Here we are a month and half after this trip and Bryan was already reminiscing about the good times we had. Which also means I'm way overdue for wrapping up this chapter. This whole trip was such a refresher for me, doing wildlife photography again. The problem was in writing these blog posts I had to spend a lot more time identifying and labeling all the great species we saw! Procrastination set in and well, we know how that goes. Nonetheless, here we are! Day 3, final day for my Rio Grande Valley adventure. (And I won't be adding species captions)

The gang rendezvoused at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in the morning. Here we struck a sweet balance of good birding AND good butterflying. There was hardly a dull moment. In fact it was quite the opposite. Like when the Chachalacas came crashing down on top of us. Bryan filmed the moment right before this happened.

All was grand with bird and butterfly galore but in one instant my trip would reach its climax as Bryan spotted and caught a Texas Indigo Snake on the edge of the trail. I was kind of clueless as to what was going on but I was taking pictures anyways. If you're like me, then you probably never even knew this snake existed. The Texas Indigo Snake is a Texas threatened species due to habitat loss. These snakes are gorgeous behemoths that eat rattlesnakes. . . . Yeah, it's true, they just swallow them whole! But it makes a lot of sense really, what better snack for a snake than a snake shape? It must go down really easy.
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I could tell Bryan's heart was pumping. The look on his face said it all. He was completely enamored by his find, the largest Indigo he has held, if not seen. He handed it over to Rachel for a chance to experience the glory. I initially declined to hold the beauty. but he more I watched them handle it, and Bryan assuring me they're one of the most docile snakes to come across, I gave in, and I'm grateful I did. I will never forget the experience. Holding it took my breath away. I didn't really know what to do or how to control her (I keep wanting to say her, so we'll go with her). At one point she turned towards my face and stared at me. Time froze. She had so much power and I knew she could take a giant bite of my face if she wanted to. But I trusted her. I radiated my trust and will never forget that moment, staring eye to eye with her. Bryan caught the perfect photo which I will cherish forever. Just look at the size of her! Truly magnificent creature. 

We let the pretty lady go on her way and continued on our wildlife journey. Santa Ana has a canopy boardwalk which actually made me pretty uncomfortable but I didn't let either of them know (it's ok y'all!). The bridge was a lot less stable than I was expecting. A couple highlights were some nice looks at the always lovely Yellow-billed Cuckoo and the South Texas specialty, Groove-billed Ani. Then another birder put us on an Ani nest! Super cute little Anis. In the parking lot we heard a warbler and Bryan's expertise was a little stumped so we tracked it down for a solid 5 minutes and were surprised to see a Yellow Warbler in South Texas in June.

HERE ARE A BUNCH OF COOL BUTTERFLIES THAT BRYAN AND RACHEL WENT BANANAS FOR.

After Santa Ana we decided to wrap up our adventure with a brief visit to Estero Llano Grande State Park. If you have to pick one place to see South Texas specialties this should be on the top of your list. In such a small area there are so many great finds. I'm most happy with that Olive Sparrow image. What a cooperative bugger! 
I found an orange tree and jumped really high to get a fruit. I thought it was going to be the most delicious tasting fruit of my life but it ended up being awful. Then I felt bad for wasting the orange.

I just want to close by thanking Bryan and Rachel for a very memorable weekend. You two are great people and it was a privilege to finally meet and spend time together. I had such a great time and learned so much. Your hearts and minds are in the right place. Don't lose that.
​<3 Stephen

p.s. OMG THOSE LONCHES WERE DELECTABLE

So much to say about this great day but let's rewind for a moment. Bryan Calk has been a "facebook friend" for over 4 years. Bryan and his girlfriend Rachel are both young gun biologists working/studying in South Texas and they're practically the heart of young birders in Texas. We have a facebook group for young birders and Bryan will always be the one to start our weekly chat on "Bird of the Week". They radiate good vibes on the internet so I was hopeful that same rang true in real life. So here we are, the day I get to meet them. I saw them driving up, I offered a nice hand-in-the-air wave and I received a windshield full of excited hands. That was it. Case closed. These are my people.

Bryan and Rachel picked me up in Los Fresnos and while I was pulling gear out of my car a huge huntsman spider popped out of nowhere. I guess he snuck into the crack of my hatch hinge overnight. I like spiders but that guy was freaky. Huge and fast.. I wasn't really in the mood for that so I slowly shut the hatch and hoped he stayed outside of my car. I never saw him again but I hope he fared well. I really just hope he isn't still in my car!
On to Port Isabel where we're heading to catch a boat ride with Scarlet Colley, Dolphinwhisperer. Scarlet is a long time resident of Port Isabel and has an intimate connection with the local tribe of dolphins in Laguna Madre. Bryan set up a tour with her and she knew we wanted to see Mangrove Warblers. As we exit the harbor the birding begins with a bang. Rachel spots a Frigatebird! Then we have lot's of shorebirds and I quickly realize how rusty I am. I was totally dependent on the expertise of my friends but we very quickly started to see some wonderful wildlife.

It was a beautiful morning on the water with nice looks at many usual suspects. We were treated with some pretty decent views of Mangrove Warblers and topped things off with sea turtles and dolphins.

We made one more stop in Port Isabel and I caught some of my favorite photos of the trip. More Nighthawks! And my first taste of the butterflies to come.

South Texas has a lot of wildlife specialties that you can't find anywhere else in the country. We pulled off the road to check on some Aplomado Falcon fledglings that were reported. We found them and couldn't help but laugh as they straddled the fence. Bryan later commented "those birds aren't going anywhere" and I thought it was hilarious. Yes, the bird straddling the fence probably wasn't going to make it very far today! Above our heads was a Chihuahuan Raven and we even got to see the distinctive white neck.

We exhausted our birding for the day and decided to make one last stop at Resaca de la Palmas for some butterfly...ing! Bryan and Rachel are really into butterflies and it was so fun to experience it with them. Plus it was incredibly easy to just say "hey what's that!?" and get an instant answer. I can see the joy in it, especially in the Valley with so many beautiful species. I think my favorite was a tie between the White Peacock and Mexican Bluewing.

Resaca de la Palma was mosquito heaven and I think we were all crazy for waltzing through there. So worth it. But crazy.
We wrapped up at the park and I did one last video of some Plain Chachalacas sounding off in a tree. Afterwards I made it to a deluxe airbnb in Harlingen which I'd say was worth more than I paid for! I picked up a deep dish pizza at Pizza Hut (couldn't resist) and crashed out. The entire day was nonstop enjoyment with countless observations and good company. Success.

In May I began a new job as Stewardship Director with the Texas Land Conservancy. We hold conservation easements throughout the entire state of Texas(sans pan handle) and I'm responsible for the annual monitoring. Our Mexiquita Flats easement is a mangrove and sea grass habitat in Port Isabel, and while planning my site visit I realized how awfully difficult the access was going to be. All of a sudden I knew what I needed to do. I bought a drone.

After beginning my new job I found an exciting rebirth of my interests in plants and wildlife. College was my heyday for birding and I hadn't done much bird photography since then but with my newly ignited interests I took a friend, Bryan Calk, up on an open invitation to come visit the Rio Grande Valley for some nature and bird watching.

​This trip ended up being a spectacular weekend for wildlife which is most of what you'll see in these posts. I dusted off my 70-200mm f/2.8 lens and popped on a 2x teleconverter. I had never used this combination before but after selling my old bird lenses I had no choice. Lucky for me it worked really well! The lens was quite slow on auto-focus but the final result was satisfyingly sharp!
I hope you don't mind a change from landscape photography (RGV sure isn't known for their landscapes) and enjoy this wonderful wildlife!

Nighthawks are one of my top three favorite birds. I love seeing them come out at dusk at the end of those long summer days. And they're kind of like bats. That just flap around catching bugs with their huge mouths.