Walk report: Yturria Brush

Hello, everyone.

Yesterday we took advantage of the cool front's arrival and drove west to do some walking around.

We passed our destination in order to go to the McDonald's in Rio Grande City and eat. They served us probably the best breakfast burrito ever--fresh, tender tortilla with egg and so on wrapped up inside, and coffee.

Then we drove back the way we'd come and found the wildlife refuge area.

Sign in the small parking area.
Bottom edge of mapped tract is on US 83.

A view of the walking surface.
Brush is too close to path for wheel chair use to be practical.
Bikes, etc. are not allowed.

There were a lot of skippers around that day.

This native hibiscus is called Tulipan.

The cool front had brought rain with it the evening before, so there was no dust on the paths, and the parts of the trail that were on dirt road were too muddy to mess around with.

We saw: silvery leafed cenizo in bloom, the naked twigs of ephedra shrubs all over the place, ebano, the above-pictured tulipan, some yellow lantana, Mexican oregano with its tiny white blossoms, ojo de vibora with its translucent white berries and black seeds, a few tunnels that could have been from ground squirrels or tarantulas, and a lot of nervous green caterpillars that threw themselves down silken threads when their branches were disturbed. Also there was one noisy bird on a branch, whose calls seemed to be keeping almost all of the wildlife in hiding. We weren't able to identify the bird but it looked bigger than a dove and smaller than a turkey vulture. (For what that's worth!)

We hope to go back again when the ground is a bit drier and we can proceed farther into the brush. It's beautiful.