Bahia Grande: Texas coastal prairie and wetland. Teresa Shumaker photo.

 When we first moved down to the Rio Grande Valley, I spent as much time as I could exploring the new parks and places. One special place was the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge and its Bahia Grande Unit.

The Bahia Grande Unit is only open to the public by bus tour. It consists of a restored wetland and coastal prairie. Flatlands are dotted with tall yucca plants and paddle cactus. Having everything so low to the ground makes the sky huge and humbling. Sadly, on this trip it was grey and foggy.

The endangered Aplomado Falcon sits on a nest box provided for these birds to help recover their numbers. Teresa Shumaker photo. 

Meadowlark on a Yucca. Teresa Shumaker photo.

Great blue heron. Teresa Shumaker photo. 

More prairie land and the Laguna Madre in the distance. Teresa Shumaker photo. 

 One of the exciting parts about this wildscape is the potentially dangerous animals you could run into. Rattle snakes, scorpions, hogs and peccaries will make you cautious, but then there are these interesting animals called Nilgai. Although they are not dangerous, per se, they are humbling in their size.
Nilgai are the world's largest antelope and these photos don't adequately portray how big they are. They could easily look a seven-foot tall man in the eye.
Naturally, this species is found in India, but the King Ranch (a big game ranch in south Texas) brought them to the state for sport hunting years ago. A few escaped and this habitat — sans their natural predators, the tiger — was perfect for them to flourish. Although they are feral, they do not cause as much destruction as feral hogs. The biggest threat they offer to humans is being hit by a car. Their size and height can cause a lot of damage to a vehicle and the passengers inside.

Nilgai (pronounced neil guy down here). Teresa Shumaker photo. 

Nilgai. Teresa Shumaker photo. 

Female Nilgai with her young. Teresa Shumaker photo. 

Male Nilgais are a blueish/grey coloring. Teresa Shumaker photo. 

Don't play with your food!

Great Kiskadee eating a dragonfly. Teresa shumaker photo. 

Unless it is the only way you can eat it.

I caught this photo after a hike around Estero Llano State Park. I was taking a break with my birding friends on the wetlands deck when this kiskadee kindly landed right in front of me off the deck to eat his lunch. I agreed with him that it was a good time for a snack and ate my lunch, too.
I look forward to no longer being pregnant so I can hike more. This year my ability to go out and explore the outdoors has been critically hampered by my inability to be in the heat and quick exhaustion. Plus, once the baby is born, I will have a tiny little birder I will need to take out and show everything! Soon! She is due Jan. 24 and I cannot wait to meet her.

Estero Llano State Park boardwalks and wetlands deck. Teresa Shumaker photo.

A little-loved bird

Great-tailed grackle. Teresa Shumaker photo. 

Great-tailed grackle. Teresa Shumaker photo. 

When I was first moving away from Texas, I knew I would miss the mockingbird's song. (Yes I now know mockingbirds are elsewhere, but they are very common where I grew up.)
But when I returned to Texas last year, it was the great-tailed grackles that I realized I had missed too. These birds are everywhere in South Texas and most people dismiss them as one would any overly abundant animal.
But I get quite a bit of amusement watching these fussy birds work out their tiffs and sing their litany of songs.
These birds are rarely quiet, but boy do they have a range of sounds they can make. From typical bird chatter, squawks and squeaks to strange metallic and electronic buzzes and screeches. I cannot count the amount of times I have heard a strange sound, stopped to look for the source and realized it was a grackle.

The Cornell Lab has some recording of grackle sounds, but it doesn't have much in the way of their mechanical noises. Go here to check it out: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great-tailed_Grackle/sounds