If I Were Going...: South Texas: Laguna Atascosa

Green Jays

My true destination of this trip was Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge. It did not disappoint.

Would I see an Ocelot? Probably not.

Administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Laguna Atascosa is somewhat remote and, when I went a bit tricky to find because of major road construction and a bridge that was out – GPS was a bit confused.

Laguna Atascosa

Located very close to the Mexico border, Laguna Atascosa is a stopover for migrating birds that funnel through the tip of Texas in an effort to avoid flying too far east, over the Gulf Coast, or too far west, over the desert. It's one of the richest bird environments in the U.S.

I was too early for migration (I will have to go back), but I did get to experience some of the southern (Central and South American) species of wildlife that reach their northernmost range along the Rio Grande.

It is estimated that 80 percent of the North American population of Redhead ducks winter here and on South Padre Island (I saw some, but very, very far away).

My initial visit was late in the day, where I visited the bird blinds and met an objective ...

Green Jays ...

A stunning bird

Lots of Green Jays …

Truly stunning

These birds are gorgeous and made the trip worthwhile …

Truly

During the three days I went back and forth to Laguna Atascosa, I saw lots of other birds, many new for me.

A feeder in the blind

I saw most of the birds at the blinds (I love it when Parks have blinds, it makes finding birds so much easier), in the picnic area (beware, Green Jays are not shy -- there was an attempted robbery while I was eating my lunch) and along the paths near the Visitors Center.

There are very limited roads and one of the loop roads is closed because a number of Ocelots had been hit by cars. Another road goes through woods and fields, ending up with an overlook on the lagoon.

Birds I saw included: Altamira Orioles (new) ...

Another colorful bird

Great Kiskadees (new) – gorgeous and very hard to capture ...

This is one of the few pictures I got

Orange-Crowned Warblers (new) ...

Where is the crown?

Black-Crested Titmouses (new) – or is that Titmice? One of the cutest birds I have ever seen ...

Just precious

Ruby-Crowned Kinglets ...

Even more precious

Great-Tailed Grackles -- the shiny black males ...

Striking, but oh so loud!

... and the brown females ...

Looks like a dinosaur

Golden-Fronted Woodpeckers (new) ...

The colors!

White-Winged Doves ...

Sings a song, sounds like she's singing

A Greater Roadrunner ...

No Coyotes in sight

Northern Mockingbirds ...

Fluffed up in the cool breeze

Northern Parulas (new)...

Why all these "Northern" birds in south Texas? Oh, yeah, we're still in North America

Long-Billed Curlews ...

Aptly named

Olive Sparrows (new) ...

The new birds keep coming

Red-winged Blackbirds ...

Common, but pretty (also loud!)

Long-Billed Thrashers (new) ...

Look at those eyes

And, one of the strangest birds I’ve seen, a Pauraque (new), a type of Nightjar that very effectively hides in plain sight ...

You could walk by a million times and not see it

So hard to photograph

I took an early morning birding tour. I added more birds, although most were very far away and hard to photograph in the fog. The waterbirds were numerous, intermingled and hard to tell apart.

I didn't really get any good waterbird photos -- really a shame since we saw hundreds!

The area is famous for the Aplomado Falcon, once extirpated from the United States, which is making a comeback and can often be seen hunting the Refuge's grasslands. Unfortunately, I never saw one, even though the tour guide tried very hard to find us one.

On the tour we did, however, see a number of the other raptors:

A White-Tailed Hawk (new) ...

Taking a drink

A White-Tailed Kite (new) ...

Distant, but striking

American Kestrels ...

Seems odd to see one in a palm

A Great Horned Owl ...

So hard to see far away in the fog

Northern Harriers ...

Hunting

Some Crested Caracaras too distant to photograph and a number of Ospreys, including this one with a fish ...

Lunch!

Plus, we saw a fair number of birds, including eastern Meadowlarks and Northern Mockingbirds, which apparently are so common that the tour didn't give us any time to photograph them. It was a few days before I got an eastern Meadowlark, a new bird for me. I did get some more Orange-Crowned Warblers ...

Still looking for the crown

The bird tour was great because we got to travel the road that is closed to visitors in their own cars. Unfortunately, the small bus they use is not really conducive to touring – the big windows do not open, so you have to photograph through a chest-level window approximately 8 inches by 12 inches. A few times, they let me take photos through the door or even outside. The front window is low and blocked by a bulkhead, so only the driver (and the people in the front seats if they bend down) can see what is ahead. They do have open vehicles for their wildlife tour and, perhaps, they use them in better weather. I went prepared for an open vehicle and would have preferred that. The guide – a volunteer whose wife was the driver – was fabulous.

At one point, he told us to watch out for "the Nill Guy." I thought it was some local legend, but it turned out to be the Nilgai, or Blue Bull, a large antelope from India that was imported years ago to Texas for big game hunting. Large herds roam freely in Laguna Atascosa. We saw a few, including cows and calves, but I was only able to get photos of bulls.

I never even heard of a Nilgai

In addition to the incredible bird diversity, there are 45 resident mammal species found on the refuge. I saw White-tailed Deer ...

Mule Deer

... and a Bobcat (but only for a second when the bus tour pulled back into the Visitor Center parking lot). Of course, the prize sighting is the Ocelot, a small wildcat that once roamed in the United States from South Texas up into Arkansas and Louisiana and today is found only in deep South Texas.

It was right here

My first afternoon at Laguna Atascosa, I asked the Visitor Center volunteers if there was a chance to see one (after all, I had seen a Coatimundi in Chiricahua National Monument when they said it wouldn't happen). They said that they are rare, but they are seen.

As I was driving out, I decided to go back to the closed road, which has a prominent “Ocelot Crossing” sign and hike a little way in. I had limited hiking because of the intermittent rain, but, even though it was late in the afternoon, it seemed OK.

As I pulled into the gated area, I noticed a no parking sign and, as I looked up, I saw an Ocelot crossing the road! Right behind the sign! Unfortunately, I did not have my camera in hand (I was parking) and I wasn’t fast enough.

I parked and hiked a bit, but that was my one shot – and I missed it. Cats!!!! I never get the shot. I have missed Bobcats, Lynx (although I do have one set of pictures) and now an Ocelot!!!! ARRRGGGGHHH.

Photo: Friends of Laguna Atascosa

But, I saw it and will never forget. I was so excited, I went back to the Visitors Center to report the sighting, but everyone had gone home. But, I did report the next day and after the ranger asked me multiple times if I was sure. They obviously get lots of folks who can’t differentiate between a Bobcat and an Ocelot. It’s pretty easy: one has a long tail and looks like a miniature Leopard; one has a bobbed tail and looks like a Bobcat! They took my report.

Even with the bird tour, I actually got much better photos of raptors outside of the park as I was driving back and forth:

A very cooperative White-Tailed Hawk …