Today was a Sabbath day – only 2 hours in one park, then a short walk around the amazing campus of the U of Tx, Rio Grande Valley, when it started to drizzle in earnest, a drive through downtown Brownsville (quite modest, a few buildings of stories but blocks of mixed housing and businesses), followed by a much needed nap, and finally participating in our churchs YouTubed worship service and family chat on zoom.
Davids chigger bites are still very painful both to see and for him to feel, but Jeans are just red and barely itching.
The park we visited this morning was part of a ranch plantation house belonging to one of the early settlers who brought irrigation techniques into the area. And by early, we are talking just mid 1800s. Without irrigation it would just be mesquite shrubs. But it also had the only large stand of Sabal palms and little ponds. We drove inside and out of the Wall a few times – the park is outside the wall, but obviously in Tx. The river must have been just at the edge of the park but we didnt walk every trail. Remember, it
And we gained 3 more birds: the dove and the huge and a type of swallow. But we are also posting some of the lovely shots we got of our favorites: those whistling ducks – with their orange lipstick and pink – yes, pink – stockings; the teals (white stripes on the sides of their bills); more amazing green jays; and even some more pink roseate spoonbills.
If you are interested in the surrounding area: Brownsville is very much a Spanish as first language area. There are restaurants everywhere – many of the usual chains: Longhorn, Jack in the box, Churchs – but many popular local places – packed with cars. We are trying to be mostly Keto so the usual Mexican food is not on the list, but we must definitely return to the seafood place when we revisit South Padre Island. Some of the cities have amazing parks – huge areas of soccer fields and multiple playground equipment and huge pavilions. No Lutheran churches seen, or Baptist, interestingly. Cemeteries are highly decorated with wreaths. And
The architecture in houses is varied – stone, wood, stucco, brick. The vehicles are often trucks! Price of gas is 2.54 at the moment. Were seeing lots of signs of that bad freeze earlier in the year, in brown trees and shrubs, and we heard that so many of the onion and cabbage crops were turned under you could smell it for miles.
The Wall is visible along the south edge of where we have driven, mostly to our west. It has many gaps and roads going through it. Its usually metal bars with gaps you can see through. The international bridges must still be running – we just cant go thru with this rental car and didnt even think of it. We picked up our first Mexican license plate.
To date, we have picked up another 38 new birds for our Big Year. We love all this proof that our God is an amazing Creator who must have a great sense of humor.
The Roseate Spoonbill puts his bill in the water and swishes it left and right. The bill has drain slots !!
