Rainy Day visits to Museum February 26

Another cold front arrived Tuesday afternoon, will winter never end? The wind changed to the north and the temp dropped 11 degrees in 10 minutes. Not a good day for outside activities, we opted on the Harlingen museum scene for Wednesday's activities.

The Art and Heritage Museum had a quilt display featuring variations on the Jacob's Ladder pattern. Made us think of Kathy Lupardus and her beautiful handiwork. Photos of the quilts were not allowed, but, of course, a picture book of the 18 quilts was available for purchase at the gift shop. Needless to say, we passed on that option.

An 18 minute video on the history of Harlingen produced by 2 of the local high schools provided an interesting overview narrated by local citizens.  On the grounds is located the first house in Harlingen, named for a city in the Netherlands. constructed by Lon C. Hill. in 1904.

We visited the parlor, the kitchen, a bedroom, and Lon Hill's law office. He was a successful lawyer in Beeville who moved to the area after trying a case in Brownsville in 1903. He started a rice plantation, owned a brick factory, started a railroad, and developed the canal system necessary for irrigation. He also built a sugar mill, which was burned by Mexican bandits in 1917. He built the first school next door to his house so his 8 children along with neighbor children could receive a proper education. Each Hill child had a personal firearm and slept with a dark colored robe on the foot of the bed in case of bandit attack during the night. 

Next door to the Hill House is the first hospital opened in 1923 by Ida Gilbert and Marie Yeager in 3 old army barracks. On display were a doctor office, a dental office, a maternity room, and a pharmacy. The old instruments resemble medieval torture tools more than helpful healing aids. 

Across the courtyard is the Paso Real Stage Inn built in 1860 on the banks of the Arroyo Colorado near present day Rio Hondo. A ferry crossing was also located there. The Inn also housed the post office still intact inside the structure. 

 The historical museum, unfortunately, is currently closed for renovations. This building was formerly the Air Force Police Squadron and Brig. The entire museum complex is located on the grounds of the Harlingen Army Airfield (HAGS), an artillery training facility in WWII. The sub-base where the actual gunnery training facilities were located is now Laguna Atascosa NWR. 

Just a few blocks away is the Marine Military Academy and the Iwo Jima Memorial Museum. By the time we reached this destination, the mist had turned to rain and the wind gusts had increased considerably. We opted to take a few photos from the warmth of the cozy jeep. 

Harlon Block, a Weslaco native, was the man holding the flag pole at its base. He was killed 6 days later and is buried at the base of the monument. 

The small museum is filled with memorabilia and personal belongings of Marines who participated in the siege. A 30 minute film described the Japanese stronghold, a catacomb of underground passages and the hardships faced by the Marines during their 5 week long struggle for the 2 mile by 5 mile piece of volcanic rock. 

The monument is the original plaster that was used to cast the bronze version located at Arlington National Cemetery. Donated by the artist, Dr. Felix W. de Weldon. On active duty with the Navy, he constructed a scale model of the event within 48 hours of its happening. He selected the Military Academy in Harlingen as an inspiration to the cadets. 

Along the drive over, we saw a  flocks of gulls and Black-bellied Whistling Duck. 

World Birding Center South Padre Island

Friday, February 21, we headed for the convention Center, didn't realize it was Market Day and the parking overflowed onto the road shoulder so we paid our $4 each to walk the boardwalks at the World Birding Center.

Started with a brand new B'fly... Great Southern White!

This Spotted Sandpiper may lack the spots

but he still has the swagger

All the herons were present and accounted for 

Snowy

Little Blue

Reddish

Tri-colored

didn't photo the Great Blue and Great, way too far out in the Laguna Madre, but they were present.

A flock of Roseate Spoonbill showed off their gorgeous spring plumage with angel wing poses. 

85 % of all the Redheads in North America winter on the Laguna Madre, most of them were at the WBC on Friday. 

 Big Gator was lazing in the sun

while tilapia (?) observed the visitors on the boardwalk. 

Easy to see how the Yellow-rump came to be called BUTTER BUTT!

A visit to the Island wouldn't be complete without high flying kites. Notice the crowd at the convention center... 

February 19

Wednesday, February 19, we toured Bahia Grande with some of the other refuge volunteers.  On a short side trip farther down Hwy 48 we viewed the USS Forrestal, a decommissioned aircraft carrier being dismantled for scrap at the Port of Brownsville.

I lifted this photo of the carrier as it rounded the jetty at South Padre the day before, 7 hours late due to the dense fog - we are at Boca Chica beach that day - in the fog!

A stop at Zapata boat ramp and fishing pier resulted on the surprise find of a GLAUCOUS GULL... it had been reported at Boca Chica for several weeks, maybe the fog was too much for him.

The tour with the volunteers was a nice change from the visitor services tours, I could relax and enjoy the birds without having to interpret and record species and numbers correctly. We were treated to herds of Nilgai and hoards of Orange-crowns and Yellow-rumps hawking mosquitoes. 

A pair of Cactus Wren successfully defended their yucca from an intruding Kestrel to the delight of  all observers...

They put together a coordinated attack...

culminating with a fierce tug on tail feathers

resulting in a complete victory.

I never tire of looking at these guys...












and they never tire of looking back.



Another good day on the refuge!

Battle of Palmito Ranch

Hwy 4, Boca Chica Beach Road is a living history tour, too.  We tuned to FM 1610 for a narration to learn the story of the last battle of the Civil War on May 12 & 13, 1865, more than a month after Robert E Lee surrendered at Appomattox.  

The battle resulted in the loss of 11 Federals with no Confederate casualties and was won by the Confederates with the Union troops retreating back to Brazos Island. 

Most of the facts are taken from the writings of Rip Ford, soldier and Texas Ranger, now archived in the Haley Library in Midland. 

A few miles east was the location of Fort Belknap, occupied for just a few months during the Spanish American War in 1846. Unsanitary conditions, insects, thorn scrub, and  disease resulted in many deaths and one or two funerals a day. 

After the summer, most soldiers had relocated to Matamoras or Camargo. 

This marker designates the remains of the railroad constructed by Gen Phillip Sheridan in 1865. Earlier, in 1846, General Zachary Taylor constructed a floating bridge across Boca Chica Bay for  to transport military supplies from Brazos Santiago to White Ranch and Clarksville. 

Boca Chica Beach Tuesday February 18

Day off, so we headed for Boca Chica thinking we would enjoy a nice walk on the beach. A few clouds overhead on the 48 miles drive over. As we neared the pavement's end, the fog enveloped us. This exact same thing happened a year ago!

We opted to walk in the fog as the temp was 68 and the visibility wasn't quite as bad as last year.

North toward Brazos Island

South toward the Rio Grande

                                       








                                           

We walked right up to the birds, they couldn't see in the fog either, and were hesitant to fly.

This sleeping Willet let us approach closely, as he defied gravity. 

With birds scarce and hidden in the fog, my attention turned to patterns in the sand. 

Tracks

Clam ?

As the waves receded, unseen critters would clear their breathing holes bubbling out watery sand. 

  

Angel Wings

Shells decorated the sand, most were broken and some crunched under foot, but I did find a perfect pair of angle wings. 

Patterns appeared in lighter colored sand...

 feathers and poop...

small waves... 

large waves

Can't get enough of the sound of the surf!

President's Day Weekend

Three days of birding tours, 52 and 55 species on Saturday and Sunday at Laguna Atascosa Unit. Saturday the fog was so dense, we couldn't even see the lake until 10:30.

Ducks, Geese, and Cranes really help beef up the counts. Spring is definitely in the air as the Sandhills were yodeling and dancing to the delight of us all. Monday's tour to Bahia Grande produced fewer species, only 30, due to the wind gusting in excess of 25 mph. The Cassin's Sparrow are beginning to sing, but no skylarking yet.

This beautiful White-tailed Kite found on Gator Pond Road had caught a large rat. I'm surprised he could lift it.

 We need lots more rat catchers! Other raptors on this weekend were Harrier, Harris's, Red-tailed and White-tailed Hawk, Kestrel, Merlin, Osprey, Caracara, and Black and Turkey Vulture.

This large raft of Coots in the Laguna was just a fraction of the 400+ counted on Sunday. Every fresh water pond on West Lake Road hosted more coot than any other waterfowl.





We added Anhinga and Zone-tailed Hawk to our species list. Ducks included Redhead, Bufflehead, Ruddy Duck, Lesser  Scaup, Northern Shoveler, Hooded Merganser, Green-winged Teal, American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Ring-necked Duck, Gadwall, and Mottled Duck.

After lunch we conduct bird walks around the visitor center. The Gator Trough bird bath was the hot spot on Sunday... Black-and-white Warbler, Orange-crown, Yellow-rump, and Olive Sparrow were all bathing, with Blue-headed Vireo looking on. The big Indigo Snake visited water feature #1.

Hard to believe we only have 6 weeks left.