Texas With the Stocks - 2010

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DAY 18--MARCH 30?Corpus Christi
I had heard about two wildlife parks with birds.  Los Osos was a small pocket park with nothing to see.  But, Hans Suter Wildlife Park was awesome! 
We saw lots of white pelicans (Picture 1).  In Picture 2, we didn?t know if this was ?LOVE? or ?WAR?. The only pelicans in my book are brown or white; these multi-colored pelicans baffled me (Picture 3).  I learned later that this is a male pelican in his courting plumage.  He was so handsome, I?m sure the ladies will be impressed.
This bird that most resembles the Great Egret is supposed to have a yellow beak, and instead it looked pink with black at the end (Picture 4).  Don?t these birds know they have to meet specifications?  I?ll have to find a birder to give me an answer.
The  Hans Suter Park was what I imagined the Gulf Coast would be.  There was a wonderful variety of birds, and it was exhilarating to be able to see so many of them up close. The ?WOW! Factor? here is huge!  We will come here again and again and again.  I loved it!

Miles Traveled:  0
Stayed at Colonial del Rey RV Park
Temperature: Mid-70?s
 

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I'm jealous of your birds and flowers. We got snowed on today, first in the morning then when that had all melted away, it snowed again. I do have 3 daffodils blooming in the front, though. And we had a half-dozen robins hopping around the front yard.

Wendy
 
Wendy said:
I'm jealous of your birds and flowers. We got snowed on today, first in the morning then when that had all melted away, it snowed again. I do have 3 daffodils blooming in the front, though. And we had a half-dozen robins hopping around the front yard.

Wendy

It sounds like spring is procrastinating.  Where are you?  Flowers and fall leaves should be great there with all the moisture.

Linda
 
Dean & Linda Stock said:
It sounds like spring is procrastinating.  Where are you?  Flowers and fall leaves should be great there with all the moisture.

Linda

We're home in SW Colorado. Got home Monday. Tuesday was a record high temperature (73 degrees). Yesterday it snowed. But the grass is turning green under the snow. I think next winter we won't come home until after Tax Day.

Keep posting those lovely Texas spring pictures.

Wendy
 
Here you go, Wendy.  We have lots of these right now.  This one is from McKinney Falls SP last Saturday.
 

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He was so handsome, I?m sure the ladies will be impressed.

Don?t these birds know they have to meet specifications?

LOL!  Linda, I love your writing.  I have the same problem identifying birds with book in hand.  ;)

Ned - Is that a Blue Bonnet up close?  Whatever it is, it's very pretty.

ArdraF
 
In Texas it's a Bluebonnet....anywhere else, it's a Lupine :)

As for figuring out birds, that's what makes birding so fun....the little devils don't always look like the pictures in the books !

Wendy
 
As Wendy says, it's a Texas Lupine, known as a Bluebonnet.  I was trying out Lorna's camera's macro mode when I took it.
 
I love going across Texas during the wildflower blooming!  That's one thing Lady Bird Johnson did that really enhanced Texas highways.

ArdraF
 
I hate to bring up the Reserve America subject again but since I tried to make reservations unsuccessfully again, I called the State parks and wildlife, made reservations and then commented about RA.  His statement was, "we are phasing them out and the state will not be using them much longer".  Yea!!!!

Linda, if y'all are still in the area April 16-18, you might want to check out the Migration Celebration held at the San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge.  We get to help with the banding...oh yeah!  http://migrationcelebration.org/

Of the many (21) species we observed today I think the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron was the most beautiful...of course he was all decked out in his high breeding colors.  We got great pictures today and if I ever take the time to learn how to put them on this site I'll do so.

Happy birding...
 
DAY 19?MARCH 31?Mustang Island State Park, which used to be in Port Aransas, but is now in Corpus Christi?confused the heck out of our GPS!

From yesterday:  I think one of the prettiest small birds we have seen was the American avocet (Picture 1).

Today:  We traveled over 3 hours to our new RV park.  The beach was on the other side of a large berm, and several people were swimming.  Laughing gulls were everywhere and very common, but they amused me.  The gulls here think they own the park!  They perch on the road in front of the RVs; they must like the warmth from the asphalt.  They expect you to swerve around them and don?t move until the last second.
Continuing saga of Reserveamerica?we had been told by them that we could not stay on April 1 because they were full.  It turns out that they have plenty of spaces for any date we?d like to stay, but we had already made reservations for Goose Island on April 1.  So, we had to scurry off to the University of Texas Marine Science Institute Wetlands Education Center.  The Visitors Center has several interesting exhibits, but they were either not labeled or mis-labeled.  I think they could easily have students do this in its entirety in just a couple of hours (a little class project for an ichthyology class??). 
We went out onto the marsh/seagrass pond.  They had boardwalks, but almost no wildlife.  It is right off a channel that has big ships, so I?m not surprised. But, we did spy a dolphin leaping up and diving down in the water.
Throughout the day, we have seen large groups of sandhill cranes flying wherever we are (Picture 3).  At the Marine Institute, we say a BREWER?S blackbird, and it reminded us of good friends (Picture 4).
I had read about the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center, and we drove around this small burg looking for it and gave up, and the locals didn?t seem to know anything about it.  When I got back to the RV, I tried everything, and did get the name Cut-Off Road.  Dean was kind and drove back 30 minutes and found a tiny sign.  Clue:  Ask locals to direct you to the dump?it?s right next door.  This trip was so worthwhile, I felt like shouting ?EUREKA!?  when I saw it, because it is truly a precious place.  It has a raised boardwalk that extends out into the cattails for a close-up look at abundant wildlife.  There are free viewing scopes mounted on the rails. 
The large double-breasted cormorants roosted together.  (Picture 5).  There were hundreds of roseate spoonbills.  At one point, about a hundred of them flew over out heads, making the skies a beautiful shaking pink?a real thrill! (Pictures 6 & 7)  This blue teal almost posed. (Picture 8)  This mated pair of ducks were enjoying the day as much as we were. (Picture 9  This pelican (Picture 10) tried hard to catch his dinner, but failed. The grebe (Picture 11) got along with all the bigger guys.  I try not to repeat pictures, but this green-winged teal and his mate were too beautiful to pass up (Picture 12) 
I do OK on identifying the birds if they match my book, but in flight it is more of a challenge.  I think this is a black-necked stilt (Picture 13).  This red-winged blackbird big us good-bye and commanded us to take his picture?note his open beak. (Picture 14)  I think this is my favorite place of all those we have visited.  We will come back tomorrow morning before we leave for one last view.

Stayed at Mustang Island State Park, FHU, 50 AMPS, total $25--$17 for RV and $4/person admission
Temperature: mid-70?s
Miles traveled:  188
 

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Day 19 part 2,

More photos.
 

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It is indeed a black-necked stilt. You can see lots of those at Salton Sea in the winter if you want to find some a little closer to home :)

Dumps are often good places for birding. Best place in San Antonio to see Caracaras.

Still enjoying the spring pictures since spring hasn't come back to Colorado yet.

Wendy
 
DAY 20?APRIL 1?Rockport?Goose Island State Park
We got up early and returned to the Turnbull Birding Center for their free Wednesday @ 9:00 Walk on the Boardwalk with real birders.  We met a pair of ladies who were also waiting, and as time went by we figured out that today was THURSDAY!  Oops!  While today was also wonderful, there were a lot more types of birds and they were more activie when we were here yesterday, around 6:00 PM.  We talked with people who have seen the two American Alligators, Boots and Bags, who live here. 
I try not to repeat birds? pictures unless there is something special about the new bird.  I could fill a book with all the birds that we?ve seen at this one site.  This little guy played Hide-and-Seek with Dean as he hopped in circles on the tree trunk with Dean?s camera chasing him.  (Picture 1)  You smart people out there?Could he be a black-and-white warbler???
The beauty of the roseate spoonbills in flight made me gasp.  (Picture 2)  The spoonbills are very social and enjoy being with others. )Picture 3)  The Northern shoveler and his mate were just kicking back. (Picture 4)  The feathers of the cinnamon teal sparkled in the sunlight. (Picture 5) 
We saw a large bird fly overhead, and another birder identified it as an osprey.  Dean doesn?t enjoy the birds as much as I do, but he wanted a picture of it.  He landed on top of a distant phone pole.  Dean has so much patience; he waited 30 minutes to get a picture, and the osprey didn?t move.  Maybe he will find another osprey.
We had read about Paradise Pond, but once again the directions were vague.  A lady was tending the pretty flowers, and she told us it was located behind Don Juan?s Restaurant.  We hadn?t eaten breakfast, and by now it was 11:00, so we ate at Don Juan?s.  Most of their breakfasts cost $2.99, and I liked the eggs with cactus, potatoes, refried beans, and tortillas.  Cactus is really good!
Paradise Pond is not a large area, but there were several birds here that were new to us.  This pair of black-bellied whistling ducks greeted us. (Picture 6) Everywhere we looked?on logs, on shore, in the water?there were turtles.  (Picture 7)
We heard the calls of the night herons, and a birder pointed out this yellow-crowned night heron. (Picture 8)  Songbirds (Picture 9) made pretty music, but they were in the trees and bushes and were hard to find.  This one was the only one who wasn?t camera-shy. Does anyone know who he is?
We had to take a free state ferry to get to Rockport.  Motorhomes can?t go on it at low tide, which is now at noon.  We got there about 2:00 and got on immediately.  Wait time: 5 minutes.  Total time crossing on the ferry: 5 minutes.
The GPS mis-guided us and we wandered around the narrow streets of Fulton Harbor and Rockport?not fun!  I called the park, but it went to voicemail.  A ?first? happened?Dean stopped at a gas station and asked for directions. 
We parked 30? away from the water, and the wind was and is still really blowing.  We headed for the Visitors Center, and they gave us lots of information.  We drove by the Bar-B-Q Shack at Hwy.35 & Broadway (stoplight) twice in our wanderings, and the Bar-B-Q smoke smelled wonderful.  So we stopped and picked up barbecued beef.  Only $12 for a pound of pork, potato salad, and beans.  It was great!

Temperature?mid-70s and WINDY in Rockport (20-30 mph)  It feels really muggy in the RV, but it?s not too humid outside because of the wind
Miles Traveled:  43
 

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DAY 21?APRIL 2?Goose Island State Park
We made reservations to go out on a birdwatching trip on a boat. We?ve been told that it is the best way to see the whooping cranes.  We went to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, about an hour away.  All of the refuges are very well done.  They had good displays and a film about the animals that  live in the refuge now and in the past.  There are furs to feel, stuffed birds and animals, and knowledgeable staff.  We went on the 16-mile auto tour, but there was very little wildlife, either in the marshes or the shore.  Two or three Texas whitetail deer (Picture 1) were munching trees? leaves and grass. The Texas deer are smaller than those we saw in the East.  We saw two VERY BLUE herons who took flight as soon as they saw us (which was before we saw them).  There is a tall observation tower, and from there we saw 4 Great Egrets.  I did spot 3 javelinas (collared peccaries). (Picture 2) 
We returned to the Bar-B-Q Shack, but they were closed (even though the sign with their hours said they should be open).  Dean thinks they probably sold out.  We had smelled bar-b-q smoke at Stevie Lew?s, so we stopped there.  They are only open on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  Their barbecued pork was also very good, and I really liked their potato salad.

Temperature?mid-70?s
Miles traveled: 0
 

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Wendy said:
It is indeed a black-necked stilt. You can see lots of those at Salton Sea in the winter if you want to find some a little closer to home :)

Dumps are often good places for birding. Best place in San Antonio to see Caracaras.

Still enjoying the spring pictures since spring hasn't come back to Colorado yet.

Wendy

Thanks so much, Wendy.  I have learned so much on this trip, and being told I'm right feels good.  I like the birds with the white-white contrasted with black-black.  They remind me of a formal tuxedo.  Laughing gulls here are a dime a dozen, and most people don't like them, but I find them fun to watch.

The Turnbull was originally a water-treatment plant, located next to the currently active city dump.  The birds we saw were all shore birds.

Glad you like the pictures.  It takes a couple of hours each night and is the reason my posts are usually a day or two late.  i get the verbage written, but the pictures have to be sorted through (Dean took 180 pictures today), selected, sized, and LABELLED.  That last part takes a long time, but I need to know who they are.

Linda
 
Tom and Margi said:
We really enjoyed our stay at Goose Island State Park in Rockport about ten years ago.  You'll finally get your wish to be right on the Gulf at water's edge.  Tom fished right from our campsite. 

Margi

Margi, we are loving Goose Island.  We had some real wind gusts, but overall it's super.  We aren't fisherpeople, but we have enjoyed watching the fish jumping out of the water in front of the coach, and it seems that within 10 minutes of when our neighbors put their lines in, they have a fish.

Linda
 
elkhartjim said:
Linda, we are just up the Texas coast from you at Quintana Beach.  We didn't get here until after 3 but did get over to the bird sanctuary to  catch a few birds.  The boat tale grackles are in abundance but did see some fun birds.  Indigo buntings, red wing black birds, swamp sparrow, Lincoln sparrow, northern parula, ruby throated hummingbird several different ducks, sand pipers and of course the gulls.  I hope you had another great birding day.

Jim,

I found Quintana Beach on my map and I see it is near Brazoria NWR.  It isn't currently on my itinerary, but that is only a plan--we change it at will.  I am checking with
Fennessey Ranch tomorrow.  It wasn't on my original itinerary, but we may add it.  We haven't seen, or didn't recognize indigo buntings, swamp sparrow, Lincoln sparrow, northern parula or sandpipers.  So it sounds like we may need to add this to our list.  What bird sanctuary?

As an SOB (Spouse of a Birder), can you ask your wife if brown pelicans migrate.  We have enjoyed them so much, and while I've been typing I have noticed several groups of about 10 flying in a straight line, one behind the other.  I thought they were year-round residents.

Thanks for all the information you've shared.

Linda
 
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