Travel with the Slivas: Estero Llano Grande State Park (Second Visit), Weslaco, TX

On this visit we learned more about the history of the state park.

Estero Llano Grande State Park was pieced together in early 2000. An old piece of farm land is the site of the visitors center and a series of shallow wetlands. An old dried up lake bed that was restored and is now thriving with wildlife is called Alligator Lake because of its inhabitants and its shape. Other parcels include a long term lease agreement with U.S. Fish and Wildlife of the Mercedes Tract, and an addition of Lakeview Trailer Park and a nature trail, now called the Tropical Area and Green Jay Nature Trail, from the city of Weslaco. Those land purchases and contributions along with World Birding Center, Inc. support, and the reclamation of wetland habitat with the help of Ducks Unlimited, allowed for a grand opening in June 2006 with almost 200 acres of park to explore. In the spring of 2010 Estero Llano Grande acquired the Methodist Camp Thicket, now called Camp Thicket, a group retreat facility with prime Thornscrub habitat. Estero Llano Grande is bordered to the south by a section of the Arroyo Colorado watershed, known for many years as Llano Grande Lake, which only adds to the overall wetland appearance of the park. This now puts the park's size at 230 acres of some of the most diverse habitat in the Rio Grande Valley.

We enjoyed a wonderful guided bird walk in the morning and a guided tram tour in the afternoon. On the tours we saw many birds, cactus, and other plants. The birds were (new for us bolded): Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Fulvous Whistling Duck, Mottled Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Cinnamon Teal, Green-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Plain Chachalaca, Neotropic Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, American White Pelican, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Hero, Tricolored Heron, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, White Ibis, White-faced Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Black Vulture, White-tailed Kite, Virginia Rail, Sora, Common Gallinule, American Coot, Killdeer, Black-necked Stilt, American Avocet, Spotted Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Long-billed Curlew, Long-billed Dowitcher, White-winged Dove, Mourning Dove, Common Ground Dove, White-tipped Dove, Red-crowned Parrot, Common Pauraque, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Green Kingfisher, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Scissor-tailed Flycather, Green Jay, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Northern Mockingbird, Long-billed Thrasher, European Starling, Wilson's Warbler, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Great-tailed Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, House Sparrow. These are a few of pictures.