2009-01-21
Birds and Chili
A few days ago, Mark, Ed and I walked out of the park library and Mark looked up and said "the parrots are here". For some odd reason I had the small camera with us so Ed was able to get a couple of photos. Parrots are not indigenous to this area but over the years escapees have managed to survive and multiply creating several flocks in the area. The flocks generally are seen about 20 miles east of us so we were excited to see them in our park.
About 10 minutes east of us in McAllen is Quinta Mazatlan, a 1930's estate complete with a mansion and 15 acres of bird habitat. After spending parts of three winters this close to a birding area we thought it was about time that we paid it a visit, so Jean, Bob, Rosetta, Ed and myself climbed into Bob's truck and drove over. Our main goal was to see the birds so we skipped walking through the mansion this time (admission was $1 for seniors and $2 for adults so we figure we could afford to go back again). We walked around for about 2 hours and only managed about half of the trail (OK, we did sit at several of the feeding stations to watch the birds and the avid photographers (Jean, Rosetta and Ed) spent time taking lots and lots of photos).
There were lots of Kiskadees in this park.
The kiskadees and sparrows were loving the food stuffed into this log.
A Curve-billed Thrasher
I think this is an orange-crowned warbler.
If you look closely you can see the ant under the leaf. The ants were climbing the tree, picking leaves then carrying them down the tree trunk ..... we didn't figure out were they were taking them.
Tonight was the Chili Cook Off. Seven people (six women and one man) volunteered to cook their special chili recipes. As our street is still on duty we were involved with setup, taking tickets, serving desert and cleanup. The cooks were asked to serve the chili so they could answer and questions regarding ingredients and spice level. Every chili was different, one was made with turkey, another made with meat substitute (vegetarian), yet another was made with venison. They all tasted different and they all were tasty.
The chili cooks and me read to serve.
Ed and I in our chef hats. Yes, thats me with my new haircut. Short hair is much easier to deal with in the heat and the wind.
About 10 minutes east of us in McAllen is Quinta Mazatlan, a 1930's estate complete with a mansion and 15 acres of bird habitat. After spending parts of three winters this close to a birding area we thought it was about time that we paid it a visit, so Jean, Bob, Rosetta, Ed and myself climbed into Bob's truck and drove over. Our main goal was to see the birds so we skipped walking through the mansion this time (admission was $1 for seniors and $2 for adults so we figure we could afford to go back again). We walked around for about 2 hours and only managed about half of the trail (OK, we did sit at several of the feeding stations to watch the birds and the avid photographers (Jean, Rosetta and Ed) spent time taking lots and lots of photos).
There were lots of Kiskadees in this park.
The kiskadees and sparrows were loving the food stuffed into this log.
A Curve-billed Thrasher
I think this is an orange-crowned warbler.
If you look closely you can see the ant under the leaf. The ants were climbing the tree, picking leaves then carrying them down the tree trunk ..... we didn't figure out were they were taking them.
Tonight was the Chili Cook Off. Seven people (six women and one man) volunteered to cook their special chili recipes. As our street is still on duty we were involved with setup, taking tickets, serving desert and cleanup. The cooks were asked to serve the chili so they could answer and questions regarding ingredients and spice level. Every chili was different, one was made with turkey, another made with meat substitute (vegetarian), yet another was made with venison. They all tasted different and they all were tasty.
The chili cooks and me read to serve.
Ed and I in our chef hats. Yes, thats me with my new haircut. Short hair is much easier to deal with in the heat and the wind.
# posted by The Agnew Family @ 8:10 AM 
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