WOWE focuses on South Texas natural wonders

Saturday is going to be a wild day on South Padre Island as the natural wonders of South Texas are featured at the Annual Winter Outdoor Wildlife Expo.
A live raptor show by Jonathan Wood will perform twice during he Saturday, Feb. 4 event at the Hilton Garden Inn, 7010 Padre Blvd.
A lineup of speakers and presentations on everything from boating to birding, shelling and beachcombing will be held throughout the day.
The Expo started as a response to Winter Texans who wanted to know what kinds of fish populate the area and where to find them.
The Men’s Fellowship of St. Andrew’s by the Sea Episcopal Church started an annual seminar the first weekend of February to help our northern friends get the answers they needed.
From its modest beginning in the church parish hall for 40 fishermen, this event grew so rapidly it had to be moved to a larger venue.
Past expos have covered every topic imaginable from bay and surf fishing, deep water fishing, fly fishing and tying to shelling, native plants, wild flowers, sea beans, birding, dolphin preservation, boating regulations and safety, Laguna Madre conservation,  and the Bahia Grande Wetlands restoration.
And this year is no exception.
Attendees will enjoy top notch local fishing guides, birding experts, ecologists and naturalists who know this area best. There will be exhibits by the Sea Life Center, World Birding Center, Gladys Porter Zoo, Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Refuge, Sea Turtle Inc, and local game wardens. And of course Jonathan Woods and his live raptor show.
Woods, a master falconer and wildlife rehabilitator, has assembled a collection of feathered predators that includes an array of eagles, hawks, falcons and owls from every habitat on the planet.
All of this is packed into one exciting day Saturday from 8:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. Cost is only $3.