Laguna Atascosa Natioal Wildlife Refuge

Hi everyone, Yesterday we travelled with Mary and Tom to the refuge near us. It was 98,000 acres big, and we just covered a very small portion of it. There were numerous yuccas in bloom throughout the park -some just starting out and lots more in full bloom. The park is on the coast of the Laguna(pronounced lagoona ) Madre  with South Padre Island to the east. Jaguar now extinct here in texas.

This beautiful bird is the green jay. Lots of them hanging around the feeders along with male and female  cardinals.

 

There were signs such as this all through the park. It would be rare to see one as there were only 30-50 in Texas and mostly in the park. Although  nocturnal they do roam in the daylight foraging for food.  

We did a 3 hour tram ride through the park and saw many interesting things. The lakes were almost dried up as the drought has taken over texas for 3 years.  Bye  for now .The temperature  has gone from 80 this morning to 60 as I write this.  Take care all Dee and Ron

Port Mansfield

Hi everyone, Today we did a short road trip to Port Mansfield , about 40 mins  north of here on the inter coastal waterway. Along the way there were thousands of wind turbines--along the road and far off into the distance as far as you could see. We got out to take pictures and shut off the engine and you could definitely hear the whoosh of the blades.  Of course there were no homes in any direction -its flat as a pancake in any direction and the noise would bother no one! Its all farm land around this area.

 

Along the way this Great Horned Owl was spotted. It flew out of a dead palm tree and landed on a nearby tree. Probably a female and was laying  on an egg in the tree.  It was approx.25 " high  and a sight to see.  It stayed up on this branch until after we left waiting to fly back to its home. We had spotted it on the way to the Port and it was still there on our return trip so we had to stop again for more pics.

 

These deer were everywhere in town and are being fed by feeders making them quite tame. Unfortunately  the coyotes also know where they are  roaming. The deer are in every ones yard just laying around  in the shade and the predators move in at night. You can hear coyotes here beside our park all night long also.. but we are fenced in  thank goodness.

 

  Today in south Texas was really enjoyable .we stopped for lunch at Pelican Bar and Grill ..ate some really delicious grilled black drum  and then headed for home. Bye for now. Hope you enjoy our owl pics.  take care Dee and Ron

Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge

Hi everybody, well yesterday we travelled to the Santa Ana Wildlife refuge near Alamo with Mary and Tom. Well here are our friends standing beside Tom's infamous picture on the wall of the refuge from 5 years ago when they visited there.(different blue shirt.
Now he did ask if anyone wanted autographs but most people declined--their loss! The park is 2,000  acres of trails and  some dried up lakes because of the drought conditions here in Texas. Lots of wildlife and birds.

Mary and I on a suspension bridge through the tree tops. We were on a 7 mile tram ride tour through the park. It took us through a cemetery on the property that had been there since the 1800's.At one point on the tour we were only 1/3 of a mile from  the Rio Grande River with Mexico on the other side.

Last week a bobcat had run in front of the tram but nothing this trip. We had done a short walking trip to see birds on the Pintail Lake Trail  and then the tour ,then we stopped for picnic lunch.

 Golden fronted woodpecker near picnic tables.

Notice the humming bird in the lower left hand corner-bonus!

We had a great day with sunshine and temp of 78.

Ron took some great pics. Bye for now have a great day-stay warm,   Dee and Ron

Papayas

Hi everyone, here is one of a few papaya trees in a yard here in the park. These are quite tall but the fellow has a few smaller ones coming up from seed he scattered in his small garden. He also has lemons the size of grapefruits on one of his trees.
We travelled over to Harlingen  today and picked up Ron's spotting scope that he's been waiting to get since ordering it a couple of weeks ago.

A kiskadee  here in the park.

Were off to a wildlife area tomorrow so hope to have lots more pics soon. Have to try out the scope.  bye for now ..take care all  Dee and Ron

 

South Padre Island Jan 15

Hi everyone. Yesterday we travelled to South Padre Island with Mary and Tom. What a fun day we had. This bridge took us over the Laguna Madre Bay  which is part of the inter coastal waterway to the island. We toured an R V Park and then on to Joe's seafood restaurant. Yummy--huge shrimp!!

There were lots of

shore birds ,ducks ,many egrets ,pelicans, herons, and of coarse alligators(2) that we noticed.

 

From there we drove down the beach to do a bit of metal locating .Tom found a penny and Ron found a pull tab. whoo hoo..Internet is working much better now thanks goodness. Well bye for now, take care  Dee and Ron 

Hi everybody, Just one of our great sunrises here I  the morning. Sorry about no blogs for awhile--our internet here is really terrible. It was out of service all yesterday and last night again  besides most evenings. The service guys worked 2 days on it and it was worse than ever  so you'll have to bear with us on that.Many have complained because they can't keep in touch with family.
There are many wind turbines in the area surrounding our campground. Most every day it is quite windy here with lots of sun. 79 deg at the moment. We are also -7 feet below sea level.

Ron helped Tom with his awning and sunscreen  on their motor home. Sure makes a difference with some shade.  It also gives more private sitting area. I think we will try to do ours one day this week when its not windy..........

Our solar panels are working great for our 12 volt  systems .We had a couple of rainy days where we had to go back to electric but so far so good.

We want to wish our son Scott a Happy Birthday tomorrow-have a great day.

Also we want to wish our great-nephew Patrick a speedy recovery in the hospital.

Get well soon..Take care  to all Dee and Ron

 

Monday Jan 6 2014

Hi everyone, On Saturday night we had our fish fry and it was awesome. Lots of red drum and sea trout and all the side dishes and desserts. A few new people had come in on Saturday so it ended up with 93 hungry folks. The evening temp was 73 F. The park is now full.
Yesterday the cold air from the north blew in and temps took a dip to 48F by the afternoon. Ron and Tom did a bit of night fishing and caught some small bait fish. It was quite windy and had to dress very warm.
Today (Mon)was still cool and is supposed to warm to 70's by Wed. I went over to hall this morning and tried some line dancing. It was lots of fun,  especially with 2 left feet. Hope Mary can come next week too as she is starting to feel a bit better today.

Take care everyone, stay warm

 Ron and Dee

Friday Jan 3

Hi everybody, What a beautiful sunny day it was here today. Temperature got up to 65deg. The first one we've had since arriving. Everyone in the park was smiling with the great weather. Our friends Mary and Tom arrived around supper time .They made it from Georgia in 2 days. Tom is much better from his bout of pneumonia but now Mary has bad cold. So they're hoping to improve health wise in a couple of days after some much needed rest. This picture is the Arroyo River where all the fish are caught for the fish fry.
Today we took a drive to Harlingen to check it out. Did a bit of grocery shopping at the HEB.
Hope all is well with our friends, family and followers. Stay warm in the frigid north.Take care  Dee and Ron

Happy New Year 2014

Happy New Year everyone and a prosperous 2014.It is still raining here and now totals 3 " in the Harlingen area. The picture of blue heron was on the Arroyo River  in the park here. This Saturday is the big fish fry  and quite a few people have already signed up --must be good. The potluck tonight starts with homemade turkey soup with all the side dishes. Have a great day ,take care Dee and Ron

Jan 1 2014