Wednesday, July 24, 2013

SANTA ANA NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE

Winter weather finally found its way down to the Rio Grand Valley. 3 Days of below freezing weather with overnight lows in the 20's - woke up to a coating of ice.

Fortunately, freezing weather doesn't last in South Texas. With temps back in the 70's today we headed to Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge. Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge is a 2,088 acre refuge established in 1943 for the protection of migratory birds. We had gone there back in early December but found it was closed due to flooding. The Refuge flooded in the summer of for the first time in over 50 years. The water was up to 10 feet deep. The Refuge is bordered by the Rio Grande.





Resacas are former channels of the Rio Grande



Bird BlindBoardwalkSaw a few birds. It was a windy day. Will return in March when migration should be picking up.



Observation Tower





Rope Bridge



















White watermarks from flooding. Will have to see if the trees come back in the Spring.





Most of the 12 miles of paths are still flooded









Meanwhile we keep on Trek'n!

Melissa & Gary













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