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