Laguna Atascosa
February 19, 2007
We woke to another beautiful day of sunshine and warm breeze. After arelaxing wake-up we drove over to Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge where we had volunteered several seasons in the past. It is still a favoritespot in the valley of ours. The grackles were screaming and making all kindsof noise, a welcome call. We paused outside the VC to admire the greenjaywith its bright blue head.At the visitor center we said hello to Kathy, afellow volunteer, and Ranger Kevin. It was good catching up with Kevin. Heshared about his daugher going to A&M and being reading to move into anapartment with some friends. Kathy shared about Justin's graduation fromHPU.The butterfly gardens are mostly in seed, but we did see a few flittingabout. We walked the little trail around the VC and were disappointed thatthere was no water in the little alligator pond near the office area. Wechecked out the plaque that friends, Sally and Merrill, had put up at thefountain they built and were shocked to see names on the plaque and theirswas not included. Kevin had shared that Alligator Pond was dry; they stoppedpumping water from Lake Atascosa so that they would not change the ecosystemthat should be fresh rain water not bracish lake water. We didn't walk thethree miles back to Kidney Pond to see the alligator there. We did walk thetwo-miles to the rookery and were disappointed to find it also dry andtherefore not a bird in sight. The walk was refreshing and it was fun seeingthe parking lot we had put posts all around and the trail we had cleared.
Then we drove Bayside Drive. The Redhead Ridge looks great! and the view is wonderful- a360 view.We were rewarded with views of Great Blue Heronin groups of 2-8 ready to fish out lunch, the ospry sitting on the whiteparched beach with the wind russleing its feathers, some big birds withreally stout beaks, two or three long legged shore birds, and little shortlegged shore birds. We used our new camera binoculars to get pictures andhope some turned out so we can look the no-name birds up in our ThayerBirding software. There is just a drop of water in Pelican Lake,a about afoot in Laguan Madre and none most of the rest of the trip around the AutoTour Route. The Yucca are blooming; tall stalks filled with white pedalsreaching for the sky.We stopped at Shuckman Farms for fresh right off the trees ruby red grapefruit. We met Bob Shuckman; he said this is one of the worse seasons he remembers, but to us they look great.
Then we drove Bayside Drive. The Redhead Ridge looks great! and the view is wonderful- a360 view.We were rewarded with views of Great Blue Heronin groups of 2-8 ready to fish out lunch, the ospry sitting on the whiteparched beach with the wind russleing its feathers, some big birds withreally stout beaks, two or three long legged shore birds, and little shortlegged shore birds. We used our new camera binoculars to get pictures andhope some turned out so we can look the no-name birds up in our ThayerBirding software. There is just a drop of water in Pelican Lake,a about afoot in Laguan Madre and none most of the rest of the trip around the AutoTour Route. The Yucca are blooming; tall stalks filled with white pedalsreaching for the sky.We stopped at Shuckman Farms for fresh right off the trees ruby red grapefruit. We met Bob Shuckman; he said this is one of the worse seasons he remembers, but to us they look great.
From there we took TX100 over to South Padre Island. We climbed the spiral staircase to the top of the lighthouse in Port Isable. It is the oldest lighthouse in Texas. Dinner was at the China Garden on the island where the buffet is $1 off for senors at jus $3.95. After dinner we found a wifi hotspot and uploaded a few journal entries; did you like them? Then, we drove out to the end of the roadway and parked along the dunes. We watched the end of season seven of West Wing: Bartlett is out and Santos is in; now what are we going to watch?
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