WHOOPING CRANES!!!! YIPEE
Hi All
Today
we went on the Skimmer Boating Tour of the water preserves around
Rockport and the big bays. Our target and everyone else on the 40
passenger boat was the Whooping Cranes. The official boat tours to see the Whooping Cranes finished last week, but this same boat line still does the same marshes. Lucky for us.....apparently most of Whooping Cranes have left but 10 still linger and we saw 8 of them spread over the
preserve. According to the biologist on board and also the Captain
(Jack) of the boat these cranes are territorial and separate about 1/2
mile apart with their family group so we had close looks and some
farther looks but it is no mistaking the birds, they are big. It was a
wonderful boat tour, especially for Barb as the Gravol worked as
sometimes it doesn't. Colleen and I were quite thrilled with the views
and the many other birds and dolphins we saw on the boat. It was
overcast the whole time we were on the boat, so we did not bake out
there. Whooping Cranes were a lifer for Colleen and I. One of those mystical bird species that have been brought back from extinction.
After
the boat trip we left Fulton for the Rio Grande birding. As I drove,
the temperature rose steadily and I did not have the heart to tell
Colleen that it was 98 degrees. It was not bad as there was a stiff
breeze outside. We ate a picnic lunch and stopped at Riviera and the
area looking for the Harris' Hawk (no luck) and the Green Jay (YES) and a
lifer for Colleen.
As we drove
by a house on this road of a couple of houses, a fellow ran out of the
house in bare feet trying to get our attention. I thought he needed
some kind of assistance, but he saw that we were birders and he wanted
to show us photos of an Indigo Bunting he had visit his feeders. This
fellow was under 50 for sure. We asked him about the Green Jays as we
were just starting to look for them. He said that they were just there
are his feeder and sure enough, the Green Jay turned up. There was a
big smile of both of our faces. It is one sweet bird. Birders just never know who one can encounter and that leads to more birds or target birds, sweet!
We
arrived in Alamo around supper time and checked into the Alamo Bed and
Breakfast. We then took off for Santa Ana Wildlife Preserve which is pretty nearby Alamo Texas and found the place but
it was closed. According to a couple we met at the gate, due to the
border problems all of these places shut down at supper time and there
is no dusk viewing like we had in Port Aransas. So this will change the
length of our birding day. The habitat here is quite different from where we
have been in Texas so far and I guess one has to be more careful.
Tomorrow, very early we head to Santa Ana and maybe Bentson State Park
to bird.
We will plan to bring our cooling scarves and lots of water so we should be fine in the heat. There are a lot of birds that we hope to see.
At
the Alamo B&B, so far... we could not lock the door until someone
who works here showed us that one has to pull hard on the door to get
the lock to work. We thought the key that came from the mat under the
front door did not work. We managed to blow a breaker by plugging in
the kettle and the microwave at the same time. I fixed this and we
won't overload again. The shower does not work, at least Colleen and I
can't get the shower to work. And we have parked in a no parking zone
as there is no where else to park. Oh yeah, we have to move rooms for
the last night of our four night stay here. The garden here is
wonderful though and there are Nighthawks that roost on the property.
It was another fun day in Bird Land, we loved it.
Barb & Colleen
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