Dateline: Birder Heaven South Padre Island, Texas

We poked the GPS to ensure our safe retrieval should we fall prey to bandits and headed out in search of several first species for each of us.  Our first stop was at the World Bird Center on South Padre Island.  We actually had four stops on our day's itinerary and only managed two so you should get a pretty clear picture of how much there was to see.  It is a new facility and had what seemed like miles of boardwalks out over the tidal mudflats.  In addition to several new shorebird species we saw turtles and bought a lovely watercolor print of a stylized hummingbird!  Happy Birthday to me!

Because David Thomason said bad things we were unable to download Wick's pictures to my HP laptop so you'll just have to look at these from the internet to see our favorite finds of this location:

 

L to R and top to bottom they are the Roseate Spoonbill, Black Skimmer, Couches Kingbird and, my favorite, the Little Blue Heron, and yes, he was THAT blue.

We then ran over to Laguna Atascosa Refuge and saw a whole batch of Green Jays, Plain Chachaca, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and even a Black-throated Warbler (RARE!!) We drove around and around but the Ocelots eluded us...

 Green Jay, Plain Chacalac (about 2' long) and the Caracara.
 

Of course the day couldn't be complete without a stop at Amazing Bobz - easily the cheesiest souvenir shop I've ever, and I mean EVER saw!  The interior was fabulous with lots of stuff we were pretty sure is illegal to possess but it was the outside that held the most appeal for me.  If you are looking for a place to spend your summer vacation dollars,  I vote for a trip to Amazing Bobz in Los Fresnos, TX.  You might want to check out staying at the "Holiday Out RV Park" which will only cost you $20 a night.  The stuff in the Amazing Bobz parking lot was free - all in all an incredible value!

 

 
You gotta admit - this place looks fun, fun, fun! Do you notice the patient looks on Barry, Wick and Gwen's faces??