Windy Week at The Beach - Goose Island State Park - Part 3

We decided to head out to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge this morning. The Whooping Cranes are gone but we hoped to find some interesting birds and animals there. 

The drive to Aransas NWR takes about 40 minutes and we arrived at 8:00 a.m.  The visitor center was damaged beyond repair during hurricane Harvey and a new visitor center is being built.  It’s not open yet.  After filling out an entry pass at the iron ranger (free with an America the Beautiful card), we drove into the deserted refuge.

It was still extremely windy today.  We saw a lot of birds and walked around on the boardwalks and trails for a few hours.

 

Crested Caracara

Little Blue Heron

Aransas NWR has had a problem with Feral Hogs ever since we first visited 40 years ago, but things seemed to be out of hand this time. Jones Lake is a nice freshwater lake that we visit every time. This time the shoreline was absolutely destroyed and the hogs were out there in broad daylight doing more damage. 

Jones Lake shoreline

Feral Hogs (3 adults and 8 young)

We did see an American Alligator, the only predator (other than humans) that can take a small hog. 

American Alligator in Jones Lake

On the amphibian side, we saw some large Bullfrogs, and a much smaller Green Treefrog. 

American Bullfrog

Green Treefrog

On the way out we saw a Caspian Tern flying along the coastline with a nice snack. 

Caspian Tern with fish

Around lunchtime we headed back into Rockport.

Lunch was at a wonderful sea food restaurant we discovered a couple of years ago.  There was no way we were going to be in Rockport and not stop at Shempy’s!

I’ve only gotten one thing here - the popcorn shrimp basket: 

Mark always gets the shrimp po-boy:

We spent the afternoon in our trailer, out of the wind. 

In the evening we took a walk around the park, stopping at the feeding and water feature areas to see if anything had dropped in. Things were still slow, but we did see a couple of birds using the water. 

Indigo Bunting

Nashville Warbler

Tomorrow is another (windy...) day!!

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Windy Week at The Beach - Goose Island State Park - Part 2

We got up early to catch the Port Aransas Ferry.  The ferry is free and runs 24/7.  We were quite surprised when we saw a long line waiting.  It looked like 4 of the 6 ferries were operating this morning and we usually don’t have to wait this early in the morning. 

Long lines at the ferry

We arrived at the Leonabell Turnbull birding center at 8:00 am.  We were the only car in the lot and it didn’t take long to figure out why.  We had only been on the boardwalk about 15 minutes when it started to rain.  It wasn’t a long walk back to the truck but with (predicted) 60 mph winds and hard, painful rain it was a very uncomfortable walk!

We decided to drive to another birding hotspot to wait out the rain.  By the time we arrived at Holt Paradise Pond, the rain had stopped.  We saw our only Least Grebe of the trip. This tropical grebe doesn't come much farther north than central Texas. After seeing a few birds we headed back to Leonabell. 

Least Grebe

Blue-winged Teal pair

When we arrived back at Leonabell there were several cars in the parking lot, the rain had stopped and the sun was shining.  It was still pretty windy but not uncomfortable.

Most of the birds were in their bright breeding plumage. The White Ibis is still white, but its face, bill and legs were bright red.  

White Ibis

Tricolored Heron

During the winter Laughing Gulls lose their black hood, and their bills are black. 

Laughing Gull

Green-winged Teal

Back-necked Stilt

We drove around Port Aransas a little bit before heading back to the ferry landing.  The parking lot at the entrance to the ferry holds a couple hundred cars and it was packed with cars and RV's!  We have never seen more than a dozen cars waiting and we have taken the ferry many times.  

We decided to skip the ferry and drive down to the other end of the islands (Mustang Island and Padre Island) and cross into Corpus Christi.

This route added about an hour to our drive back to Goose but was still shorter than waiting for the ferry.

Since we weren’t in any hurry to get back, we stopped at this wonderful souvenir shop in Corpus.  

I love themed buildings! 

There are many themed buildings like this in Corpus but Ocean Treasures is over the top! 

Of course I bought a magnet.

Legs and eyes wiggle.

We got back to Rockport and headed straight to Arandas Mexican Grill for lunch.  Arandas is good (not as good as Los Camales) and is one of the very few restaurants opened on Mondays.

We spent the afternoon relaxing and birding around the park.  We saw a few Indigo Buntings, but none were in their full bright blue breeding plumage. 

Indigo Bunting

The park has a simple water feature in a feeding area that is popular with the birds. This Gray Catbird was enjoying itself. 

Gray Catbird 

Next time: Relentless wind at Goose Island State Park

Windy Week at The Beach - Goose Island State Park - Part 1

(April 10, 2022) This is typically a good time to be birding at the Texas coast.  We made reservations at Goose Island State Park several months ago.  That far in advance you never know what the weather will be like so you take your chances.

It’s only a four-hour drive from our house so there is no reason to leave early.

We loaded up the trailer and were on the road at 9:00 am.  There was a 100-mile Tour de France race coming through Bandera and we managed to get caught up in quite a bit of traffic while we waited for several bikes to come through.

Bandera is only about 20 miles from our house so after a short delay, we were headed to the coast.

We knew it was going to be windy so we didn’t bother taking the kayaks on this trip.

Driving through Rockport we saw the oyster “mountain” that has been growing.  Every once in a while we drive by and all the oyster shells will be gone and they will start the pile again.  Oyster shells are very popular for roads and driveways.

The Copano Bay bridge connects Rockport/Fulton to Goose Island SP.  The bridge is nearly 2 miles long.  The original bridge opened in 1931. 

In 1967 a new bridge was constructed next to the old bridge.  The center draw-bridge section of the old bridge was removed to allow boat traffic to pass and the remainder was opened as a fishing pier. 

Construction of another new bridge, with two lanes each way, was started in 2011.  Four years later, at a cost of over $98 million, the newly constructed bridge was completed and opened. 

In 2020, after sections of the original 1931 bridge (now a fishing pier) collapsed, the entire fishing pier was demolished at a cost of $2.7 million. 

Copano Bay Bridge

Copano Bay Bridge

We had a very strong headwind the whole trip and were seeing white caps as we crossed the bridge. 

We started camping at Goose Island over 25 years ago.  Mark picked site #138 this time.  It is an easy back-in and very roomy with a large area secluded from the road with trees and shrubs. 

After setting up we immediately headed into town to our favorite Mexican food restaurant.

 Los Camales 

I ordered my favorite dish - Enchiladas Tarascas. 

Mark ordered beef fajita quesadillas.

Everything was wonderful, as usual.

We headed back to Goose for some birding.  The wind was picking up even more. 

The Buff-bellied Hummingbird is a tropical bird that lives mainly along the Gulf Coast of Mexico. A small population exists in far South Texas, and a tiny population exists as far north as Goose Island State Park. 

Buff-bellied Hummingbird

Yellow-rumped Warblers winter in Texas and then return to the northern US and Canada to breed. This bird was probably just days away from leaving. 

Next time: Day 2 at Goose Island State Park

 

Spring is in the Air!

From mid-March through mid-May the Spring migration of birds from South and Central America into North America takes place. Many of these birds pass through or breed in Texas, so Teri and I have been getting out most days during the week to bird. 

We have several favorite nearby areas, including a state fish hatchery, a city park, a wildlife management area, and two state natural areas, not to mention the birds that are arriving in our yard like this Yellow-throated Vireo and Black-chinned Hummingbird. 

Yellow-throated Vireo

Black-chinned Hummingbird

One of the most eagerly awaited birds is the endangered Golden-cheeked Warbler. They breed only in Texas and Oklahoma, and have been on the endangered species list for many years. Thanks to habitat protection and other programs they are recovering nicely. We saw our first on March 28th and have seen several others since. 

Golden-cheeked Warblers

Other harbingers of Spring include Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, Barn Swallows, and Summer Tanagers. You may remember seeing pictures of Summer Tanagers taken during our Colombia trip. Well, they have traveled back north, just like we did!

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Barn Swallow

Summer Tanager

In addition to the Golden-cheeked Warblers, there are dozens of other warbler species. Many are brightly colored. 

Nashville Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-throated Warbler

While many birds are arriving, some are getting ready to leave. Most of the ducks that spent the winter in Texas will head north to breed. We won't be seeing these Lesser Scaup on our area lakes for much longer.

Lesser Scaup female

Lesser Scaup male

And you never know what you might run across on a birding trip. We found this Long-billed Curlew sitting in the mowed grass of a city park.  This is not a bird that you expect to find in the Texas Hill Country, and is only the third time this bird has been recorded in the county. 

Long-billed Curlew

This is a fun time of year to be a birder in Texas.