As the lakes and ponds up north begin to freeze over the birds that make their living in the water need to find open, ice-free water. Naturally, this sends them south looking for warm breezes and tropical water where they can spend a comfortable winter; a sort of Margaritaville for ducks.
Author: Justin Case
![](https://rgvctmn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/joyce-800x506.png)
My husband and I have been coming to South Padre Island (SPI) off and on for 39 years. It has been the beach and its environs that draw me back… and the restaurants and things to do and ease of being here…and the Roseate Spoonbills and Sanderlings and the monarch butterflies and….the turtle sanctuary at Sea Turtle, Inc. We had the privilege years ago of seeing Ila Loetscher “the Turtle Lady,” explain her mission: conservation of the Kemp’s ridley sea turtles and ecological concerns.
![](https://rgvctmn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/mary-604x600.png)
For two years now, my husband, Jim, and I, have become Peregrine Falcons. When the aspen trees in our beloved home range of Colorado exchange their murmuring golden tresses for shimmering crystals of frost, we are now joining the peregrines on their autumn migration to warmer climes. Sometimes I wonder if the supersonic peregrines hunting along Texas 100 are the same ones we watched fledge their young from the red rock cliffs above our home.
![](https://rgvctmn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/STBC-800x600.png)
STBC Leadership Team.
![](https://rgvctmn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/mcallen-show.png)
The South Texas Border Chapter of Texas Master Naturalists (STBC TMN) will participate in the 32nd Annual Rio
Grande Valley Home
and Garden Show
scheduled to take place at the McAllen Convention Center from March 31 through April 2, 2023.
![](https://rgvctmn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/cleaning-shrimp-710x600.png)
When biology instructors teach taxonomy they delve into the how and why of classifying, or naming living things. At first glance this may be perceived as a simple task. It should be a straightforward task to tell one organism from another. In some cases, yes… in some cases, no.