Journeys With Judy: Falcon State Park and Salineno TX

March 16 – 18, 2012

Linda and Carole have gone on to San Antonio. I drove down to Falcon State Park. So far I have found the Texas State Parks to be great during the week and a real zoo on the weekends. It seems so many young people come to the parks to party rather than enjoy nature. I shouldn’t complain. I was young once and did the same thing. But I’m old now, and I want my peace and quiet.
Anyway – while I was staying at the park I also visited a bird sanctuary in the tiny town of Salineno. These are the directions I was given. You drive through the little town and watch out for the speed bumps. The pavement ends at the Catholic Church parking lot. Continue on the VERY narrow and not well maintained dirt road until you come to the Rio Grande River. Just before the river the sanctuary will be on your left.
Well I found it and the caretakers were down at the river looking for birds. The border patrol came by in their extremely loud airboats and scared all the birds away from the river. I hope they are not planning on sneaking up on anyone. Those are the loudest boats I’ve ever heard. They are propelled by a GIANT fan. The poor guys will probably be deaf before their 30^th birthday. I could have thrown a rock across the river into Mexico. I followed the caretakers up to the sanctuary and oh my, what a great place with some incredible birds. If you check your birding books, you will see that most of these birds can only be found in the United States in a very small area at the Southern tip of Texas.