South Texas, Ranches, Birds

December 29, 2015

First stop this morning was the small Longhorn Museum in Pleasanton, about 30 minutes south of San Antonio.  This is a rural, ranching area and the Longhorn Museum is a collection of photos, clothing, home and farm implements, etc. from the area.

It seemed that whatever someone wanted to donate, they gamely added it to the collection.  Gowns from "Miss Wool" pageants, a set-up from the state's first country music radio station (KBOP), a collection of salt shakers, you name it.  This unique piece was a trophy awarded to the state's most outstanding school bus driver  lol.

From Pleasanton, we turned south toward the Rio Grande Valley.  We traveled for several hours, through ranch land dominated by mesquite.  Some of the entries to the ranches were interesting:

This one looked like it had seen better days despite the name...

We also went through Eagle Ford, an area central to a great deal of fracking and oil field suppliers, along with jack pumps and flares where they were burning off excess gasses.

 We saw cattle, horses, javelina, deer and many crested caracaras - a colorful kind of falcon mostly perched on fence posts and poles.  Hard to get  photos,  as most of the animals took off as soon as we stopped.

Next stop was Falcon State Park which features a huge reservoir fed by the Rio Grande, half of which is in Mexico. The rangers at the entry were friendly, as were several of our neighbors in the campground.  Most of them were snow birds, from Virginia, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York and other snowy regions.  

This area is where the central and western flyways merge, so birding is very popular. Hundreds of  bird species visit the area throughout the year.  We walked and spotted a few interesting birds along with a few javelina.   

Enjoyed hot showers, and Greg managed to scrounge enough wood for a campfire.  The wood was mostly mesquite which burns slow and hot and kind of pink! Mesquite trees abound in this part of the country and ranchers are not fond of it, as it readily takes over pastureland and is difficult to eradicate. Many of the plants and bushes in the area also feature thorns, so it is best to stay on trails!

The day has been grey with a chilly wind, but no rain! After a quick dinner of cheese and crackers followed by taco soup, we called it a night.  The state park has wifi, a relatively new trend, which is good for email but not strong enough to do anything with photos.