Published: April 10, 2008 08:06 am            

Pursuing the mysterious Chachalaca

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — Quinta Mazatlan in McAllen, Texas, is a bird-watcher’s paradise.

During a recent stroll over the grounds, I spotted an olive sparrow, a blue-gray gnatcatcher, a golden-fronted woodpecker, an Inca dove and the beautiful green jay, the official bird of the city of McAllen.

But the greatest thrill of the day came when a hurried plain Chachalaca (pronounced cha-ka-la-ca) went skittering across the walkway a few steps in front of me. More drab than many of its avian cousins, the bird — shaped and sized like a female ringneck pheasant — is usually furtive and wary, but those that have made their home at this 21-acre urban sanctuary seem to have become accustomed to human visitation.

According to Leslie Howland, supervisor at Quinta Mazatlan, the site lies along the Central Flyway, one of the three bird flyways in the country. At 27 feet above sea level, Quinta Mazatlan sits on the highest point in the city, making it a welcome stop for migrating birds. It’s also one of nine world birding centers along a 120-mile stretch of the Rio Grande Valley, which runs from South Padre Island west to Roma, Texas.

“People come from around the world to our green jays as well as the great kiskadee,” she said.

The Rio Grande Valley is the most biologically diverse area in the United States because of the overlap of three distinct habitats: tropical, marshland and coastal. Located 12 miles from the Mexican border, McAllen is in the center of the Rio Grande Valley's birding action, and Quinta Mazatlan is an excellent birding spot where as many as 200 different bird species have been sighted.

But there’s more to see at Quinta Mazatlan than avians. For one, the site during my mid-December visit was abloom with flowers, including a profusion of scarlet bougainvillea. Horticulturists might like to know that plants along the half mile walking trail, including the unusual-textured sandpaper tree and night-blooming cereus, are identified by plaques.

The peculiar cereus is rarely seen in the wild because of its inconspicuousness. But for one night each summer, its exquisitely scented flower opens as night falls, then closes forever with the first rays of the morning sun.

The enclave also holds a butterfly garden and a habitat for six Texas tortoises, a endangered species.

Also, on Friday mornings at 10, November through April, visitors can take an interpretive history tour of Quinta Mazatlan, the largest adobe mansion in Texas built in the 1930s by composer, writer and adventurer, Jason Chilton Matthews and his wife, Marcia.

The 3,325-square-foot structure boasts gorgeous tile floors, stately carved wooden doors that are replicas of those of the Spanish colonial governor’s residence in San Antonio, a piano said to have been owned by Jefferson Davis and cedar rafters that legend has it were donated by the King of Lebanon because of Matthews’ fight alongside Lawrence of Arabia to free Lebanon from Turkish rule.

The mansion also holds an art gallery where a percentage of each sale is earmarked to further the site’s educational and environmental efforts.

More in the way of art can be had the first Friday of each month from 6 to 10 p.m. in 20 galleries located in one of the oldest sections of McAllen. The walks started four years ago with 200 participants, a figure that has since grown to 1,700.

One of the galleries, Nuevo Santander, is housed in a beautiful Spanish colonial-style building constructed of locally mined caliche caprock. The building boasts 150-year-old wooden doors purchased outside Mexico City as well as fanciful Mexican ironwork.



Dave Zuchowski writes for the New Castle (Pa.) News.





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IF YOU’RE GOING ...



McAllen, Texas



•For more information on McAllen and the area, call (877) 622-5536 or visit www.mcallen.org.

•For a place to stay, the Marriott Renaissance Casa de Palmas is where “Texas hospitality meets Spanish accents” in a gorgeous hacienda style hotel with a swimming pool in an avocado and papaya tree-lined courtyard, sumptuous furnishings and south-of-the-border charm. Notable guests have included Marlon Brando, Anthony Quinn, Lyndon Johnson, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. Call (956) 631-1101 or www.renaissancemcallen.com.

•For a great place to dine, Espana Mediterranean Restaurant, 701 N. Main St. in historic Old Town, is a bright and cheery eatery specializing in continental cuisine with a Mediterranean flair. Dining can be had indoors with eye-catching decor or outdoors on the patio surrounded by palm trees, climbing jasmine and grape vines. Live music is offered nightly Wednesdays to Saturdays in the festive Speak Easy Bar. Call (956) 618-1178 or www.espanacuisine.com.

•For more information on Quinta Mazatlan, call (956) 688-3370 or visit www.quintamazatlan.com.

•For more information on Nuevo Santander, call (956) 618-4959 or visit www.nuevosantander.com.

        

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