Thursday, January 6, 2011

Guess where we went birding today?

Normally we will be working on Thursdays but since we had orientation on Monday, our day off, they let us have today off. So, we went birding. Where? Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge! Even though we are volunteering here we still want to take advantage of all the refuge has to offer. On Thursdays there is a bird walk at 8:30 a.m. We got to the visitor center at 8:00 and filled peanut butter logs while we were waiting for the walk to start.

Every morning the refuge offers a free walk with a volunteer. On Monday it is a photography walk, Tuesday is a bird walk that will be led by Mark, Wednesday is a nature walk, Thursday through Saturday is a bird walk, and Sunday is a nature walk. There is also a tram ($4) ride that runs 3 times a day.

After our walk Mark and I checked out a Mule and picked up the cuttings and weeds we had piled up yesterday. It only took a few minutes but yesterday we didn't have time to do it.

We then walked the Chachalaca trail again and walked to the hawk tower. It was a very nice, cool, day.

New birds for today: Gray Hawk, Clay-colored Thrush, Am. Goldfinch, Green Kingfisher, Ringed Kingfisher, Wilson’s Snipe, House Wren.


White Ibis (immature)

Long-billed Thrasher

Great Kiskadee

Rosebelly Lizard

Zebra Heliconian

Teleus Longtail

Chachalacas

January 5, 2011

Today was our first day to work all day. There are several butterfly gardens that we have been asked to weed and water. The volunteers that were assigned to the butterfly gardens before us did a wonderful job so the gardens are in good shape. By mid-morning the butterflies started flying around. We saw beautiful Zebras, Pipevine Swallowtail, Queens, Little Blues, Sulphurs, Longtails. This is going to be a great opportunity to learn a lot of the different butterflies.


Pearl Crescent

Dusky-blue Groundstreak

We got to check out a mule (utility vehicle, sort of like a golf cart). We had a blast driving all over the place! We have been told we can use one on our days off if we want to go around the refuge.

We have been really impressed with how we are being treated by the staff. They have put a lot of time and effort into training the volunteers. We are treated very well!

January 3 & 4, 2011

Monday, January 3, 2010

We had orientation today. The volunteers from Laguna and Roma were also here for orientation. It was getting very confusing to put names with faces. Luckily we all got our name tags today! The morning was spent watching a power point presentation about the refuge, getting our keys, having our pictures taken and getting our t-shirts and hats. After lunch we had an hour walk to learn about the various trees and plants. Then another power point presentation on the ‘cats’ (Bobcat, Ocelot, Mountain Lion, Jaguarundi, Margay, Jaguar). Then we had an hour bird walk. The day went fast. We have met several of the volunteers and they are a lot of fun.

Tuesday, January 4, 2010

This morning most of us were in training with the refuge manager. We learned about interpretation. After lunch we walked around the trails with a couple who are going to lead bird walks Thursdays - Saturdays. Mark is going to lead a bird walk on Tuesdays. Since some of the trails are still closed because of the flooding, they wanted to get a plan together on where they should take visitors during the walks. Before we knew it the day was over!

Estero Llano Grande State Park

We drove out to Estero Llano Grande State Park (one of the World Birding Centers) in Weslaco. It only took us about 25 minutes to get there from here!
It’s a fabulous place that we have been to several times and have always enjoyed.


Plain Chachalaca

White Ibis

Snowy Egret

Vermillion Flycatcher

Long-billed Thrasher

Green-winged Teal

Great Egret

Golden-fronted Woodpecker

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks

Couch's Kingbird

Red-eared Slider

Birds seen today: BB Whistling Duck, Fulvous Whistling Duck, Gadwall, Mottled Duck, BW Teal, N Shoveler, GW Teal, Ruddy Duck, Plain Chachalaca, Least Grebe, Pied-billed Grebe, Am. White Pelican, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, White Ibis, TV, Harris’s Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Am. Kestrel, Sora (heard), Common Moorhen, Am. Coot, Killdeer (heard), Spotted Sandpiper, Rock Pigeon, Common Ground Dove, Inca Dove, Common Pauraque, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Vermilion Flycatcher, Great Kiskadee, Couch’s Kingbird, White-eyed Vireo, Green Jay, Black-crested Titmouse, Caroline Wren (heard), Marsh Wren, RC Kinglet, BG Gnatcatcher, N. Mockingbird, Long-billed Thrasher, Curve-billed Thrasher, Starling, Orange Crowned Warbler, Yellow-rumpled Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Olive Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Lincoln’s Sparrow, N. Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, GT Grackle, Lesser Goldfinch, House Sparrow.

We came home for lunch then drove into McAllen to find rope lights for under the RV. We have been told that there are pack rats here and if you leave a light on under your RV, they won’t bother it. We went to Camping World first. They had rope lights but they were very expensive so we went to Walmart. Sunday afternoon at Walmart is not a good place to be! We didn’t find any rope lights there. We stopped at Academy, no rope lights. Then Mark saw a Home Depot and thought they might have them. They did! So we got lights and a dusk/dawn timer and came home.

We had a wonderful visit/dinner with some friends that live down here. It was a terrific ending to a terrific day!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!



We left the house at 8:00 this morning. Drove about 7 hours to Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. The volunteer RV area is very nice. The sites are really long and quite large.


Our site

Guess what our first bird was through the binoculars?

We’ve already met several of the other volunteers and all are very nice.

The first bird through the binoculars - Turkey Vulture!

After eating black-eyed peas for good luck, we took a little walk around the RV sites. So far we have seen the following birds: TV, Swainson’s Hawk, House Sparrow, Curve-billed Thrasher, Tree Swallow. About 7:00 p.m. we started hearing Sandhill Cranes flying over.

We have tomorrow to ourselves then all day orientation on Monday.


Sunset at Santa Ana

December 21, 2010

We're home! Check back in January when we start our next volunteer adventure. We'll be at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in south Texas.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

After weeks and, in some cases months, the “big day” has arrived!

Here is the star of the 41st Annual Tree Lighting at LBJ State Park and Historic Site.


Lighted cedar Christmas tree

There was music, a live nativity, and lots of animals.


Two little pigs

Blacksmith shop at the Sauer Beckmann Living History Farm

Spinning demonstration

Live nativity

Live music

Luminaries

Since Saturday was our last day as volunteers at the park, we didn't have to work today and were able to walk around and enjoy the festivities.