The BirdsJan 23, 2008
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Altimira Oriole
Kay's Friends, the Javelina
Green Jay
Chachalacas
Wednesday, January 23, 2008 (DAY 27) This was a "free" day in as much as neither of us scheduled any activities. We decided to travel to Mission, TX, and visit the World Birding Center at the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park. We hiked most of the roads and trails--for us it was a hike of over 4+ miles--and saw some very colorful birds, a raccoon, and several javelina, or collared peccary. Included in the bird species were green jays, chachalacas (about the size of a small pheasant), ladder-backed woodpeckers, mourning and white-winged doves, Harris hawk, cardinals, and Altamira orioles (much larger than the Baltimore oriole). We took several photos which you may view, but photography does not do the colors justice. We took a short tour of Bentsen Palm Village RV Resort, and really liked it. It's mostly RVs, large lots, they offer free bicycles, canoes, and kayaks, have free access to the World Birding Center, are on the 15-mile bicycle trail, and immaculately clean. It may be our favorite yet, along with Victoria Palms. After the long hike, we were famished, and tried to make the senior lunch special at Golden Corral but missed it by about 2 minutes. Here's the thing about the senior lunch special, i.e. buffet. It starts at 11 AM and goes to 4 PM, and is about $2.50 less than the regular buffet. The seniors have it figured such that they arrive at the Golden Corral about 3:45 PM, knowing that the steaks and shrimp prepared for the normal dinner buffet begin showing up at 4:00 PM. That way, the sly seniors get the full buffet at reduced prices. Unfortunately, we got behind some folks with LOTS of children who culturally don't move too fast, the young lady at the cash register was also serving beverages, and so when we got to the cash register to pay, it was after 4 PM and we had to pay the full amount. Our friend, John, will have to let Ted, the Golden Corral CEO, in on this little tidbit of senior trickery. When we returned to Pine to Palm, we hit the hot tub to negate the soreness from the long hike. We really enjoyed the spa despite the cool temps. We watched television the rest of the evening. We're sure going to miss HDTV.
