Bird Watching & Nature Hike at Mitchell Lake Audubon Center with Latino Outdoors

Seriously, you've got to give bird watching a chance. At first, it sounded funny when I told the twins and everyone else that we were going to bird watch, because we've never known anyone who has done it before. It was surprising how much we all loved it. Maybe it's just that fresh air feeling, but again, we found ourselves in a completely different natural environment, just minutes away from our house.
We came to Mitchell Lake Audubon Center with our fitfunand bloguera friend Josie, who is the Southwest Latino Outdoors ambassador. She arranged a bird tour for us with a wonderful volunteer guide, Patty.
Birding tours are $8 and well worth it. Bring along some high quality binoculars if you have them, if not, you can borrow some from the center. It really enhances the experience for the kids!
We walked on the trails near the center, alongside milkweed (hierba de leche in Spanish), talked about monarch butterflies, the anacua sandpaper tree, native americans and saw the beginnings of bluebonnets growth. To get a bigger picture of the grounds, here is a trail map!
In the trees we saw a bunch of house finches and cardinals. In the sky we also spotted a couple red-tailed hawks just coasting, enjoying the weather, like us!
After taking a walk around the grounds, you can drive or walk to Mitchell Lake, but first you would pass Bird Pond.
At Bird Pond, we saw a coot, which looks like a black duck with a white bill and northern shovelers.
Driving to the lake, our guide pointed out a loggerhead shrike that is a cute gray bird with a little black mask over it's eyes, dubbed the batman bird by the kids. Not only would she point out the birds,  she would set up a scope that would help us get a better view and then show us in her bird book, the Sibley Field Guide to Eastern North America, the kids loved seeing this part too!
At Mitchell Lake, we saw a huge pelican just drifting along and some great and snowy egrets fishing for some food. And took a couple selfies. :)
Back at the center we had a couple snacks and regrouped before heading home. If we had more time, we could have walked the grounds a bit more. Next time we might bring a lunch and some more friends along!
Mitchell Lake Audubon Center is located at 10750 Pleasanton Rd. in San Antonio, Texas. The entrance gate to the Center is located in South San Antonio, off 410 South and Moursund Blvd.
Follow Josie and her blog, Fitfunand on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the most up to date info on local Latino Outdoors events and just fun outdoor activities for all, she's a great resource!