It's Tuesday, This Must Be McAllen, Texas

I am in McAllen, Texas, for several days of meetings and for the start of the Texas Tropics Nature Festival. We got out for a bit of birding at Santa Ana NWR this morning and saw some mighty nice birds, including clay-colored robin, green jay, chachalaca, great kiskadee, Couch's kingbird, and buff-bellied hummingbird.

It's been a loooooong day, so I think I'll let the pictures do the talking. ¡Hasta mañana!

It was not too birdy on the pond/resaca at Santa Ana, but the trees were hopping with birds (and skeeters).

A golden-fronted woodpecker on a local tour of homes.

There's a new birding tower at Santa Ana NWR. It's HIGH! But the view is fab.

There are two species of cowbird in this photo: bronzed and brown-headed.

By mid-morning the sky over Santa Ana started filling up with kettling broad-winged hawks.

Back in McAllen we spent the afternoon in meetings at the charming Quinta Mazatlan, which is now part of the World Birding Center.

This eastern screech-owl peeked out from his roost hole At Quinta Mazatlan when a squirrel skittered up the trunk.