Finishing Up

Teri and I are down to just three more bird walks here at Goose Island and then we'll pack up and head back to Medina.

We really enjoy the area, as there are extensive marshes and wetlands which attract quite a number of large, showy wading birds. Just minutes from our campsite we are able to check out a few areas, often finding groups of feeding birds. A sampling from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day:

 Great Egret

Snowy Egrets

Clapper Rail

Roseate Spoonbills and White Ibis

While Adult White Ibis are bright white, for their first year of life they are mottled brown. 

Immature White Ibis

Though they can sometimes be confused with young White Ibis, the all-brown White-faced Ibis is a different species altogether. 

White-faced Ibis

We are surrounded by shallow bays, and often see wintering Common Loons. This one had caught a little snack. 

Common Loon

Wishing every one a Happy New Year!

This 'n That

Teri and I are continuing to enjoy our time at Goose Island State Park. It is hard to believe that we're over halfway through our two months here and will be leaving in just three weeks.

A pair of Great Horned Owls often come into the camping area in the evening and give their "hoots".  This one paused long enough for a picture.

Great Horned Owl

Our friends Rick and Sharon paid us a visit, and we made our first trip of the season to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.

We spotted a beautiful pair of Whooping Cranes not far from the tour loop road.

Whooping Crane pair

We didn't see any alligators this trip, but a Green Tree Frog enjoyed sunning itself on a warning sign.

A bit closer...

Green Tree Frog

Back at our park, we had a visit from a Rufous Hummingbird, but only saw it for one day.

Rufous Hummingbird

With continuing rains many of the fields in our area are flooded. Wilson's Snipe really like wet fields and we got some good pictures.

Wilson's Snipe

Greater Yellowlegs also enjoy these areas.

Greater Yellowleg

This time of year most of the birds are shades of brown and gray, making for some challenging identifications. We enjoy showing guests on our birdwalks some of these more difficult to find birds.