 |
| Red Bird of Paradise |
We are in our 6th week on the Hawk Tower at Bentsen RGV State Park in Mission,Texas and it has been a different adventure every day. We have seen over 130 species of birds here but rarely over 70 on any given day. There are blooming flowers full of insects and birds, the weather has been extremely hot and humid but that is to be expected in this sub-tropic area along the Rio Grande.
 |
| Long-billed Thrasher, one of the many South Texas birds endemic to the area |
 |
| Cattle Egrets make a friend, located right behind our RV Park |
 |
| Panamanian Golden Tortoise Beetle - one half inch jewel |
 |
| Couch's Kingbird has dragonfly for breakfast |
 |
| Green Garden Bug |
 |
| Cane Toad - half a foot tall x foot long |
 |
| Groove-billed Ani, all fluffed up Most have left for Mexico |
 |
| Great Kiskadee, our largest flycatcher |
 |
| Buff-bellied Hummingbird - another jewel of South Texas |
 |
| Plain Chachalaca - noisy flocks are scattered throughout the park |
 |
| Resident Gray Hawk |
 |
| Texas Gopher Tortoise |
 |
| Desert Brown Tarantula |
 |
| Tobacco Hornworm Moth |
 |
| Vine Sphinx Moth |
 |
| Javelina or Collared Peccary roam throughout the park |
 |
| The tiny Green Kingfisher |
 |
| Curve-billed Thrasher |
 |
| Dew covered spider web |
 |
| The White-eyed Vireo brightens our day with it's cheery song |
 |
| Northern Harrier passes by the Hawk Tower |
 |
| Harris's Hawk catches the early morning sun |
 |
| One of our more rare species - White-tailed Hawk |
 |
| Green Lynx Spider |
 |
| Cloud to cloud horizontal rainbow |
We have had over 75,000 raptors, 22 different species counted from the hawk tower, it has been amazing seeing so many birds. We have 16 days left until the official hawk count is done. If you are interested in seeing the hawk counts from all over North America, you can go to www.hawkcount.org and find a place near you.
Love & Prayers,
Ty & Ida Baumann
