Texas Trip :: Day 5 – The Inn/Laguna Atascosa NWR

On our last day in Texas, we were a little bummed – the trip had been just too short. But we had planned it that way – I was still new at my job, so taking a lot of vacation wasn’t a great idea, and we wanted to skimp and save on costs where we could. In retrospect, both seemed short-sighted, LOL.

So, we packed up our bags and hoped that we could swing a late departure so that we could go out and come back to shower before we went to the airport. Unfortunately, one of the hazards of leaving on a Sunday is that new people are coming in for their weeks in the sun, and our room was one of them so no dice. The Inn did have an outdoor shower at the lodge, and we considered that and figured if we have time we could do it – or we could just wash up at the airport instead.

We started out at the Inn, wandernig around the property for a bit to see if there was anything new to see. Unfortunately, there wasn’t – but the residents were willing to put on a show: chachalaca, whistling black-bellied ducks, green jays, inca doves – the whole lot of them. But soon enough it was time to go.

one LAST ADVENTURE

We were torn between just getting one more pass at the nearby Laguna Atascosa and going somewhere closer to the airport so that we would have an easy trip in. We opted for the former, thinking we’d probably have time to do both that AND a quick stint in Harligen before our 7:10 flight. So, off we went.

The trip was a good one – and the right choice. Much of what we saw was the same as the last time around, but we got better pictures of some of these more common species and had the first really nice day of our trip. And there were some nice highlights, as well. When we first turned onto the drive, we were behind a guy who was going VERY slow – the speed limit is only 15 miles an hour anyway, because you want to see what’s hiding in the brush, but he was doing maybe 1/3 of that. At one point, he pulled over a bit, and I thought that meant we should go around – and thus, made one of those major BIRDER mistakes. It turns out he was looking at something, and we spooked it. As soon as I got by him, I realized it and felt like a POS.

Great KiskadeeThings were fairly quiet as we drove toward the first lookout over the Laguna Madre. A few shorebirds were hanging out, but nothing to really get our interest, and we were just getting in our car when the same guy from earlier pulled in. I was just putting the car in drive to leave when there was suddenly a knock at Shari’s window – it was him. “Hey, do you guys want to see a really big rattle—”

He never finished the sentence before the car was in park and I was halfway out of it. I’ve had a list of 5 animals that I’ve wanted to see in the wild for as long as I remember: shark, bear, mountain lion, wolf and rattlesnake. I don’t know why – I guess they just represent the wild and dangerous side of nature that many shy away from. I’d been looking everywhere (cautiously, of course) for a rattlesnake, but hadn’t found one. No rattlesnakes in Texas – go figure. So, the chance to see a BIG one was a great opportunity. We rushed over as Shari told the guy that he had just made my day.

It turns out that he had been standing at the railing – the same one we had – when a large Western Diamondback Rattlesnake had come out of the low growth only a meter or so away. Yes, in other words, it had been right there and we had missed it. By the time we got back to the spot, it had mostly crawled under one of the nearby bushes, but not before I got a semi-decent look at it. It was at least 6′ long and really thick, and it was a beauty. I was careful to not get too close, but it wasn’t really interested in me – or in having its picture taken. Still, I sat there admiring it for 5 minutes before it slid deeper into the brush and was gone. We thanked this kind, noble samaritan for getting our attention, and I apologized for the incident earlier. He was cool about it – in fact, he laughed and said that he’d done the same thing to someone the day before. All was forgiven.

The rest of the drive was nice, but not as fruitful as previous trips. Granted, we were going around at the peak of the afternoon when many things are hiding out from the sun. However, we did have a highlight. A few days previous, we had seen what must have been a White-tailed Hawk flying by. Everything was right about the markings – but the picture was very blurry. And I just couldn’t ‘call it’ (birder parlance for adding it to a lifelist). I wasn’t confident enough to say that I could really ID it from what we saw. Well, we got lucky this day, because we got another look and this time there was NO question about what it was. My shots suck, but at least I could see all of the tell-tail markings, front and back to add it. And that is a beautiful hawk – too bad I don’t have a decent shot to back it up.

So, we finished our loop and decided to run to the visitor’s center for a drink and a bathroom break before we went down to Harligen to see if we could find their famous parrots. We grabbed a map that detailed the hotspots in that town and came to a decision about where to go. Then I asked Shari to check our flight time so I could get a better guage of how much time we’d have, being that it was already 2:53.

Time To Panic

When Shari looked, we got – well, let’s call it a ‘little surprise’. Our flight was at 7:10 – our connecting flight in Houston. Our flight out of Harligen was actually at 4:12!! Needless to say, we tore out of there, not really knowing a) how far it was between Laguna Atascosa and Harligen airport b) how to get there or c) how long it was going to take us. I’m sure that if the cops had been on those roads, we would have been in big trouble as I was pushing the speed limits almost the entire way as Shari and I navigated from a less-than fully detailed road map on our best route. The one place that I obeyed the speed limit was the one small town we went through – and luckily, too, because that was where we saw our only cop the whole way.

Aliong the way, we decided to suck up the cost of having them fill up the car, packed our camera equipment back into our bags, and changing in the car as we drove (well, she did), we raced to the airport. I dropped her and the bags off, drove the car to the rental return lot, RAN all the way back to the terminal, returned the keys (thank you to everyone who let me butt in), sped over to the ticket agent just as she was telling Shari she would have wait until I got there to check in, and zoomed to the terminal with 5 minutes to spare.

the Rewards

Overall, this was a great trip for so many reasons. First and foremost, it was a great time with my beautiful wife – and JUST my beautiful wife – something that we really hadn’t had in all too long. We had fun birding, we got some great pictures, saw a lot of good things, and enjoyed each other’s company. It was so nice to get to play with my wife for an extended time. More than any number of birds, that was the best part.

But those birds were our goal (well, the written goal, I guess), and we were pretty succesful. Overall we saw:

  • 118 species of birds
  • 39 NEW species for me, 36 NEW species for her
  • at least 28 species of butterflies – including at least 12 new species
  • 12+ species of dragonflies – including 7 new species
  • a real live working El Camino in pristine condition

In other words, a great trip.

LAGUNA ATASCOSA NWR (day 5, including Chachalaca Inn)

  • Black-Bellied Whistling Duck
  • Lark Sparrow
  • Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher
  • Northern Mockingbird
  • Great-Tailed Grackle
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Brown-headed Cowbird
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Eastern Meadowlark
  • Long-billed Thrasher
  • Loggerhead Shrike
  • Great Kiskadee
  • Green Jay
  • Chachalaca
  • White-tailed Hawk
  • Osprey
  • Crested Caracara
  • Crested Caracara (imm)
  • Black Vulture
  • Turkey Vulture
  • Reddish Egret
  • Great Blue Heron
  • Great Egret
  • Tri-colored Heron
  • Snowy Egret
  • White Ibis
  • Double-crested Cormorant
  • Willet
  • Long-Billed Dowitcher
  • Laughing Gull
  • Inca Dove
  • Mourning Dove
  • Ruddy Ground Dove
  • Roadrunner
  • ————-
  • Total Birds: 34
  • New Birds: 1
  • REPTILES
  • Western Diamondback Rattlesnake
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3 Responses to “Texas Trip :: Day 5 – The Inn/Laguna Atascosa NWR

  • glad you made your flight! flying always stresses me out…actually, the flying part is easy, it’s the being time for flying.

  • Yeah, I hate flying. Timing is tough, I find I always either have to rush to make it in time, or sit around waiting for approximately forever, even if you are shooting for the right time.

    It sounds like an awesome trip. I haven’t seen a rattlesnake in the wild, and I hope I don’t, although some of the mountain biking trails in this area are known to have them. I’m sure it’d be cool to look at one, but the safety concerns outweigh that for me. I have seen copperheads a few times, and those always make me shudder.

  • Looks like you had such a wonderful time and great to hear so much detail about your trip! Glad you made it their on time and what a mix up looking at the other flight time! We all have done things like that before! So many wonderful lifers and I loved all the butterfly shots you captured!

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