Beaks in My Lens: RGV Texas: Day 1 & 2 part 1 - Hugh Ramsey, Laguna Atascosa

#195 Green Jay

We arrived in Harlingen with about an hour left of daylight, just enough time to pop into Hugh Ramsey Nature Park (about 5 minutes from our hotel). It wasn’t “enough” time, rarely is it ever,

but I did manage to see the three biggies that told me I was in the Rio GrandeValley - Plain Chachalaca, Green Jay and Great Kiskadee.

After a full nights sleep, we drove a half hour to Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge. Despite what their website says, it is not fully re-opened from the pandemic. The nature center / gift shop is closed, and the14.5 mile Steve Thompson Wildlife Drive which was closed since 2018 due to “renovations” is sadly still only open to foot traffic. We did walk down the half-mile to Alligator Pond just as the sun was rising and saw lots of birds and bunnies and two alligators. On the drive to and from the trailhead (the only drive that is open to vehicles in the park) we saw many white-tailed deer, a pack of five coyotes, one Nilgai antelope, and six feral pigs. We did not see any Ocelots (not surprising since they are nocturnal). The visitor’s center grounds, which used to be well-groomed and attracted a variety of birds at their feeders, is now over-grown and attracted only Red-winged Blackbirds, Grackles, Northern Cardinals, Green Jays, and a couple of Chachalacas.