Early Wednesday morning we hopped on the ferry for another visit to Leonabell Turnbull Birding Center. The birding was a little slower today but we had a wonderful walk across the marsh.
American Avocet
Black-necked Stilt
Forster's Tern
Yellow Warbler
Beyond the boundary of the birding center itself is a trail/boardwalk system that leads to a different parking area a couple of miles away. About 2/3 of the way there is a birding tower in a small island.
Looking towards the birding tower.
It is a lot of fun to walk out to the birding tower. You can just barely see it on the horizon. The boardwalk is quite low on the water and the birds can be very close.
We often see Reddish Egrets here. They are known for doing a "crazy dance" while feeding. It is thought that they are trying to startle prey items into revealing themselves. It can be quite a sight seeing them running and weaving through the marsh, with sudden stops and changes in direction.
Over here?
Maybe a little shadow will help
Under here?
I think I see something
Success!
Reddish Egret - White morph
On the birding tower looking towards Leonabell.
We had noticed that the barricade was gone at Paradise Pond and drove there. Turns out, they had just moved the barricade down a little ways. The only open trail was just the very short entrance.
We saw a few birds, including a striking Scarlet Tanager.
Scarlet Tanager
Another favorite restaurant in this area is Butterchurn. It's a buffet with home-style cooking. The food is excellent!
Another afternoon of relaxing then off to Linda Castro, Goose Island, and Big Tree. The birding was very slow this afternoon and the weather was a little warmer.
Our last full day was spent hitting all the birding hot spots around the area. Rockport is having a big growth spurt with lots of RV resorts popping up. Some with hundreds of rv spots.
We started the morning at Goose Island since we had only visited here in the evening. From there we drove to Big Tree then birded the area until time for lunch at Los Comales Mexican restaurant.
Gray Fox at entrance to Goose Island State Park
Loggerhead Shrike
Red-tailed Hawk
Tricolored Heron
Since we had been hitting it hard all week we spent the rest of the day enjoying our adorable little Airbnb.
We got up early the next morning, packed, and headed back home.
We had spent a wonderful week eating at our favorite restaurants, visiting all our favorite birding spots, and relaxing in "our" backyard.
There were absolutely no regrets exchanging our travel trailer for an Airbnb! This will certainly become a new Springtime tradition for us.
