After a good night’s sleep in our cozy casita at Far Flung Outdoor Center, we woke early to a pleasant, partly cloudy sky. Actually, it was pitch-black out when we got up, so the partly-cloudiness came a bit after that. We wanted to drive to the eastern side of the park near Boquillas Canyon. The Rio Grande Village RV Site is located near there. It is one of the prime birding areas in the park.
Vermilion Flycatcher
But I am getting ahead of myself. First we needed to eat. Our destination for that little endeavor was Frank Jones’ Roadrunner Deli. We had eaten there on on our last trip to the Big Bend and were thrilled. A little non-descript place with 4 tables inside and a few outside. The is behind the counter and covers the wall, and I think a few little items are written in the margins. And a large menu it is, as he is open for breakfast and lunch from 7:30 until 3:00PM.
I opted for a pair of eggs over medium with crispy bacon and toast. Ann was still a bit under the weather and she just had hot tea and toast. The price was great and we left there pretty well sated.
Sora
We left there to head for Rio Grande Village, a distance of about 65 miles from the western to the eastern side of the Big Bend NP. That national park is one big place, covering around 750,000 acres.
Turkey Vulture
The Rio Grande Village RV Park was vacant. No RVs or campers yet, as the “snowbirds” hadn’t started to arrive yet. They are the people from the north that spend the winter in Texas. We spent a couple of hours just driving slowly through the area. The were birds galore. We saw our first ever Sora, which is a little bird that lives in the reeds and marsh grasses. There were hundreds of my favorite little bird, the Vermilion Flycatcher, plus assorted other species, finches, woodpeckers, warblers, sparrows, etc. And, of course, we can’t leave out that ever-popular Turkey Vulture.
Javelina
On the way out we spotted this Javelina along with another, along the side of the road.
Threatening showers over Chichuahuan Desert
I hope you are enjoying this trip as much as Ann and I had. Watch the next few posts for more from our adventure. And of course, click on any image to see and enlargement.
Texas Tweeties by Bob Zeller 