Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge
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We visited the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge on the third morning of the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival. The visitor center was not open (it was during the government shutdown), but the restrooms were. I knew the morning was going to include some hiking, so I brought along my trekking poles and they worked great – I got tired, but my back didn’t hurt!
There was a lot to see. The highlights in my photographs were:
Altamira oriole and a nest created by the species
Eastern Pondhawk (dragonfly)
A bee on the ground mimosa - Powderpuff (Mimosa strigillosa)
A preening Scissor-tailed Flycatcher and a preening Great Kiskadee
A Great Egret in the wind
A Green Heron – very hard to find among the plants
A Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Of course there were lots of plants/landscapes to note as well. Somehow a leaf on the ground full of holes looked interesting to me as I rested midway through the hike. Turks cap grows wild at the refuge. There are a lot of legumes in the area…many with thorns! And there is enough moisture for Spanish moss to thrive.
And now for the rest…mostly bird pictures that are mainly for identification…many of the waterbirds were almost out of the range of my camera or there was vegetation between me and the birds. The largest insect was on an awning near the tower.
I used the Deet spray on my lower legs but got bites (mosquito) through my leggings above my knees and on my arms through my sunblock shirt sleeves! Fortunately, they did not itch too much (after I put baking soda water on them); so far, I am not feeling any ill-effects; next time I will be more careful and spray myself more thoroughly.
