Sea to Shining Sea Part 12 – Birding the Rio Grande Valley and on to home

Better late than never. This last blog entry has been ready for some time, but has been waiting for some of Rob's spectacular photos. He's taken over 1500 on this trip alone so he had a few to edit.

April 6

Rob and I departed for Bentsen-Palms RV Resort for more serious birding.

We stayed at this RV park 4 years ago and loved it. It was late enough that the “snowbirds” had left and it is within walking distance of one of the nine sites for the Texas World Birding Center.

This time, like last, the park was virtually empty. When we arrived the office was locked and no one answered the number we were directed to call. I took the car and drove around to find the site we wanted close to the dog run. Rob spent the rest of the day cleaning the exterior of the coach. I did some of my part inside.

Nobody here!

April 7

Off to the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park, only we drove the ½ mile instead of walking. 

Rob's ready for serious birding!

This is very close to the border with Mexico. There seemed to be a Border Patrol Officer always close by. A Hawk Watch was scheduled for the morning, something we’ve never done. This refuge is huge and the hawk tower is at the far end. We opted to take the tram and joined “John”, a volunteer, for a count of hawks for Hawk Watch International. 

These hawk watches are conducted twice a year during migration to collect data about diurnal raptors. The day before over 1200 birds were recorded migrating through. We observed, and helped count 219 Broad-Winged Hawks,  5 Swainson’s Hawks, 1 Grey Hawk, 15 Blue Winged Teal, Black Vultures, Turkey Vultures,  1 Crested Caracara, 1 Cooper’s Hawks, as well as some smaller birds. Mostly our count involved Broad-Winged Hawks kettling in the thermals. It was pretty cloudy when we started so siting and counting was fairly easy. We said good-bye when the sun came out and caught the tram back to the entrance. Dusty was waiting patiently for us in the coach.

Broad-winged Hawk

Later, in the afternoon, we drove back to the refuge and caught the tram to the Green Jay blind. After waiting a few minutes Mr. Jay appeared. 

Green Jay with blue head

Great Kiskadee

Hooded Oriole

We watched for a while then left in search of Kiskadees, Chachalacas and anything else we could find. The park has nine miles of hiking trails in a primarily riparian environment and the Green Jay blind was about two miles in. Too late for any more trams. We were hoofing it back to the car, but we found Kiskadees and Chachalacas along the way.

Chachalaca

Back at the office we saw both Black Chinned and Ruby Throated Hummingbirds.

Back at the RV park I spotted a Curve-bill Thrasher pretending to be a Mockingbird, and Two Black Bellied Whistling Ducks.

Thrasher

This has been a really great RV park. It has large spacious sites, fully paved. A large, and for me totally empty, laundry room and an enormous dog run!

Half of the dog run

Dusty loves this dog run so much when I take him out he leads me straight to it. Tonight I saw a flicker of light near the dog run. I thought there was someone there with a flashlight. Pretty soon I began to see flickers of light all around me. It reminded me of the eye test I hate that tests peripheral vision. It was fireflies! This is the first time I’ve seen fireflies since I lived in the south. I went back to the RV to tell Rob. He came out with his camera. Really! Taking pictures of fireflies would be like capturing a flash of lightning. But, they were fun to see.

Next day we drove further south to Estero LLano, another of the nine refuges along the Texas Birding Trail. This refuge is more wetland than the Rio Grande site. We saw mainly more waterfowl. 

Lots of little "peeps"

and one Texas Indigo Snake shedding its skin

Tomorrow we leave for Crystal City, a stop on the way to New Mexico, but maybe we’ll see some new birds while we’re there.

April 9

Triple R RV Resort, Crystal City, Tx

The road here took us through extensive oil fields. We were warned to beware of oil field trucks due to the inexperience of the drivers. The warning was right on. This is a rural area with narrow roads and trucks barreling out of the oil fields. Fortunately, we arrived with no incidents. This RV park is part of a large working ranch. From the office to our site is one mile. I know because Dusty and I walked it. We have a lake in front of us stocked with fish. There are plenty of oil workers in the park, spread out over the mile. Several try their luck at fishing in the evening. No permit required.

Our coach is way out of sight at the end of this road

Drove into Crystal City for some sugar at HEB. ( I needed to set up my hummingbird feeder.) Very small town. Its claim to fame is being the Spinach Capital of the World. They even have a Spinach festival in November. We never saw any spinach under cultivation. Maybe that happens more in the fall. Del Monte has a big plant here, tho’. There is a monument to Popeye and I saw one street called “Popeye St."

We have our own little covered patio with table and chairs. I hung out my hummingbird feeder from the roof and also put one on the windshield. We’ve had visits from Black Chinned Hummers and Hooded Orioles. I put half an orange on the palm tree just outside our door for the Orioles. They haven’t found it yet.

Black Chinned Hummer

Hooded Oriole

April 10

Internet is pretty slow here, but I found if I go to the lounge right next door it improves.

April 11

Went out looking for “Midway Park” for some birding prospects. Found Carrizo Springs, but no park. I’m impressed by how dirty the town is. Dirt in the street, dirt in the yards, dirt on the sidewalks, just everywhere. Rob thinks they may have outlawed blowers.

Just by chance we spotted a large bird sitting on a utility pole. He sat long enough for us to get some good pictures.

Crested Caracara. Although it looks like a vulture it is actually in the falcon family.

Back at the park I saw two ducks fly into a tree on the other side of the lake. Black Bellied Whistling Ducks – four of them upon closer inspection through binoculars.

Black Bellies Whistling Ducks in the tree

 Rob spotted two ducks he thought might be Mexican Mallards. After studying pictures he took, he changed his mind and thought they might be Black Ducks. Finally, he settled on Mexican Mallards solely because of the white border on their wings.

Dusty took me out for his evening walk and as usual was doing his best imitation of a Bloodhound. His nose took him down to the edge of the pond to a plank that had been laid across the brush. He came nose to nose with a Regal Black-Striped Snake. Not sure who was more surprised. Dusty jumped back and the snake slithered away into the lake. Maybe Dusty's rattlesnake avoidance training kicked in. We can hope anyway. We’ve been lucky this whole trip that the only snakes we’ve seen have been non-venomous. More fireflies tonight!

April 12

Our last day here. There is really nothing outstanding to see or do in this part of Texas. Our only reason for stopping here is the weather forecast that says we’re in for a rainy weekend and The Masters. Yep, we stopped here to watch a four day golf tournament! So far, no rain!

April 13

On the road toward Silver City, New Mexico. We stopped in Van Horn, Tx for the night, about a 7 hour drive with a stop for lunch. Well, it should have been a 7 hour trip. Some of Texas roads are in desperate need of repair and we seemed to have travelled most of them. On our way to Van Horn we called the RV Park to tell them when we would arrive because the office closes at a certain time and we wanted to be there beforehand. Just after I called and confirmed we would be there early enough, Rob glanced at his rear-view mirror and saw something rolling off the side of the highway. Since we were the only vehicle on the road he surmised it must have been something of ours. He immediately pulled off the highway and onto the side of an offramp. Lucky thing he did. The right rear tire of the Yukon had shredded and was rolling along on the rim. 

Fortunately, no damage was done to the rim. Using our State Farm Insurance Road Side Assist Program we were able to have the spare installed and be on our way. Total delay no more than 60 minutes.

Too bad we were delayed. This was Rob’s birthday and he had requested Mac and Cheese for dinner. We pulled in to the RV Park too late to shop for the ingredients so we opted to walk to a nearby restaurant for dinner. More disappointment! After looking at the menu, we decided on Flat Iron Steak for dinner. So sorry, we’re out! Settled on splitting a Rib Eye which was marginal, but the Spinach salad was outstanding.

April 14

Early departure for Silver City, New Mexico. We were to meet up with Stan and Jerre here for the final leg of our trip before we both leave for our homes. They had gone to Luling, Tx in search of good BBQ and another trip to Luckenbach to celebrate Stan’s birthday. Unfortunately, their coach started misbehaving by overheating. They decided not to try making the climb up to Silver City so we will be by ourselves.

This is another long day of driving, but we gain an hour in the western part of Texas shifting back to Mountain Time.

We arrived early in the afternoon to Rose Valley RV Park. The park is set back off the highway at the end of Memory Lane. Well, not quite at the end. At the end of Memory Lane is a cemetery.

Nice park, western ranch theme, with well-spaced sites separated by trees and/or fences.

One of the much appreciated handouts given to us when we checked in described where we could find an ATM, grocery store, car wash, post office, tire store, glass repair, RV service, hospital, propane, liquor store and golf course.

We ventured over to the Visitor’s Center for some insight on how to spend our time for the next two days. We were overwhelmed with possibilities, especially for the birding potential. Silver City is another area in the prime migration corridor.

April 15

After studying our options we decided to spend the day visiting the Gila Cliff Dwellings. The info given us at the Visitor’s Center suggested this would be a 4-6 hour activity depending on how many stops we made along the way. The drive itself, without stops, is 2 hours there and 2 hours back. They were right on with their estimate of driving time. The “Trail of the Mountain Spirits” up to the cliffs is very tight and full of hairpin curves.

The hike up to the dwellings is a round trip of only one mile, but it’s straight up one side and straight down the other. Some of the path is a dirt trail, but most of it is steps cut out into the cliff.

Those black spots are caves

Archeologists have dated these caves to AD 1276  and AD 1287 based on the timber used as supports for the rock and mortar walls. Pottery found here suggests the inhabitants came from the Tularosa River region 60 miles to the north. The style is slightly different from the Puebloan area farther north in the Four Corners Area. This was a typical hunting and gathering society growing corn, beans and squash along the Gila River valley and hunting the area’s game. This area is known as the Mogollon and "is one of the four major archaeological Prehistoric Southwestern Cultural Divisions of the American Southwest and Northern Mexico. The Mogollon Indian Culture lived in the southwest from approximately AD150 until sometime between AD 1400 and AD 1450. The name comes from the Mogollon Mountains, named for Don Juan Ignacio Flores Mogollon, Spanish Governor of New Mexico from 1712-1715."

Just a few shots of the cliff dwellings...

Construction techniques and materials found in the dwellings indicate they traded with other groups from the southwest and northern Mexico. There are about 40 rooms built inside 5 natural caves, some being just a few square feet in area. Archeologists believe the caves were inhabited by 10-15 families at any one time.

By 1300 the group had moved on. Migration seem to be one way the Puebloans coped with cycles of drought common in the Southwest. Apache are known to have made this area their home in the 1500s although some of their oral traditions say it has always been their home. Geronimo was born near the headwaters of the Gila River in the early 1820s. First challenged by Mexico and later by the U.S., by 1886 all the Apache were relocated to reservations.

April 16

We were just as tired navigating the narrow path down from the cliffs as we were going up so we decided today would be a day of site seeing and maybe a little birding.

There are several open pit mines in this part of New Mexico. The Santa Rita Copper Mine was nearby and has an overlook. 

The fence behind this tire is over 6' high

Santa Rita is the oldest continually operated mine in the U.S. and is the second largest open pit mine in the world. Number 1 is in South America. After the Civil War interest in the area grew due to the abundance of “world class ore bodies” of copper, gold, silver, lead, as well as lesser finds of zinc, iron, manganese and vanadium, cadmium, tellurium and other metals. Meerschaum is mined in the Gila Wilderness, primarily used for carving Meerschaum pipes.

Next we stopped by Fort Bayard, another National Historic Landmark.

Fort Bayard was established to protect the mining industry. The 9^th Cavalry of Buffalo Soldiers was stationed here. One Buffalo Soldier was a 22-year-old former slave named William Cathey. He joined the Union Army in Missouri and was stationed at Fort Cummings and Fort Bayard. He was discharged in 1868 after a surgeon who treated him discovered he was a she, thus becoming the first woman in the Army.

In 1899 a hospital was built for use as a military sanatorium primarily for the treatment of tuberculosis. In 1920 the Fort was transferred to the Public Health Service who maintained the buildings until 1922 when a new hospital was built.

In 1944 the base was used to house German prisoners. As prisoners, they cared for the buildings and the burial grounds which ultimately became a National Cemetery in 1976.

In 1965 the base was transferred to the State of New Mexico. It served as a long-term care facility for veterans, civilians and needy patients. Despite the obvious deterioration of some of the buildings, the base continued to be used until 2010 when a new Medical Center was constructed.

As we drove around the base we couldn’t help notice some of the birds flitting around the grounds. Nothing we hadn’t seen before, however.

Just a pretty Western Bluebird

We ended our tour in the National Cemetery, noting graves as early as the Civil War and as recently as Vietnam.

There were obvious newer graves as well, but we didn’t get out to verify what war might have been involved. As we were leaving a large, black bird flew over and Rob and I had the same thought about Vultures and cemeteries, but then we saw the white stripe on the tail. It was a Zone Tailed Hawk, another new bird for us!

Resembles a Black Vulture, but they don't have the stripe on the tail

Our plan from here was to go to Sierra Vista or Benson, AZ for more birding opportunity. Stan and Jerre had gone on to Tucson to await an appointment for repairs to Stan’s coach. With Rob’s promise to take me to Ramsey Canyon, I agreed to go to Tucson instead to meet up with Stan and Jerre who had been joined by Bobbi and Jeff Helsing. So…

April 17

We left Silver City for Tucson, AZ where we picked up one more hour. Stan and Jerre were already there when we pulled into a site opposite them. Jeff and Bobbie arrived a couple of hours later.

April 18

Today we checked out Catalina State Park. Friends had told us about this park because there are sites for motorhomes and they had seen a Vermilion Flycatcher when they stayed here. We packed a lunch and ate it as soon as we arrived. Then loaded with binoculars, cameras and bird book we set out on the “Birding Trail”. Either we took a wrong turn or it wasn’t much of a trail, because it ended abruptly. We did see a Vermilion Flycatcher, but that was from the parked car. There were quite a few people enjoying a Saturday afternoon in the park so we left and drove over to the Saguaro National Park. It was a very hot afternoon and we didn’t want to hike anymore so back to the RV park.

Vermilion Flycatcher

Saguaros with this many arms are several hundred years old

Yep, it's a desert

These Round Tailed Ground Squirrels are all over the campground

The desert is just starting to bloom

Lucy's Warbler

April 19

Off to Ramsey Canyon Preserve about 70 miles south of Tucson for more birding. Dusty had to stay home as no domestic animals are allowed in the preserve. Ramsey Canyon is owned by the Nature Conservancy, a private, non-profit conservation organization. Volunteers have helped restore the natural environment creating a crucial stop for migrating birds and butterflies. It is well known for the quantity and variety of hummingbirds that migrate through and we were hoping to see some.

Early settlers in the canyon raised apples, apricots, cherries, peaches and plums. 
This cabin was built in 1902. It is now home to ringtail, coati, lizards and nectar-feeding bats.

As soon as we arrived, I saw a Magnificent Hummingbird at a feeder hung from the eave of the Visitor Center. 

While I was watching I saw a flash of red in an adjacent tree. I didn’t get enough of a look to identify it, but I would see it again later…a Painted Redstart. 

From the Visitor Center to the Overlook at the end of the trail is a rise of only 700 ft. The trail starts out pretty flat and easy, then it’s a series of switchbacks climbing steeply to the Overlook. 

Walking stick definitely helped on the way down

Just an afternoon walk through the forest

Ramsey Peak is another 2500 ft. up, but the trail ends at the Overlook. Along the switchback section the Conservancy has place 9 benches 100 yards apart. We made it to the top, but it took us 3 hours stopping to catch our breath or to watch/search birds.

View from the overlook

Black Chinned Hummer

Magnificent Hummingbird on the top of a 30' tree. This is the largest hummingbird.

Magnificent at a closer feeder.

Whiskered Screech Owl came out of his hole while we ate lunch.

Painted Restart

Wild Turkey

Of course we saw another snake. Rob identified this as a Sonoran Whipsnake.

And then there were deer.

One bird we were on the lookout for was the Elegant Trogon. Someone had reported seeing it the day before. We weren’t as lucky. It’s scheduled to arrive next week.

April 20

We are headed home! After eleven weeks on the road we’re both ready. It’s a long drive from Tucson, so we’ll probably stop for one night someplace before making the final drive.