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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