PHOTOGRAPHY BY DEB HIRT: Black-bellied Whistling-Duck

Long-billed Thrasher

Black-necked Stilt

Common Gallinule

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck

Black Skimmer

02-28-20

White-tailed Kite

02-29-20

These photos, except the last one were taken at the SPI Conference Center on South Padre Island, Texas.

The final photo was taken at the Laguna Atascosa NWR of Los Fresnos, Texas. Writer has visited there several times over the past five years, and had never seen all of the property due to area closures, even during this visit. It comprises 120,000+ acres, and there are several rare birds and animals found there, the most rare of which are the ocelot and the Aplomado Falcon. A few years ago, a birding friend and I both witnessed an ocelot on the unpaved entryway that is now paved with speed bumps, which is a very rare occurrence.

The White-tailed Kite was photographed during a tram tour that took about 2 1/2 hours, very reasonably priced. We saw such wonders like the white tailed Kite, Crested Caracara, Gull-billed and Caspian Tern at Atascosa Lake, which was at the end of the tour and the grand finale. Take the tour and hope that it is led by Wanda. There were also exotic animals on the property. The area was closed as ocelots are there, rarely out during the daylight hours.