Birding the Lower Rio Grande Valley (Quinta Mazatlan)

Green Jay

With nearby National Wildlife Refuge closed due to the Government Shutdown over “the Wall”, we changed plans and headed an hour west to Quinta Mazatlan, A 1930’s country estate in the heart of McAllen, Texas.

Quinta Mazatlan is an historic Spanish Revival adobe hacienda surrounded by lush tropical landscaping & native woodland. A unique conference & events center, close to airports & hotels, Quinta Mazatlan is also an urban oasis, where quiet trails wind through more than 15 acres of birding habitat. 

It was a great decision as we got 12 lifers including the Buff-Bellied Hummingbird, the Plain Chacalacha and Green Jay.

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Then we headed to the Old Hidalgo Pumphouse where we got a Ringed Kingfisher . . . an incredible bird . . . twice the size of the Belted Kingfisher we regularly see . . . and a huge bill.

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Finally we made a mad dash for Oliveria Park in Brownsville where we saw hundreds of Parrots fly in and roost in the Eucalyptus Day.

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We end the day with 325 birds for the year and have upped our ABA life list to 409.

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