Border Scare

Before I left the Motel 6 in Brownsville I took a few photos. 

My first order of business for the day was the Brownsville Sanborn’s office to see about auto insurance for Mexico.  U.S. insurance policies are not valid in Mexico, and Sanborn’s seems to be the popular choice.  They also advertise free road guides with the purchase of a six-month policy—not available for sale otherwise.  I wasn’t too impressed with their décor:  all sizes and shapes of empty bottles that had contained one kind or another of alcohol.  The salesman quoted a price of $130 for the six-month policy, with two free road guides (they publish four different regions).  A two-week policy was $63, with no road guides (which by now I felt I had to have—perhaps because I wasn’t allowed to buy them).  If all went well in Mexico I felt I might stay longer than two weeks, but the 6-month price seemed high.  I decided to check out the border itself and see if insurance was sold there.

I took a deep breath and drove toward the Gateway border crossing.  I guess I thought it would take me to the edge of Mexico.  Not so.  I was soon in heavy traffic in a maze of one-way streets.  One took me to a dead-end where many armed guards watched over a series of arches made for cars to pass through.  At first it seemed like I would be allowed to drive right through, since none of the guards approached me.  But I needed to ask a few questions first, so I stopped and waited for a guard to approach, loaded down with a heavy machine gun and other artillery.  I told him I wasn’t ready to cross into Mexico yet but wanted some information.  He responded by asking my destination in Mexico, how long I was staying, and what I would be doing there.  I answered all his questions while his eyes kept darting around the inside of my van.  Finally, he called over two other guards and had me open the doors so they could look over what I was carrying.  I told him again that I wasn’t even crossing the border that day, but they still kept poking around.  I’d thought he was a Mexican guard, preventing me from bringing into Mexico anything I shouldn’t.  When I asked him, however, he said he was a U.S. guard.  I asked him if the guards were taking anything out of the van and he acted as if I’d insulted their integrity.  Finally I told him I still needed to get auto insurance before I’d even consider crossing the border and I just wanted to turn around.  He showed me how (not easy) and I drove out of the area with great relief.  As soon as I could find a spot out of the 90 degree sun I pulled over and calmed down.  That hadn’t been fun.  I just wanted to get out of the heat, so I ate at a Burger King and then headed for the local library.  I emailed my family and tried to decide what to do next.  I needed to do something enjoyable, I decided.  Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge was near McAllen, Texas.  After an afternoon of birding to soothe my jangled nerves I could stay in the area overnight and check out a different Sanborn’s there tomorrow.

Santa Ana NWR ended up being about 50 miles west—farther than I’d thought, and it was about 2pm when I finally arrived.  Once again, a poor time of the day to bird.  I walked a couple of the more shaded trails.  Most of the ponds were dried up.  There were few other birders.  The volunteers explained that most of the birders left along with the winter season visitors, by the end of March.  I shared my morning’s woes with them and they suggested checking out the nearby Progreso border crossing.  It was smaller and people walked across easily to Mexico for shopping and entertainment.

Despite poor timing, Santa Ana produced Least Grebe, Pied-billed Grebe, Great Egret, Little Blue Heron, Glossy Ibis, Gadwall, Blue-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Broad-winged Hawk, Swainson’s Hawk, Plain Chachalaca, American Coot, White-winged Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Great Kiskadee, Couch’s Kingbird, Green Jay, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Clay-colored Robin, Northern Mockingbird, Long-billed Thrasher, Black-and-white Warbler, Olive Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, and Great-tailed Grackle.  Small lizards were abundant.  One kind had gray and tan stripes.  Another was plain with red on the side of its chin.  I also saw a large tortoise, right in the middle of one of the remote paths, digging a hole for its eggs. 

As dusk approached I headed to north McAllen, where I hoped to see parrots returning to their roosts.  I heard no parrots as I drove through the neighborhoods.  When I asked one of the neighbors as to their whereabouts, he told me they’d began settling in every night at a commercial center on the southeast corner of N. 10^th and Violet.  When I got there I saw a couple of birders who had already set up spotting scopes.  They had British accents and had flown to Texas to bird for a month.  It wasn’t long before the first group of 5-6 Green Parakeets flew in and landed on nearby telephone wires.  Soon there were 25, then 75, then 100.  The Brit was used to counting large numbers of birds by grouping them in 10’s, and he finally counted 750.  I was astounded.  The squawks were deafening, especially when about as many Great-tailed Grackles joined the party.  The other birder was taking photos by putting his digital camera in front of his spotting scope.  I asked if he’d take some using my camera, so I was fortunate to get some photos.  The birds soon started flying into the small trees around the shopping area where they would roost for the night.  What a sight!  When it was too dark to see, I left for the McAllen Wal-Mart where I spent the night and slept well.

The next morning I decided to take a whole morning for birding.  I began at the Hidalgo Pumphouse Discovery and Heritage Center (LTC 067).  There was a lot of construction going on and I saw few birds.  At the rear of the park near the river, bulldozers had erected a huge earthen barrier, and men were erecting a tall chain link fence on top of that.  I guessed it was the fence I’d heard about in the news—designed to keep out illegal aliens.  The construction had wiped out the former birding trails.  I was reminded of a globe of the earth I had run across when I was home schooling my son.  It had no political boundaries…no lines cutting the earth into individual countries owned by particular groups of people with different names.  It was inspiring.  I soon left the torn-up park and returned to Santa Ana.  I added any additional birds I saw to the Santa Ana list above.  While I was there I took the tram tour.  The volunteers who drove the tram and moderated the tour were interesting, but such tours are not conducive to seeing birds so I seldom sign up to go.

By 2pm it was very hot.  I drove to the border town of Progreso, parked my van in a lot and walked across the bridge into Reynosa, Mexico.  I checked with the Mexican officials on a tourist visa:  free for seven days, or $20 for any longer time.  It needs to be turned in if you leave the country and another one purchased to reenter.  An auto permit is good for six months and costs $30, multiple entry.  It must be turned in before the expiration date (not thrown away).  The Mexican insurance was pricier than Sanborn’s—with no perks like road guides.  At least I had the info first hand.  A turnstile on the U.S. side required a quarter to cross the bridge, but you didn’t have to show your passport.  Coming back, the Mexican turnstile required a Mexican coin, which I didn’t have since I hadn’t exchanged any money; but a kind lady gave me one.  I had to show my passport to the U.S. officials coming back.  As soon as I entered Mexico I noticed crowds of people and cars, narrow streets, lots of very small stores, and many street vendors.  Pharmacies and dental offices were abundant.  Signs proclaimed porcelain crowns for $125.  Street hawkers repeated to all passers-by:  “You need doctor?” or “You need medicine?” and encouraged them to enter the small offices.  Little girls carried buckets filled with huge paper flowers.  They were beautiful and cheap, and many tourists were carrying one or more.  I bought nothing, but I did hand out coins to many of the beggars.

Back in the U.S. I still had some daylight so I headed north to Estero Llano Grande (LTC 054).  At the state park there, the volunteer naturalist (Huck Hutchens) took me on a short tour, along with a guy from Illinois and one from Australia, to see a  Common Pauraque (http://www.flickr.com/photos/samuelbetkowski/3448361570).  The park also had several rare birds in an area where tourists were not allowed without a guide.  Huck agreed to give an early morning tour to a group of us the next day.

Leaving the park, I found a Wendy’s and bought a chicken mandarin salad.  I ate it in the Vali-Ho Motel in Weslaco (1-800-445-1993) ($40 total).  It had refrigerator, microwave, A/C, and nice TV.  I called home, slipped out to Wal-Mart for pastry for my next morning’s breakfast, and had a good night’s sleep.