? It's my own work hanging on the wall, and I like that. 

It's Not Over Yet

If the cold blast we just experienced wasn't enough, we are now feeling the aftermath. I went to get some groceries and found the stores had been cleaned out of all produce, dairy, and meat, along with some other things. Evidently, trucks have not been able to get through, with all the snow-packed highways north of us. I'm sure a little panic set in and compounded the situation. Anyway, it looks like it's going to be lentils or black-eyed peas and rice for a few days. That's my main emergency stash. At least I can cook now. A few days ago, I realized my emergency stash isn't much good without power to cook them.  

 Gas stations and water stations are also shut down. I'm really glad I've been buying my water 10 gallons at a time, but even at that, it's starting to dwindle down. I should be okay for a few days, though.

From Ice Cream Binge to Hot Chicken Soup

 

 
I moved here last April to escape the cold temps of the Midwest and Pacific Northwest, but I must have brought the cold weather with me because we are in the midst of a cold snap that has brought record temps and is causing all kinds of problems for people in the Deep South. 

I have accepted that there is indeed a winter season here, even if it is much more mild than what I'm used to. But, I'll tell you, when it's 50 and windy here, it feels downright cold! And now, with actual temps dipping into the 20's at night, it's pretty frigid.

The power went out a few days ago. The first day, when I awoke to no power in the middle of the night, I though maybe it was a planned outage - a rolling outage, designed to avoid a big stall. But on the second day, I had ice cream melting in the freezer that needed to be eaten, and I was glad to oblige, as I sat on the couch wrapped in my warm, crocheted poncho my daughter made and recently brought down for me. 

The third day, I was struggling, as I have a health condition that is triggered by the cold, which was causing me to have seizures and paralysis attacks. When I was strong enough, I would go out to my car and crank up the heat. I tried to do that as often as I could to keep me from having ongoing attacks. 

A loving couple brought me over some steamy, made-from-scratch chicken soup, which was such a welcome change from the cold cereal and refrigerated stuff I was trying to use up. They also filled my car with gas so I could keep using the heater to warm myself up every so often. I am so grateful for their help. Still, I spent many hours in bed, just wadded up in my poncho and layers of blankets. 

Finally, on the third evening, there was hope in sight when the lights began flickering on and off. They were off when I went to bed, but on when I got up. What a relief to be able to turn on the heat and cook some food!

Meanwhile, in my old Nebraska home, they were experiencing actual temps of  -30 to -40 degrees, so I feel like I can't complain - except that they are more prepared for that sort of thing up there. But I'm praying all will be safe. It's been quite a week. 

Ready for Print!

I decided to get some of my favorite local photos made into prints, so I placed an order with Amazon Photos. I haven't had photos printed for years, and when last I did, my Walmart/Walgreens prints were always quite unpredictable. Suffice it to say, the colors on my prints were not the colors of nature that drew me to click the shutter.

But this time, I was not disappointed! The colors were true to nature and I am quite pleased, even though I only have them in cheap, Dollar Tree frames. This one, above, was from one of my earliest sunrises on the island, taken July 2020.

  This one is just a simple shot of one of the picnic tables along the Laguna Vista Walking Trail. I really love the rustic simplicity. 

And yet another island sunrise. I hope to be getting more of these, now that the early morning temps are inching up toward the 70's. With Daylight Savings Time, sunrise is well after 7:30 right now, and with me being an early riser anyway, I tend to feel like the morning is half over by the time the sun comes up. But I'll soon get back into the routine - I hope. I've been having health struggles the past few months, but since I think a lot of that is due to being cooped up inside, I think it will do me good to get back into that salt air - but not until I can do it in the 70's, at least. Dreaming of 80's. 

Great White Egrets and More at the Birding Center

 

A great white egret really knows how to steal the show! So graceful and pure-looking! It's hard to look away. My eyes just want to follow, and follow, and follow. And I did follow, for quite some time. Lots of pics, but I think this was my favorite of the day. 

And then there's the American white ibis. It may have near the coloring of the white egret, but it doesn't really have the looks. Still fun to watch. This one was catching his lunch. 

Of course, a day at the Birding Center in SPI never seems complete without seeing one of the resident great blue herons - or, possibly, a tricolor heron. This one sure did strike a curious pose! How does he do that with his neck? 

There was a lot more to see today. I saw so many of the black-bellied whistling ducks that I feel impelled to give them a page of their own. Thanks for looking in!

Dophins and Puffer Fish

 

 
I was hoping to get a lot of really cool pictures of dolphins on my little dolphin cruise, but I definitely wasn't on top of my game once the motion of the boat and the diesel fumes started getting to me. But it was fun to watch and I was able to get a few pictures. 

The dolphins like to cruise along with the boat as much as they can. 

At one point, they stopped the boat and emptied their net to give us a closer look and the marine life. There were several fat puffer fish that came aboard for a short time. 

I'd love to try again sometime soon. 

The Welcoming Committee at Dolphin Docks

 

If you go to Dolphin Docks to take one of their very reasonably-priced mini cruises, you will likely be met by their welcoming committee, the pelicans. This is where I was finally able to get a little up close and personal with these entertaining creatures. 

Whether they are calmly floating on the waters or coming in for a graceful landing,
they are always fun to watch.


Perhaps even more fun when the landing is not quite so graceful!

And when you get back, there they are to tell you good-bye, 
with a friendly "Y'all come back now."

Winter in the Deep South

There is a winter season in the Deep South, after all. You have to look a little harder to see it. It happens so gradually and the green is never totally gone. But greens fade a bit and the palm fronds and the grasses begin to show a little rust. 

A Shrouded Forest

I have been trying to go to McAllen, Texas, once a month or so, just to pick up some things that I can't find here in the Port Isabel/Brownsville/Harlingen areal. I like to go to Sprouts Farmers Market to get my organic produce, and I found a thrift store I really like as well. Since it takes nearly a few hours to get there and a few hours back, I try to leave quite early in the morning, which gives me a good excuse to watch the sunset in my rear view mirror. 

But, besides the stores, I try to take in a bit of nature along the way as well. So, on the way home today, I stopped at the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge, which runs right along the border, enclosed by the Rio Grande River on the south. There are a number of trails to choose from. I chose to go down one that gave a really good sampling of this "dense, subtropical forest," including a lot of really, really tall trees shrouded in Spanish moss. I happened to get there are just the right time to catch the morning sun shining through the moss, which gave it a sort of eerie but cool nuance. 

I couldn't really see a lot of animals in this part of the refuge, but I sure could hear them. It sounded somewhat like jungle sounds we might here in the movies. I just kept walking, looking up, looking around, and just feeling astounded at the strange beauty of it all. 

After a bit, there were not as many of the shrouded trees, but I saw a sign saying "Tower Trail," so I walked along to see what I could see. 

It wasn't a super-high tower, but for a person with balance issues, it was the cause of more than a little trepidation. However, my sense of intrigue won me over and I did go up the spiral staircase, holding on to the sides with both hands with every step. It was a pretty cool view of the tree tops. Actually, there were two towers with a mobile walking bridge between the two. I did not venture across the bridge, not this time, anyway. Maybe next time.