2022 Texas – South Texas and the Lower Rio Grande Valley
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Reviews 0 Reviews0/5
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Vacation Style Holiday Type
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Beach
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Binoculars
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Hiking
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Wildlife
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Activity Level Challenging
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Group Size Medium Group
This tour focuses on the Lower Rio Grande Valley, from the Gulf Coast to San Ignacio. We’ll see a wealth of aquatic species along the extreme southern Gulf Coast. These may include Snowy and Piping Plovers, Roseate Spoonbill, and perhaps a Northern Gannet and Sandwich Tern. Our visit to the King Ranch will hopefully yield a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, along with fine looks at White-tailed Hawk, Harris’s Hawk, Burrowing Owl, Sprague’s Pipit, Olive Sparrow, and a host of other scrub-thorn species.
Santa Ana is reliable for Ringed and Green Kingfishers, while Bentsen – Rio Grande Valley State Park, Estero Llano Grande State Park, and Anzalduas County Park are known for their Mexican rarities and wintering songbirds, such as Clay-colored Thrush, Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet, and Tropical Parula. One year we found a Roadside Hawk at Bentsen, which at that time was the fourth ABA record! Another previous tour produced Green-breasted Mango and Blue Bunting. And recently we found a Crimson-collared Grosbeak. Great birds! We’ll travel as far upriver as San Ygnacio in search of Audubon’s and Altamira Orioles, Hook-billed Kite, and Morelet’s (White-collared) Seedeater.
NOTE: This tour concentrates on the refuges of the Lower Rio Grande Valley, from the Gulf Coast as far upriver as San Ignacio. Unlike the March tour, this one does not include a boat ride to search for Whooping Cranes in Aransas Bay. Instead, we will visit the King Ranch in an attempt to see a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl. This may help you to decide which tour you would prefer to take.
The tour is limited to 7 participants, or on rare occasions to 10 participants, in which case we will have a second tour leader and van.
Duration: 10 days
Limit: 4 – 8
Date: 05 February – 14 February 2022
Start: Harlingen, Texas
End: Harlingen, Texas
Price:
US$3510 per person sharing assuming 4 – 8 participants
Deposit: US$625
Single supplement: US$595
We can run the same trip at a price similar to the larger group price for 2 tour participants, if they rent their own vehicle and pay for fuel – please e-mail [email protected] for details.
- Meals
- Accommodation
- Guiding fees
- Entrance fees
- All transport while on tour
- Tolls
- Domestic and International flights
- Items of a personal nature, e.g. gifts
- Alcoholic drinks
- Personal insurance
- Laundry Service
- Gratuities
- Day 1 Estero Llano Grande State Park
- Day 2 King Ranch
- Day 3 South Padre Island and Boca Chica
- Day 4 Estero Llano Grande State Park and Santa Ana NWR
- Day 5 Frontera Audubon Society Refuge and Quinta Mazatlan
- Day 6 Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park and Anzalduas County Park
- Day 7 Chihuahua Woods, Weslaco Water Treatment Plant, and McAllen Sewage Ponds
- Day 8 Falcon Dam
- Day 9 San Ignacio
- Day 10 Heading Home
SOUTH TEXAS & the LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY TOUR:
13-22 February 2015
Top 10 lists are voted upon by the participants at the completion of each tour.
1 – White-collared Seedeater
2 – Gray-crowned Yellowthroat
3 – White-throated Thrush
4 – Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl
5 – Common Pauraque
6 – Greater Roadrunner
7 – Clay-colored Thrush
8 – Gray Hawk
9 – Burrowing Owl
10 – Green Jay
While watching flocks of Green Parakeets in the northern part of McAllen, we saw an intriguing sight. A PURE YELLOW Green Parakeet was flying with a flock of approximately 25 normally colored parakeets. We had never seen anything quite like it. A possible explanation can be found at this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xanthochromism. There was a hybrid oriole coming to a feeder at Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park. One of its parents was almost certainly an Altamira Oriole. The other parent species has yet to be determined.
After great looks of two Greater Roadrunners, someone asked ‘Where is Wile E. Coyote?’ A Coyote appeared seconds later! Unusually uncommon on this tour, we saw just one Collared Peccary (Javelina) as we were driving. Alligator Lake at Estero Llano Grande State Park contained five American Alligators. We saw one snake on the entire tour, a Diamondback Water Snake at Bentsen State Park. Also at Bentsen was a Texas Gopher Tortoise, often known as Berlandier’s Tortoise. We identified nearly 20 species of butterflies on this winter tour, including prolonged scope views of the spectacular Mexican Bluewing. Its range barely extends north into the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
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Will we do any birding the first day?
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How should I dress for the tour?
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Besides clothes, what do I need to bring?
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Can you book accommodation for us the night before the tour starts or the night the tour ends?
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Are meals included?
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Piping Plover
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Sandwich Tern
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White-tailed Hawk
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Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
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Olive Sparrow
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Green Kingfisher
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Green Jay
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White-throated Thrush
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Blue Bunting
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Clay-colored Thrush
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Clapper Rail
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Altamira Oriole
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Audubon's Oriole
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Crested Caracara
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Vermillion Flycatcher
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Great Kiskadee
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Gull-billed Tern
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Red-crowned Parrot
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Common Tern
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Common Pauraque
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Golden-fronted Woodpecker
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Plain Chachalaca
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Elegant Trogon
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Eastern Screech-Owl
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Common Ground-Dove
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Ladder-backed Woodpecker
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Groove-billed Ani
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Greater Roadrunner
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Pyrrhuloxia