Growing up in Harlingen, Javier de Leon like many Rio Grande Valley youth, were warned about straying too far from the safety of a backyard. “People were afraid of the monte (brush),” said de Leon, who today is the park superintendent for the Estero Llano Grande State Park in Mercedes. “There were a lot of negative things attached to the word monte. Things that can bite you. You’re going to…
The 250-acre Estero Llano Grande State Park in Weslaco is at the heart of the network of nine World Birding Centers in the Rio Grande Valley. It is a popular birding destination for not only local residents, but for birders from around the nation. They all come to the park to view and document more than 300 species of birds at Estero Llano. The park’s infrastructure and facilities recently received…
From the deck at Estero Llano Grande State Park in Mercedes, I watched approximately 2,000 black-bellied whistling ducks in Ibis Pond as they looked for food, perched on logs and bobbed in the chilly November water. The park’s 200 acres of woodlands, lakes and marshes shelter an amazing abundance of wildlife from seven alligators to diverse birds, butterflies and 24 mammal species as well as native plants. The mid-Valley park…