Rio Grande Valley environmentalists, birders, and disc golf players have been working hard over the last few months to save Green Jay Park, a 90 acre parcel of greenspace in south McAllen.
The land includes the last remaining public resaca - or oxbow lake - in McAllen. 128 species of birds have been recorded at this park on Cornell Lab of Ornithology‘s eBird database.
The City of McAllen's planning document - Envison McAllen 2040 - approved by city commission lists this area as conserved greenspace for perpetuity. Interestingly, an alternate Foresight 2040 document appeared, this one listing an employment center in the area where the greenspace is currently. This is not the copy that was signed by commission.
Planning and Zoning unanimously voted not to rezone the property, which would turn 33 acres into a campus for Zoho, a tech company from India. Their plan lays out seven acres of office buildings, a parking lot, a fruit tree orchard, and the necessity to raise the land several feet in order to bring the area out of the floodplain. This will require deepening the natural lake.
McAllen City Manager Roy Rodriguez stated publicly that the demolition of native habitat and the building of offices would bring more birds to the property. McAllen’s City Commission ignored the Planning & Zoning recommendation, and after nearly three hours of public comments, unanimously voted to rezone the area in the interest of private development.
If you’re a birder, or have ever taken a basic biology class in your life, you fully know that the claims that this project will benefit wildlife is false. Bird species have complex ecosystem needs, including varying depths of water, varying micro-habitats, space to nest, feed, and much more.
If you love birds, and birding in the Rio Grande Valley, please email the McAllen Mayor, City Manager, and City Commission, and tell them why conserving the last remaining slivers of greenspace in McAllen is important to you.
javier.vi
Nothing tastes quite as good as ZONE-TAILED HAWK for dessert, immediately following our lakeside dinner during our Women’s Birding Retreat in McAllen.
Wildly epic morning at Bentsen State Park today, watching this young female Hook-billed Kite feed for nearly an hour on its only food source - tiny, white land snails - at very close range. It would throw its head back while eating the last bit of each snail, and we watched it repeatedly smash itself, wings outspread, into bushes with thinner trunks, in order to grab a snail, and take it back to a firmer perch. They’ve been pretty reliable this fall, but this has been the most intimate experience I’ve had with this species to date.
The view out your bedroom door during “Motmots & Meditation” Birding & Yoga Retreat at Canopy Lodge, Panamá, Oct 2 - 9, 2023!
I’ve gotten lots of questions about this retreat. In short, the trip will be 90+% birding, with short, 15 minute segments of (attendance optional) yoga and meditation interspersed throughout the day, to undo the “warbler neck” and all the standing and walking we’ll be doing, and to provide some time for personal reflection. I am a certified 200 hr Yoga Teachwer! No yoga experience is necessary, and all yoga will be accessible to all bodies.
Cost is $2300, double-occupancy with limited private rooms available for a single supplement of $350. I’m expecting this trip to fill very quickly!
Here is our trip report from late September 2022: https://ebird.org/tripreport/80764
It was a multiple expletive kind of morning at Bentsen State Park today with three perched Hook-billed Kites including a black morph!
Sorry for the shake, but this was too cute not to share! Common Pauraque with chick at Estero Llano Grande State Park earlier this week.
I have a client on 3/17 interested in trying for bat falcon, golden-crowned warbler, and social flycatcher. She is looking to share the date with other birders, so let’s make it an event! Message me if you’re interested in being part of a rarity chase day on 3/17 (or on 3/11 for the same target birds)!
A very cooperative Morelet’s Seedeater at Salineno last week! It seems to be an exceptionally good year for them. A lifer for clients from Washington and Montana.
GoFundMe: Birdie Big Year
Purchase: ShesBirdie.com, code TIFFANYKERSTEN10
The Spotted Rail put on a fantastic show today, first strutting its way across the berm and concrete walkway, then feeding about 12 feet from the small boardwalk overlook.
