McAllen and birding

Was a quick 3 hour trip down, driving most of the way past the King Ranch - no towns, nothing during a 60 mile stretch owned by the King family. But, once into Hidalgo about 10 miles north of McAllen, the population quickly expands. Traffic! Ugh. But, got in by 1pm into Sunlight and registered and set up by 2pm. Nice little trip. This area is the World Birding Center and wow - do they have places to go if you are into birding. We met up with the folks who steered us to this campground and to the area, and got settled in. This place we are at is a '55 and older' community and it's okay. For the price, it's terrific. $8.33 a night. We are packed in like sardines. It has a pool and hot tub (too cold right now to use it), we are so close to many birding areas, to flea markets, biking areas, historical spots. We are about 45 miles from South Padre Island and Brownsville and plan to go there sometime. We plan to say for at least a month.

Yesterday we went to Bentsen State Park which is known for it's bird watching opportunities. Keep in mind birds here are so different from home, the sounds of them, the looks. While at this park we noticed great bike trails and will come back and do this a couple of times. We also are right on the border of Mexico, we looked across the Rio Grande River into Mexico. This area was flooded out by Hurricane Alex in July 2010, that only half the park is open. Waters were up over 30 feet in some areas (Rio Grande flooded). Overcast skies so couldn't get good pictures of the birds but will next sunny day we go there.