December 2021 in Mercedes TX

 Home sweet home!  As much as we enjoy our yearly Thanksgiving trip we are glad to be back home. 

We have a bit over 3 weeks before we head out, so we needed to go grocery shopping etc on Tuesday after a quiet walk in our fav park. All the birders have gone home and Winter Texans are on their way.

A few more people have arrived in our park, mostly from Canada. Wednesday we went to SPI, again it was pretty quiet, some birds, few people. 

Lots of people have their Christmas decorations up around the park.

Our weather has been unseasonably warm this year.  Not complaining,  just saying.  Eric is able to enjoy the pool everyday.  Since the park is getting more crowded he needs to wait until after 4 pm to have the pool by himself. As of Dec 4 we still do not have any next door neighbors.  Supposedly the six rental units were all rented out beginning Nov 1.  

Finally found the Grooved Billed Ani!  Took us a least 4 times before we found it!  We went to two different spots on Friday Dec 3.  

Saturday Dec 4 we headed to Boca Chica, the mouth of the Rio Grande.  We generally go when its windy and cold but not today.  The sun was out, the temp was warm, humid with little wind. Hardly a soul on the beach!  We did find a new year bird #535. the Magnificent Frigatetbird. 

Of course we had to pass Starbase to get to the gulf/river.

they just keep building...

I am standing on the Boca Chica..  Mexico is just across the river to my right.

Eric taking pictures of the great bird!

he claims the water was warm...

A murmuration of RedWing Black Birds

Went to our old stomping grounds for a bit of hiking and visiting with friends Al and Carolyn Agee.

We went to Sable Palm Sanctuary on Thursday Dec 9.  It is right on the Rio Grande and one has to pass through the wall to get there.  We have never seen anyone guarding the wall before.  Not sure who these guys are.  There 3 guys with high powered rifles walking around wearing camouflage. There was not any indication of who they worked for...  maybe private? maybe locals? who knows??  Border Patrol has an inspection area when we go to Boca Chica, everyone has to pass thru and stop to talk to the agents.

We can not resist taking pictures of wild animals: 

A Pied Billed and a Least Grebe...

We did see a number of snakes but they don't always get a picture.  Indigo Snake

We went to the Event center for Happy Hour and food truck on Friday.  They have music and dancing in the hall, bring your own liquor, beer and wine is for sale at the bar.

Lots of people show up for the event.

they all go inside, which means we have the entire patio to our selves!

the Philly cheesesteak was very good, so tender and tasty.   We could not hear the band inside but the food truck had music playing!

Sunday Dec 12, the cold front came in yesterday afternoon. At noon we were at 80 deg with a 75 deg dew point.  By 1:00 we were at 68 deg with a 50 deg dew point!  We were able to turn the A/C off and open the windows!  Our coldest night at 47 deg outside gave us 62 deg in the house!  A bit cold this morning but we sure slept good!  

Since it is cool out we decided to try out the golf course. Its right next door and is associated with the park. $13 for 9 holes walking.  I wanted a pull cart but there was no one there to get one for me so we both had to carry our clubs!

I ended up with a 52 and Eric a 46.  He lost 3 balls where I only lost one!

It was fun and sorry that we were not able to golf earlier in our stay.   Afterwards we headed to Joe's BBQ on Hwy 281.  We brought back some Smoked brisket for lunch/dinner.  Texas sure has good brisket!

 Monday: A visit with Kim G at her park.  We had a great visit, catching up while sitting at her place eating Whataburgers!  We also finally got the Hook Billed Kite today!  It was our 7th time looking for that beautiful bird.

Not sure how this Turkey Vulture is able to fly.  Looks like someone took a big bite out of his wing feathers!

The Northern Cardinals in South Texas are such a vibrant Red..

So many signs make us smile...

Wednesday Dec 15: we helped with the Christmas Bird Count with the Tip of Texas on South Padre Island.  A kind of windy day but warm and fun and met some new people!

We found a lost McCaw!  this is an escaped bird, contacted the owner who tried to get it out of the tree.

What a way to end a fun day...  then we met the group for pizza and telling about our day.  We spent the night on the Island. Probably our final visit to SPI this year 

crazy cloud formation:

SPI does a great job of decorating

One last shrimp meal on SPI..  

We went to Berta's Gonzales Burgers for the best burger today.  They ground their own meat, only so much each day, when they run out they close.  In normal times the wait to order can be 20 deep and the food takes about an hour to get.  But today there was only one person in front of us ordering for a family table, it took us about 10 minutes to order and get our food!  No disappointments!!

Yes we did cut it in two.

We went to Santa Ana for one last visit and much to our surprise we seen the Bat Falcon!  We had seen it in Mexico a few years back.  This is the first reported sighting in the USA!  Right place, Right time.. Our weather was very hot and humid until about 6:00 pm when the cold front came in and blasted us with high winds.  By 6 am on Sunday the front dropped the temp from 83 to 54 and the dew point from 71 to 45..

Our winter has arrived in the Valley.  cold and rainy pretty much all day.  Good day for a quick morning walk around the park, planning our stops on the way to Green Valley and watching TV!  Winter lasted about 24 hours.  We are cleaning and packing again. 

Dec 21: First day of Winter We headed to Laguna Atacosa where we ran into Hillary the biologist and Russ and Nancy volunteers.  Fun catching up with them as we have not seen them since we left in March 2020.

Sunny and warm day

Our final day here in the RGV was spent walking our favorite park, Estero Llano Grande SP then off to lunch at 

for a fabulous meal.  Packing the car and laundry finished off our wonderful day.

We are so grateful for being able to come here for close to 2 months.  We did not get to see everyone we hoped to see our in the field.  Lots of good food, bird sightings, walks and we did meet a few new people. 

Dec 23 heading for Green Valley AZ.  Our first stop will be San Antonio TX.  With COVID on the rise again we will be extra careful.  Wearing our masks, staying away from people and eating outside or in our car or hotel room.  We have been vaccinated and received the booster but our goal is to NOT get COVID, not just to avoid a severe case etc.We realize this is a lofty goal but we will attempt to meet it if at all possible.   No one knows the long term effects of this virus, we don't care to become a statistic.  So if we see you, just know, No hugs, No handshakes and mask wearing is essential. 

We did pretty good with our birding since we landed here in RGV.  38 new year birds and a few lifers!

We arrive in Green Valley on Jan 1, 2022