Our trip to Laredo - the adventure begins.
We have considered attending the Laredo Birding Festival in the past, but something always seemed to prevent us from going. However, this year, 2023, we were finally able to plan the trip and make it to south Texas.
The actual festival began on Thursday, Feb 2, with registration on Feb 1. We booked an early flight on Feb 1 to fly from Atlanta to San Antonio, rent a car, and drive on down to Laredo. We drove up to Atlanta on Jan 31 to stay in a hotel close to the airport. We usually do that if we have an early flight in order to avoid the hassle and stress of getting up really early and either driving or taking the shuttle to the airport. Our flight departed around 0800 which means we needed to be at the airport around 0600.
We used Spot Hero for parking in the Atlanta Renaissance Concourse hotel parking lot where we were staying overnight. It's a bit less expensive than airport parking and more convenient since we would be parking at the same hotel where we were staying. Before checking in we stopped by Malone's, just up the road, for dinner. Next morning we used the hotel airport shuttle to get us to the airport in plenty of time and no stress, Got through security relatively quickly other than Mary forgetting to remove her iPad from her backpack and having to go back through. The last time we flew you could leave an iPad in your bag and only had to remove laptops. We found a place to grab some breakfast before going to the gate and spent over $27 for a barely edible breakfast. Yuk. Should have gone to Chick-Fil-A like we started to but the line was too long. In hind sight it would have been worth the wait. So once we got settled in our seats on the plane, I ordered up a
Bloody Mary to start the day.
The flight to San Antonio was relatively short. Mary watched a movie but I didn't find anything I wanted to watch so I just relaxed. After we landed, we collected our luggage and went to find the rental car place. Turns out that instead of having "go to the head of the line" privilege as a Blue Chip member, we had to wait because there was only one person handling 3 different car rental types. She said that many stayed home because they thought the weather was going to be bad. It wasn't bad at the airport but apparently it was a little north of San Antonio. Anyway, we finally got the car after switching from a Corolla to a Camry (a better choice) and started driving SW toward Laredo. We had already loaded our luggage in the Corolla before changing cars, and I almost left my vest in the back seat of the Corolla but fortunately made a last check in the car and found it. The weather was nasty, rainy and cold. After a bit we started looking for a place to eat lunch, and stopped at a little place called Naomi's. Turned out to be a good stop. The ladies inside were very nice and friendly and the food was good. I had the special, which was a roast beef and mashed potato plate, and Mary got Vegetable Beef Soup. We also talked to one of the customers who was hoping for some help identifying a bird that he saw at his house. We never did as he only had a description and it didn't match anything we could come up with. We finished our lunch and got back on the road. Weather wasn't any better but at least it was above freezing so no ice or snow. All told it was about a 2 1/2 hour drive from San Antonio to Laredo.
We arrived at La Posada hotel about 2 PM, a little early, and fortunately our room was ready. We stowed our luggage and went upstairs to check in for the festival. They had some bling for purchase and I did buy a festival T-shirt. We hung out a bit and did some exploring around the hotel. It is a big, historic place in an older part of town.
Later we decided to walk up the block for dinner at a place called The Tack Room because the hotel dining room was closed on Wednesday for some reason. I had a steak and a couple of glasses of wine and Mary had a chicken dish. Kinda pricey but a good meal none the less. While we were there one of the van drivers for the festival came up to "check on the birders" and we chatted with him for a bit. Turns out he was a retired Border Patrol Agent. I think he retired early because he felt the agents were not getting the support they needed to do their job.
The area immediately around the hotel seemed a little run down with many building boarded up. I didn't really feel up to exploring the area on foot.
Feb 2, 2023 (Day 1 of the festival)
The next morning was our first field trip. We had chosen a trip with several stops along the Rio Grande. Before loading into the van we stopped by the breakfast buffet that was included with the cost of the festival. Standard fare - scrambled eggs, bacon, gravy, coffee, etc. Our van was to leave at 6:30 AM, and each morning we would go out early, find our assigned van, and put our hats in the seats immediately behind the driver to claim our seats. Neither one of us wanted to be in the rear seats.
Here are all the vans parked in front of the hotel, waiting to be loaded up and heading out.
While waiting, I took this photo of a church just up the street.
It was a dark, cold morning with the temperature around 37 F. It was pretty much in the upper 30's to lower 40's every morning. Never did warm up a lot but we managed. This first day it only got up to about 43. Our first stop this day was at the Vargas Ranch. On the way we spotted a large Javalina, but Mary didn't get to see it because she was sitting by the window and the piece of paper with the number of the van was on the window and in the way. She was not a happy camper. She took the paper down so she could see.
Everyone at the festival was hoping to see a Morelet's Seedeater and we were lucky enough to spot one almost immediately. We got several glimpses during the morning, but the first sighting was the best one for me and I managed to get a decent photo. There were several birders at the festival who did not get to see this bird so we felt very fortunate.
The Vargas Ranch was pretty interesting. The owner's son went along with us and shared some of the history of the place. Plus he was a pretty good birder. There were some old ruins on the ranch that were over 300 years old. Amazing to think that people were living in these structures that long ago and that a lot of the buildings are still standing.
Lunch time rolled around, and we went back to a building on the ranch that was very nice, where they had prepared a great lunch for us. (And there was an inside bathroom!). We all dropped our gear, got our food, and sat around a huge table, chatting among ourselves and with the ranch family. I found out that the ranch owner, an older gentleman, had served in the Navy on board a destroyer.
The Vargas family had prepared smoked beef brisket, potato salad and all the fixings. Fresh baked pumpkin bread was there for dessert. Really made us feel welcome.
After lunch we left the Vargas ranch and visited a couple more places. Saw some Neotropical Cormorants and Black-Necked Stilts on a river.
As an aside, we saw many, many Border Patrol vehicles. They were everywhere on every trip. To be expected I guess as we were right on the border with Mexico. We had to go through a couple of check points during the course of our travels but not really a hassle.
There were lots of different types of cacti as we were roaming over the terrain. You had to be careful at time not to get stuck.
After getting back to the hotel we decided to just eat dinner there, sharing crab cakes and chicken fajitas. Service wasn't the best but the food wasn't too bad. Later we went to hear one of the speakers that the festival had lined up for us. The first day was long, but fun, and we got 1 new life bird.
Feb 3, 2023 (Day 2 of the festival)
Day 2 was a different van, different driver, different leader and a different group of birders. And a different location. Today we started out at a golf course. There were several 2 person golf carts that we used to ride along the perimeter of the golf course. This was frustrating at times because if the leader stopped for a bird, anyone past cart 2 or 3 could not hear or see what was going on. We had hoped to see some Red-billed Pigeons but no luck. The morning started out pretty foggy, which didn't help with spotting birds, but we did get to see a nice foggy sunrise.
We spotted a Gray Hawk which was a new bird for us. Also got a surprise new bird when we saw a Black-tailed Gnatcatcher. Initially there was some question on whether it was a Black-tailed or a Blue-gray, but after the group leader studied some photos that were taken, she decided that it was indeed a Black-tailed Gnatcatcher. They are pretty rare for that area. I never could get a decent shot of it as it flitted about between the branches and leaves, but I fared a little better with the Gray Hawk.
Also spotted a nice Wood Duck swimming by.
When we got back to the van to leave to find a place to eat our box lunches, we had a bit of drama. The driver could not find the keys to the van. Panic set in. Just about the time we had decided that we would have to get lunch from the golf course grill and had started making our lunch orders, the driver showed up and said she had found the keys! Earlier the entire group had gathered around for a group photo and apparently she dropped the keys at that spot. Disaster averted. Plus it would have taken ages for the grill to cook all the lunches that were being ordered. Since we had box lunches in the van, we all loaded up and headed to the next stop where we took a break and ate lunch. The sandwiches in the box lunch were very good - chicken on ciabatta bun. Quite tasty actually.
While at the Golf Course though we did get some decent views of a Ladder Back Woodpecker.
On to the next, and last, stop of the day. Mary had really been hoping to see a Green Kingfisher. I had seen one in flight years back in Kerrville along the river but had not gotten a good look at it. So, at a small pond, the group leader stopped to try to find one. I heard one of the group say "Why are we stopping here? There aren't any Green Kingfishers here". About that time the group leader had called up a Green Kingfisher and we all get great views. Mary got a new bird and I got a great view and a photo to boot.
One bird I haven't mentioned yet, a very colorful one, and which was pretty common, is the Great Kisskadee. Not the best photos but serves to show the color. I have seen these birds before, but never as many as we saw here.
Later back at the hotel Mary took a short nap while I looked at the photos I had taken that day. We again went up the street to the Tack Room. The meal this time was not nearly as good as I ordered a fish dish and it was over cooked and tough. The wine was good though. I probably should have complained but didn't bother. We knew that was the last time we ate there, at least on this trip.
After dinner we went to hear one of the speakers, Laura Keene, who had done a big year and photographed over 800 birds. A very interesting speaker.
To show how close we were to the border, you could see Mexico through a window on some of the upper floors in the building where the speakers were.
Feb 4, 2023 (Last Day of the Festival)
Another early start and hopes to see more new birds. Same breakfast buffet with coffee but no tea. When Mary asked for tea they told her they would have to charge for it as it wasn't included on the buffet. She passed on the tea. Kind of ridiculous to charge for a tea bag and hot water when they are not charging for coffee.
This morning started with a fairly long drive to another ranch. Went over some pretty bumpy roads in the van too. I mean really bumpy! We had the same driver as the first day, and he was quite a character. Very knowledgeable though and shared a lot of history with us and identified several edible and other plants.
We got excellent views of both a male and female Vermilion Flycatchers. We usually see a male when we are down at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge but I don't think we have seen both male and female together.
First the female.
Then the male.
There was one lady in our group who questioned everything. She saw the female Vermilion and didn't believe that was what it was. Another time she thought a Mockingbird wasn't a Mockingbird because "it looked too long". We tried to steer clear of her.
During the course of the day we went through some interesting terrain.
And more...
Of course there are spider webs no matter where you travel.
During our break for lunch, we saw a resident Great Horned Owl who was resting on a cushion near the ranch house. That was a sight for sure.
We had also spotted a Black-crowned Night Heron in flight earlier.
Say's Phoebes were fairly common here.
One new bird for us, which we only got by its call, was a White-tipped Dove. It has a very distinctive call, sounds kind of like blowing over a coke bottle like we used to do as kids. Never got a good look at one though. Several times we saw doves fly by and someone would say that they were White-tipped Doves but we could not tell.
One of our last stops was at a landfill. Many, many Cara Cara and Ravens, and Brown-headed Cowbirds.
They look majestic in flight.
Somewhere along the way we saw this Black Phoebe.
On the drive back to town the leader got a text saying someone had spotted some Red-billed Pigeons at a location close to us. So we made an unscheduled stop to try to see them. Unfortunately they seem to have moved on as we never found them.
Our last bird of the last day was a Peregrin Falcon, taken in downtown Laredo. Seems the falcons have adapted to live in many cities. We got pretty good views of this one.
The last night of the festival was banquet night. There were dancers in traditional costumes doing original dances. Mary even got to dance with one of the dancers.
There was lots of dancing before dinner and the keynote speaker.
Dinner consisted of mostly traditional Mexican food, and was good. We were joined at our table by some folks that we had been on field trips with, and some new people as well. After dinner we listened to the Key Note speaker (Tiffany Kersten) who also talked about her big year where she broke the record for most birds sighted.
After dinner and the presentation, we went back to our room. The birding festival was officially over. Tomorrow we would check out of the hotel and drive to Marathon.
Feb 5, 2023 - on the road to Marathon.
We got a fairly early start for our drive to Marathon, which is about an hour and a half north of Big Bend National Park. We went through McDonald's for egg McMuffins and I filled up the gas tank. Then we had a bit of drama as we thought Mary had lost her phone at the gas station where we had stopped to fill up. I had already turned around when we found it between the seats. Made us both sick to think it was lost.
The rest of the drive was uneventful, thankfully. We stopped for lunch at J and P Bar and Grill. This was another good stop, and we had a very good hamburger for lunch. The weather was nice as well, with mild temps and sunshine.
We got into Marathon, Tx in the early afternoon and before we checked in to the Gage Hotel, we drove about 10 miles up the road with hopes to see a Golden Eagle. Finally, after a while, we did see one. But it was very high so no photo. However, we could see the coloration and shape, and the way it soared, so we were comfortable with marking it as a new bird. We really wanted to get a better view of it though. Maybe next year...
Back to Marathon to check into the Gage hotel. This is a very historic hotel, with a staff that really knows how to treat the clientele. We were very pleased with our stay there.
This is the hallway where our room was located. I can only imagine what it was like years ago with dim lighting as folks going to and fro from the lobby to their room. I don't remember when the place was turned into a hotel but it was a number of years ago.
The rooms were small with no work table so we spent time in the lobby.
Before dinner we had a drink at the bar while waiting for our reservation.
For dinner we went to the hotel restaurant where I ordered a steak and Mary got Country Fried Steak. The steak was very large and Mary could only eat half of her meal. We shared a salad though.
Feb 6, 2023 - a visit to Big Bend
I got up early and went to the lobby where I found fresh coffee and some power bars. Also some tea bags and hot water were available so I knew Mary would be pleased when she got up. The plan for today was to head south and spend the day in Big Bend. I walked up the block to a coffee shop and got two egg sandwiches to go, which we ate in our room before heading to Big Bend.
On the road to Big Bend we spotted a hawk in the distance. We didn't have our scope with us but I was able to use my long lens on the camera to capture a pretty good shot of this Sharp-shinned Hawk.
After a long drive we finally made it to the entrance to the park.
Down one of the gravel roads off the main road we spotted this Black-throated Sparrow.
Later in the parking lot of the Visitor Center, I got a good shot of a Curve-billed Thrasher.
In the visitor center Mary bought some books for the grandkids, as well as a cactus field guide. We saw many different cacti and she wanted to see if she could ID some of them. One of them was a different colored cactus which we didn't recall ever seeing before.
We didn't really see a lot while here and only had one full day but it was fun anyway. We had tent camped in the park over 40 years ago but we didn't really remember much about it. We took one very short hike but by this time it was getting really hot, so we went back to the car to go back to Marathon. We had eaten lunch at the lodge earlier, where we both had grilled chicken sandwiches. If we go back next year I might look into actually staying in the lodge rather than Marathon.
Although we didn't see a lot of birds in the park, the scenery was nice.
It is an hour and a half drive to get to Big Bend from Marathon so staying in the lodge would give more time in the park. It would also add that time to the drive back to San Antonio though. Might stay in the lodge and then back to stay at the Gage for the last night just to save that hour and a half on the front end of the drive back to San Antonio.
The downer of the trip was that a rock flew up and cracked the windshield of the rental car. Insurance will cover it but it was still a downer.
Probably the best bird we saw while in the park was a Pyrrhuloxia, a western cousin to a Cardinal and could easily be mistaken for a female Cardinal unless you looked closely.
On the way back to the hotel we again visited the "eagle spot" but had no luck getting a better view. We called it a day and went back to the hotel. Dinner was there in town, where we shared an entree. We had eaten there the night before and knew that the entree would be HUGE so we played it smart that night.
Feb 7, 2023 - back to San Antonio
Today we were going to check out of the Gage and drive back to San Antonio. This morning we went to the coffee shop and had a sit down breakfast before getting on the road. The coffee shop was small and crowded as it was pretty much the only game in town for breakfast, but we did find a small table to enjoy our meal. Once we finished we walked back to the hotel to get our luggage and check out. There was an old abandoned building just on the outskirts of town that I had wanted to photograph so on the way out we stopped and I took one quick shot before going on. It was cold and windy, but the shot turned out quite nicely I thought.
It was a long drive back to San Antonio, and it started raining before we got there.
We stopped at another little cafe for lunch and this time the food wasn't as good as some of the other places. It was just "OK", nothing special. It was a Taco plate... the beef tacos were not bad but the chicken tacos were pretty bland. At least we didn't spend an arm and a leg on it.
On the road again and not too far from the cafe where we had eaten, we saw a lot of blue lights flashing ahead. Several law enforcement cars, both local and state, were parked all around in the street. We were able to get through and be on our way. A few minutes later I saw blue lights in the rear view mirror. I knew I had not been speeding so I pulled over and the police car flew past at a high speed. Then another... and another and another. Must have been close to a dozen LEO vehicles went by, some with lights and siren, some with just lights, and one was just flashing his headlights. Several miles farther along we saw them and it appeared that they had 3 or 4 guys on the ground. Looked like they might be illegal immigrants but we could not tell for sure. Seemed like an excessive number of police but we didn't know the whole story. It was interesting though that they were all local or state - we didn't see a single Border Patrol vehicle. They could have been on their way I guess.
Once we got into San Antonio I stopped at a windshield repair shop before going to the hotel to see if the windshield could be repaired but they said it couldn't because the crack had grown too much. So much for that. We left there and checked in to the hotel. I had contacted some of my San Antonio friends and asked to meet for dinner at the local Mamacita's Restaurant. We met 6 of them there and I think everyone had a pretty good time. I know Mary and I did. We had a good margarita and a very good fish dish.
I asked our server to take a photo of all of us.
After dinner we went back to the hotel and repacked our suitcases to consolidate everything.
Feb 8, 2023 - back to Atlanta
We had a late morning flight so no big hurry today. We ate a fairly decent breakfast in the hotel before going to the airport to turn in the car.
I had wanted to get there early because I didn't know how long it would take to do the paperwork on the windshield. The weather was terrible, lots of rain, and the GPS sent us to the old location for the rental car return. A stressful way to start the morning. Then I had forgotten to fill up the car so we had to find a gas station. Finally made it to the car return and it only took about 10 or 15 minutes to complete the return so we had plenty of time now to relax.
We had some time to kill waiting in the airport, but that was O.K. with us. We just sat and chilled, waiting to board. Once we were in our seats, I took this shot through the window. Yes, it was nasty outside.
The flight was on time and the flight back to Atlanta was even quicker than coming out, so we were back in Atlanta before we knew it.
Got our luggage, hopped the shuttle back to the hotel to get our car, and on the road back to Columbus. We stopped at a Steak and Shake for a late lunch or early dinner and finally got home. The trip was over.
We ended up with 4 new birds for me and 5 new ones for Mary. The Morelet's Seedeater was the rarest bird, but I think the favorite one for both of us was the Green Kingfisher. And even though we had chased a Golden Eagle for years it was a bit of a let down to finally see one because it was so far away. But overall it was great trip, and we are already talking about whether or not we will go back next year. We still want to see that Red-billed Pigeon.
