November and we are back in the Valley!

Nov 1: our 168 mile journey was uneventful.  We arrived at Laguna Atascosa Wild Life Refuge at about noon.  We are in site #2 this year, right under a tree that needed major trimming in order for us to fit.  No problem, the other volunteers brought over some ladders and gave us a hand with the project.

We got mostly set up before taking a walk to the office and Visitor Center.  A bit more cleaning and setting up before meeting with the neighbors for a drink and a bit of catching up.  We left them at about 6 pm to go for dinner at one of our favorite places for fresh shrimp, fish and oysters.  Joe's Oyster Bar in Port Isabel.

Its great to be back in Valley!

Hunting is going on in the refuge so our walking is limited. We did get a very nice walk in to the Osprey Overlook and around the visitor center.  Last year the hunt was 3 days a week, this year its 5 days a week.  That will really limit our walking here at the refuge. There are plenty of places we like to visit but it is nice to take a good walk early in the morning or late afternoon.

While birding on Sunday we ran into a few "Birding Friends" on the Island. the day was perfect for being outside, sunny, low humidity and wind.

Monday: We have the hot heater and the Dish all in working order!  Both technicians came out at about 9:00 am to fix the hot water heater and to set the satellite up so we can watch our favorite shows.  Doesn't take much to make us happy!

Tuesday we headed to Estero Llano Grande SP for our morning walk.  It is our favorite park to walk. We were hoping for 80 species of birds today but fell 4 birds short.  We did hit #400 for the year!

Wednesday we took a tour of the refuge with other volunteers.  Orientation meeting in the afternoon and to welcome us back to the refuge.

Thursday was our first day of work!  The temp was about 90 and very humid...  It was all good.  We checked out our Bahia Grande Unit and took some other volunteers on a tour of the Bahia.

Cold front came in last night, today was 50 with nw winds at 25 mph... totally different day!  But a great day to get a Caldo de Mar at our favorite Mexican seafood restaurant

A great first week in the Rio Grande Valley.  Weather was all over the place but we do not expect anything other than what we seen.

Tomorrow Nov 11, we go on a Mexico Birding Tour, returning on Friday night.