Mission – We’re always fond of flying the coop on The Texas Bucket List and when you’re in South Texas, one of the top birding centers in the whole world, you find out that birds of a feather really do flock together. “Birdwatchers, they’re an interesting lot. They chase those birds wherever they can, and this is one of the places where you can see stuff nobody else has,” said Park Ranger Roy Rodriguez.
Roy didn’t grow up too far from here considering he’s from Pharr but what makes this neck of the woods so far from what the rest of the state is like, besides the fact that it’s far, is it’s unique ecosystem. “We are on the 100th meridian, putting us right down the middle of the country. We have the Gulf of Mexico pretty close. We have the desert pretty close. The mountains are pretty close and so are the tropics, so we’re basically at the biological crossroads of North America down here with two migratory flyways. Important bird area,” explained Roy.
The Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park is only one of nine birding centers you can find in the RGV. Each of them is dedicated to one of the most popular activities in this part of our state, birdwatching. “I grew up hunting and fishing like a lot of people in Texas. I didn’t really know much about birds, except for those birds that I was going to try to shoot and eat, and at some point I discovered that birdwatching was a big deal down here. We’ve got lots of wildlife, lots of shorebirds, and it’s all about water. So as long as we have water, you’re going to attract a lot of wildlife,” stated Roy.
The Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park is only one of nine birding centers you can find in the RGV. Each of them is dedicated to one of the most popular activities in this part of our state, birdwatching. “I grew up hunting and fishing like a lot of people in Texas. I didn’t really know much about birds, except for those birds that I was going to try to shoot and eat, and at some point I discovered that birdwatching was a big deal down here. We’ve got lots of wildlife, lots of shorebirds, and it’s all about water. So as long as we have water, you’re going to attract a lot of wildlife,” stated Roy.
Roy took to birding like a duck to water and since 2001 he’s worked at this State Park that was established in 1962. “People come to your town to see what you have, but they never go out there and experience it themselves. Well, the first day I went out birdwatching, I was blown away that so many people from around the world came here to my little part of the world just to see what we had, and I had no idea,” explained Roy.
With 800 acres right on the Rio Grande, the park is full of flying fowl that create a colorful fresco. “You get hundreds of birds on one trip, and you get a hundred birders to see that one bird,” said Roy.
Roy then took us on a walk over to the Hawk Tower observation deck to see a breathtaking view of the park and maybe even catch a glimpse of some singing birds. “We have volunteers that count four months out of the year, counting all migrating raptors that they can identify as they head south and when they return in the spring. We’re one of over 200 sites in the U.S. that have Hawk Watch so that we can keep track of these movements of these raptors, which are great indicators of the overall environmental health,” explained Roy.
Harris Hawks, Merlin Falcons, Cardinals, Red-winged Blackbird and Green jays are small samples of some of the things you’ll see here but if an Altamira Oriole is on your bucket list, Roy can summon them with a simple whistle! “The valley overall, the whole region, has got so many different types of habitats. It’s not just South Texas and a couple of woodlands. There are elevational differences. We’ve got the desert and the Gulf of Mexico within 140 miles, and in between there, we’re looking at about 11 or 13 different habitats, and those are all unique,” explained Roy.
So we had to ask just what that bird is that everybody’s looking for. “There’s a few birds that are considered to be the bird you got to see when you come down here. One of them is called the Hook-billed Kite. It’s a type of raptor that specializes in eating snails. It goes after crawfish and other things as well, but it’s a very riparian bird. It likes the woodlands near the river, and so their habitat is very, very limited in the U.S. If a birder comes down here and gets their Hook-billed Kite, I think that then they can die happy, I guess,” explained Roy.
To say Roy really likes his job might be an understatement, he’s as proud as a peacock to be here. “The connection to this park is deeper than just the job. Like I said, I was meant to be,” expressed Roy. “We are the stewards of the planet, and the more we know and the more we connect, the more we appreciate. And the more we appreciate, the more we value that stuff, the more likely it’ll still be here for our kids when they grow up,” said Roy.