MARCH 16, 2022 www.wintertexantimes.com 4 WINTER TEXAN TIMES You can find nature and more at Valley birding and nature centers By Herb Moering Bird watchers have many opportunities to follow their hobby, including the World Birding Center (WBC) network of nine different sites set along a 120-mile historic trail in the Rio Grande Valley. It is a $20 million development based on a partnership between the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Rio Grande Valley communities. The nine sites vary dramatically in landscape, but all serve as home at times for more than 500 species of birds. This area serves as two major migratory corridors with many of the birds found at Bentsen RGV Park in Mission, Edinburg Scenic Wetlands, Estro Llano Grande in Weslaco, Harlingen Arroyo Colorado, Quinta Mazatlán in McAllen, Resaca de la Palma in Brownsville, Roma Bluffs, South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center and the unique Old Hidalgo Pumphouse. Old Hidalgo Pumphouse Going to the Old City of Hidalgo Pumphouse is a little like having the winning trifecta ticket at the track. Not only does one visit the first of the nine WBC sites, but there’s the intriguing story surr o u n d i n g the Pump h o u s e ’ s importance to agriculture, plus a glimpse back to when model railroading was of interest to many kids. There’s also a 4.5-mile round trip biking and walking trail. Bikers are likely to not only see Kiskadees, Kingfishers, cardinals, hummingbirds, and pelicans, but also an occasional Border Patrol and National Guard member. Winter Texans Steve and Sharon Warren walked the grounds, who had come from Palm Shadows RV Park in Donna, where the South Dakota couple have been staying since 2017. Her husband said Sharon’s birding now includes a list of 464 different species she has seen. The latest they saw was the rare Bat Falcon, seen for the first in the U.S. at the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge recently. Visitors have a choice of touring the WBC grounds and Pumphouse Museum on their own or can make a reservation for a trolley ride on any weekday, according to Melissa Sanchez, pumphouse director, with capacity for 40 people. The phone number is (956) 843-8686. The latest tour was for residents of San Juan Gardens Park. Because of the large number who came, visitors were split with half going on the trolley ride and the other half given a tour of the museum., which was later reversed. Depending upon the weather, the trolley tour can include going to the river and seeing the station that was built a half-mile away in the early ‘80s with 10 electric pumps. The old steam powered pumphouse, abandoned in 1983, was put into operation at the start of the 20th Century, making this a “Magic Valley” by turning Hidalgo County into a year-round agricultural powerhouse. The hurricane of 1933 shifted the Rio Grande River a halfmile away from the pumphouse, requiring the digging of a canal to the river. Initially there were just two pumps installed in 1909 in the old pumphouse with others added over the years to send water to farm fields and cities via irrigation canals. Total pumping capacity reached 408,000 gallons a minute, fast enough to fill an Olympic-size pool in 20 seconds. All of the pumps are there for viewing. A bonus is a look at the RGV Rails Club’s model train layout that is spread over a large area of a Pumphouse lower floor, not far from the large pumps. If you come any Wednesday between 10 a.m. and noon, one will find Red Knepfler at the controls of the trains or working on maintenance. The head of the Rio Grande Valley Rails Club is inviting any model railroader to bring their HO scale trains and run them around the extensive layout, which has been at the museum for some 20 years. Knepfler, who is a year-round resident of Mission West Resort, can be reached at (313) 532-8549. The trainman said he has about 150 cars of rolling stock of his own, which include many tobacco and whiskey labeled cars as well as corporate general commodity cars. See NATURE pg. 20 Nutria at Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge. Photo by Frank Aguirre Bat Falcon. Photo by Nestor Hernandez Birdwatching at Frontera Audubon Model Train display at Hidalgo Pumphouse
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