From Port Lavaca to Aransas

   In Port Lavaca we went to the Lighthouse and walked on the Beach Boardwalk to a pavilion in the marshy part of the bay. We found both the Semi Palmated Sandpiper and the Semi Palmated Plover. In birding terms "semi palmated" means "with partially webbed feet". Common Goldeneye Ducks were in the water next to us. And two really handsome American Oystercatchers were standing at the end of the pier.

American Oystercatcher

   Two Roseate Spoonbills flew over the boardwalk. Looking down into the reed bed we found a small Clapper Rail hidden in the reeds. Laughing Gulls and Ring Billed Gulls were everywhere. On the sand were the Baird's Sandpiper and the little Sanderlings who ran scampering up and down with the waves. Here we saw a Long Billed Curlew eating a shrimp.

   Right down the road we entered the Guadalupe Estuary WMA. In a small bog there we saw an Eastern Phoebe perched on a limb above the water and tons of Double Crested Cormorants perched on posts in the water. The Crested Caracara was patrolling the paths of the wildlife management area along with a cute orange juvenile Northern Harrier.

   We are bird-watching but we bump into other wildlife too. There were two large Armadillos digging in an open field. These are prehistoric looking dinosaurs with gray armor and sharp claws.

Armadillo

   It was raining when we entered Aransas WMA. We noticed a Belted Kingfisher on a wire. Dagger Point is infested with groups of feral Hogs. We walked to a lookout point on the ocean and a group of black Hogs were coming down the beach toward us. We drove further and spooked another gang of porcine marauders by the road. These feral hogs are wild boar hybridized with domestic hogs. They root around in gardens and planted fields, and they multiply.

Feral Hog

   It was still raining when we made it to Corpus Christi. We ate at a great restaurant called Gaido's. I had stuffed Shrimp and Berry had the Mahi-mahi. The next morning we left early (6am) to go to the waste treatment place in Port Aransas. In the back is a fresh water pond with a birding boardwalk and a tower. There was one other birder there and the place was hopping with birdic activity. We woke up a Common Moorhen as we entered the park. We saw lots of Redheads and Northern Pintails spread out on the water. The Cormorants were perched on a structure in the water to the left. The birding tower was the best place to bird from, but at 6am on a wooden tower above a swamp during the windy winter would admittedly be a stretch for most people.

   We helped the other birder identify a Black Crowned Night Heron standing on the reeds next to the water, then after the birder left we found a beautiful juvenile Black Crowned Night Heron perched atop the reeds near the boardwalk. He was very difficult to see due to his excellent camouflaging plumage. I watched a descending Great Egret land clumsily in the reeds nest to the juvenile Night Heron which squawked and flapped its wings, thus revealing itself to me.

Robert

photos courtesy of ghoffman, everwonder.com, christopher