We started our adventure today by going to the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, located on the muddy banks of the Rio Grande between Brownsville and McAllen, TX. Again we were obliged to enter w/o paying a fee as a benefit to the $80 access card we bought from the Feds in Gold Beach, OR last July. Another $10 we didn’t have to spend.
We climbed onto a tram that they drive around the refuge. If one does not tram the place, one gets to walk on trails but not the tram road & it was muddy from recent rains. The tram ride is great but the woman narrating kept reminding us that everything was connected (which it isn’t) and the usual crybaby spiel about how little of the coastal salt marsh is left.
There are tons of birds, even now in February. Around the visitor center they feed the birds and the place is jumping with red-winged blackbirds that make a variety of great sounds and have an amazing display when resolving disputes. The normal appearance is a black bird with a red border at the front border of the wing. When flying or having a dispute the birds show epaulets of yellow and orange that is very vivid. A gorgeous group of birdbrains.
We skedaddled from the SANWR to a Costco in McAllen or Pharr, TX. It is difficult to differentiate one from another. From there we headed home.