Last Time to Bird at Port Aransas, Texas

This should be my last post from my trip to Texas last May/June. It’s taken awhile to get caught up on my blog.

Birding in Port Aransas this last time was bitter sweet in many ways. First off I knew it was most likely the last time I would be visiting there. I lived in Corpus Christi from 1982 to 1994. With my parents living in San Antonio, it was an easy drive for us to go to the beach whenever I visited them. The last time I posted about birding in Port Aransas, my dad was still alive and me and my parents had taken a 5-day trip to the beach. It was in May during spring migration. I had plenty of time there to explore all the bird sanctuaries. All the wonderful boardwalks into the marshes and estuaries were so much fun to explore.

Since that last visit, I had forgotten that Hurricane Harvey had come through and dealt a lot of damage to the coastal towns of Padre Island. So while I was excited to visit the beach, I was sad to know my dad wouldn’t be there to join us and that all the bird sanctuaries had been destroyed.

Demolition and construction was still ongoing while I visited. This restaurant still hadn’t been addressed.

Going to cost a pretty penny to get this boat fixed.

Birding this year was tough. I believe a lot of the birds did not linger during the spring migration because the usual areas they visited were completely destroyed. Also, I think a lot of the local birds had left and not returned. Needless to say, it took a lot of driving around to find any birds. But I did manage to find a few good spots.

The first evening we were there I drove to the ferry and the walkway along the intra-coastal channel. The damage from the hurricane was very evident here. Huge pieces of concrete were lifted like they weighed very little.

Destruction from Hurricane Harvey

While here I enjoyed the antics of several dolphin getting dinner. It was interesting to watch them herd fish toward the wall so they could catch them. I spotted a mother and her calf working the wall.

Mother dolphin with calf looking at me

The sunset was gorgeous!

Beautiful!

The next morning was when I realized all the local birding hot spots were destroyed. Thankfully I saw signs saying they already had funding in place to repair all the boardwalks. It looked like their plans were even going to improve what was originally there. Someday if I make it back there I will have to see what they did.

I headed to the beach and jetty where I knew terns had gathered in the past. Thankfully, this spot was still favored by the terns. The surf was rough and the birds were gathered in big numbers fishing.

Terns and gulls fishing the rough surf at the jetty

I found an area where the birds were resting and grooming after tackling the rough waters. I was able to get several good pics of the terns resting.

Black Tern Juvenile

Black Tern

Forster’s Tern

Royal Tern

Sandwich Tern

From there I headed down the road toward the big bridge going to Corpus Christi. There is a marina there. I’ve seen birds hanging out there in the past so had high hopes I would see some that morning.

Along the highway I saw a hawk looking for breakfast in the coastal grasslands. I had to take a second look as I realized it was a new bird for me! A White-Tailed Hawk. Gorgeous!!!

White-Tailed Hawk

I saw a Roseate Spoonbill fishing the shallows not far from the marina. I pulled into a construction area to get closer for pics. I managed a few photos before I was run off by the foreman. 🙂

Roseate Spoonbill

As I was driving into the marina I spotted a beautiful Osprey hanging out on the electric wire. He let me take a few pics before flying off.

Osprey

The marina was not a disappointment. There were several birds hanging out hoping for a free meal.

Black-Crowned Night Heron

Great Blue Heron

Black-Crowned Night Heron

Brown Pelicans

Near the marina is an area that shorebirds have liked in the past. I drove over there to see if I could find anything. I was thrilled to see a pair of Willets with two young babies. I’d never seen Willet babies before. Adorable! I sat for some time just watching this little family. You can’t help but smile and enjoy new life.

Willet juvenile

Soon though the parents grew nervous and started telling me to move along.

Willet telling me to move along

There were also some Black-Necked Stilts and a Reddish Egret enjoying the shallows.

Black-Necked Stilt

Reddish Egret

The next morning I decided to go the Horace Caldwell Fishing Pier. Not sure if I would see anything here, but it was fun to go there at sunrise.

Horace Caldwell Pier

Beach at Port Aransas, Texas

I came across these two children fast asleep on the pier. Their parent must have gotten them up really early to fish. 🙂

Too early of a morning for these kids

The only birds I saw were White-Winged Doves and Pigeons. What I found curious though, was a cross between these two species. Interesting bird.

The Rock Pigeons at the pier had very dark plumage. Doesn’t make sense at a hot beach!

Rock Pigeon and White-Winged Dove Cross Breed

After the pier I drove to the lone surviving boardwalk that overlooked a salt flat. Most of the birds were too far away for photos. I managed to see one bird closer to me. And to my surprise it was a lifer! A Black-Bellied Plover Juvenile. Too bad it wasn’t an adult. They are beautiful birds. Even better, this is a rare sighting for the area! I wouldn’t have believed I identified this bird correctly if it hadn’t been sighted by other birders on eBird.

Black-Bellied Plover – juvenile

I spotted a few birds flying over and managed to snap a couple of photos on the fly. 🙂

Black Skimmer

White Ibis

During this trip I decided to take a ride on the Red Dragon.

While waiting to start the boat ride, I saw the local offshore fishing tour boats had come in as well. They were hanging up the catch of the day. Lovely Red Snappers with a few other interesting fish mixed in.

Nice haul for the day

It’s was fun sailing with the pirates!

Kelly sailing on the Red Dragon

Arrrrrr…there be Pirates!

Beautiful boat ride

The Captain at his helm

I took the sunset tour. We boated along the intra-coastal and made it to the lighthouse. We got there just as the sun was setting. So lovely!

Sunset over the lighthouse

Gorgeous sunset!

One day at the ferry I spotted a juvenile Laughing Gull trying to swallow a whole fish. He tried and tried to gulp that fish down.

Laughing Gull juvenile

I love people watching. I think most people do. While there I captured a few fun moments of people watching.

Skateboarding buddies

The waiting line for the ferry was so long and slow, this girl had time to get into the back of the car and get cold drinks for everyone. It was fun to watch her walk along with the car while digging in the cooler.

I saw lots of turtles about while birding. I had never really seen turtles there before so it was fun to see several on this trip.

Turtle moving along

I had a great time at the beach birding and spending time with my mother. We enjoyed sitting on the beach, enjoying the warm summer days. And we had fun shopping and eating delicious fish and shrimp dinners. I’m so glad we took the time off to relax after all the stresses.

San Antonio Missions National Historical Park

I feel like I’ve been going a lot lately and haven’t had any time to blog. I’m still trying to catch up writing about my San Antonio visit last May/June.

While there I took the time to visit the San Antonio Missions National Historic Park. The park encompasses 5 missions and an historic acequia (water canal). Sadly, the park didn’t open until 9 am. By this time, the best lighting had passed, and the weather was already hot as fire! Despite the conditions, I had a good time exploring the missions.

I did manage to get a nice pic in the morning light just outside the monument walls.

Mission San Jose

The first mission I visited was Mission San Jose y San Miguel de Aguayo. This mission was constructed in 1768 and was designated a National Historic Site in 1966. It had a large fenced in lawn with lots of buildings that used to house the friars that lived there.

Mission San Jose

Old well outside of the mission

Mission portico

The front of the mission has been beautifully carved. It’s amazing that these works of art are still in great condition after 250 years.

Front doors of Mission San Jose

Wonderful sculptures

The inside has been preserved beautifully.

Sanctuary of Mission San Jose

The National Park is large. It has about 15 miles of trails to hike and bike. I wasn’t about to do either in the Texas summer heat and humidity. So I drove to the next mission: Mission San Juan Capistrano. This mission was built in East Texas in 1716. Then in 1731, the mission was moved to San Antonio. It was designated at National Historic Landmark in 1972.

Mission San Juan Capistrano

Bell tower of Mission

Sadly I wasn’t allowed to go inside this mission.

Following that was Mission San Francisco de la Espada which was established in 1690 in central Texas. It underwent several name changes until 1731 when it too was moved to San Antonio. This mission was added to the National Historic Register in 1972.

Mission San Francisco de la Espada

Bell tower

Mission Portico

I was able to step inside the sanctuary of this mission. I didn’t realize there was a ceremony underway. You can see the girl in the chair up front in her white dress. She was celebrating her Quinceanera. A celebration in the Latin communities for a girl’s 15th birthday. I took a quick pic and left the patrons to their celebration.

Quinceanera being celebrated

I then stopped at the Espada Aqueduct. This aqueduct was built by Franciscan Friars in 1731 to supply irrigation water to lands near Mission San Francisco de la Espada. The aqueduct is still in use today and is an Historic Civil Engineering Landmark and a National Historic Landmark. It received these designations in 1964.

Espada Aqueduct

The double arches of the aqueduct.

I walked down to the stream. Scarlett was so excited to see water. Before I let her play and get a drink, I took pictures of the cool fish gathered in a pool. There were lots of dragonflies about but very skittish. I managed to get a pic of one little guy.

Texas Ciclid – this fish was about 3 inches long. You can see little babies it’s protecting

Pretty damselfly

After the aqueduct, I drove to Mission Concepcion. I loved the grounds surrounding this mission. It had beautiful palm trees and expansive lawns.

Beautiful old palm trees

Mission Concepcion

This mission had a lot of rooms to explore along with a beautiful sanctuary.

Alter at the Mission

I hope you enjoyed reading about my morning exploring the San Antonio Missions National Historic Park. By now it was 11:30 am and it was over 100 degrees F, and I was so ready for a cold drink, a shower and air conditioning!

San Antonio Japanese Tea Garden

While in San Antonio last June, I visited the Japanese Tea Garden. It’s not a very big place, but it’s very unique. This site was initially a limestone quarry that opened in 1840. Many of the buildings in San Antonio during that time were built with the stone from this quarry.

Entrance to the gardens

In 1880 it was changed to a cement quarry. At this time a kiln was added to the site, which still stands today.

Old kiln door

Kiln stack and buildings

Such unique craftsmanship

Living quarters for the laborers

More openings for the kiln

By 1917 the cement plant had shut down. The City Parks department of San Antonio launched a program to convert the old quarry into a Japanese Tea Garden. Prison labor was used to shape the quarry into a complex that included walkways, stone arch bridges, an island and a Japanese pagoda.

Restored pagoda, gardens and pond

What a wonderful idea for an old quarry.

Quiet beauty

In 1919, at the city’s invitation, Kimi Elzo Jingu, a local Japanese-American artist, moved to the garden. Him and his wife maintained the garden, lived in the garden and raised 8 children. Kimi died in 1938 and in 1941 the family was evicted from the garden due to the rise of anti-Japanese sentiment of World War II.

Arched path built by prison labor

Such beautiful landscaping

Beautiful!

Bridge to the kiln stack.

The Japanese Tea House up above.

For years the garden sat in neglect and disrepair, becoming a target of graffiti and vandalism. In 2005 the city started restoration on the pagoda-like pavilion.

The roof was rebuilt in 2005.

In 2007 restoration began to restore the ponds and waterfall.

So beautiful!

View from the pagoda

Path to the waterfall.

I loved the waterfall!

All work was completed by 2011. The Jingu family members still alive returned for the public re-opening. In recognition of the garden’s history, it has been designated as a Texas Civil Engineering Landmark, a registered Texas Historic Landmark, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Wonderful paths

Hidden paths

So peaceful

Walkway from the gardens to the zoo nearby

I am so glad this precious gem of history has been saved and has been restored to its previous glory. It was a wonderful place to visit. So peaceful and beautiful.

I loved walking these paths

If I lived here, I would visit often!

Scarlett enjoyed touring the walkways as well. She was curious of the Koi fish and they looked like they were just as curious.

Scarlett was fascinated by the curious koi 🙂

I love the colorful koi fish

I’m so glad I decided to visit the gardens. I would have been sad if I had never taken the time to see such beauty that has been restored to its former glory.

This flower was as big as my head!

San Antonio Summer Birding

At the end of May I drove my mom back to San Antonio so we could get her house cleaned up to sell. I stayed for about 2 weeks. Summertime in Texas is HOT and HUMID. Ugh! Because of this, there weren’t very many birds about during the dog days of summer. All of the migrants were gone leaving only the local birds.

In order not to die while birding, I got up at 6 am every morning to head out before it got to 100 degrees. Yikes! I drove to several locations during my stay. I found the best opportunities for birds was if I visited the small lakes all around San Antonio.

On of my favorite birding spots I discovered was Live Oak Lake in Live Oak, Texas. It was only about 7 miles from mom’s house. It had a nice path all the way around the lake. Believe me, you don’t want to wander off path into the grasses there. That lake was loaded with snakes!

They even had signs saying so!

I thought it was a joke until I saw this!

Needless to say, I tread carefully wherever I went. Yikes!

The resident Northern Mockingbird greeted me when I pulled into the parking lot. I have never found a shy Mockingbird.

Northern Mockingbird

Live Oak Lake is home to lots of herons and egrets. They are used to people walking around the lake, so they just seemed to ignore me and go about their business…as evidenced by this Yellow-Crowned Night Heron. He caught a monster crawdad!

Yellow-Crowned Night Heron

While I was photographing him, he quickly lunged and came up with the huge crawdad!

It’s like the size of a lobster!

There was a juvenile looking on with envy…

Juvenile Yellow-Crowned Night Heron

There lots of Green Herons about. In Albuquerque I’m lucky to come across one here and there. But at this lake, there were so many they constantly chased each other trying to keep a preferred fishing spot to themselves.

Checking me out 🙂

Needed a better look LOL!

The resident Great Egret was fishing along the edge of the lake. I saw him intent on something in front of him.

Great Egret

Then all of a sudden he lunged! Fortunately I managed to get a great pic of him diving for his prey. Sadly, he missed on that attempt and decided to move to a different part of the lake for better luck fishing.

Great Egret fishing

There was a pair of Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks watching all the goings on around the lake. I think they are beautiful waterfowl.

Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks

The Muscovy Ducks had some babies while I was gone for several weeks. I saw this one mother with a huge brood!

Muscovy Ducks

All the while I’m photographing birds, Scarlett was kicked back relaxing and watching all the people and birds.

Miss Scarlett

And Squirrels!!! She was on high alert when she spotted the squirrels!

Scarlett keeping a sharp eye on the squirrel nearby.

The squirrels kept on eye on her as well.

Staring contest between the squirrel and Scarlett

There were some other small birds about. But overall it was pretty quiet for them. So I ventured over to Converse Lake. It’s a more wild lake. You pretty much can only walk along one edge of the lake. The rest of it is overgrown. Because of this, the smaller birds tend to hang out here more. I got 2 lifers at this lake!!! A Rusty Blackbird and a Couch’s Kingbird.

Rusty Blackbird

Couch’s Kingbird

The Mute Swan I saw last time I visited was joined by his lady and their two new babies. Adorable! I’d never seen baby swans before.

Mute Swan male

Mute Swan female and babies

Here are some of the other small birds I saw around this lake.

Kildeer

Scissortail Flycatcher

Black-Crested Titmouse enjoying a bird drip fountain

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

House Sparrow

Brown-Headed Cowbird female and male

Painted Bunting

Eastern Phoebe

While photographing the little birds, I heard a commotion behind me. I looked across the open field and saw a Red-Tailed Hawk had caught a White-Winged Dove. Surprisingly a Northern Mockingbird harassed the hawk until it took its breakfast elsewhere.

Red-Tailed Hawk being attacked by a Northern Mockingbird

One delight while visiting Converse Lake was that the water lilies were in full bloom. Just beautiful!

One of my favorite photos of the visit

One thing I noticed about San Antonio is that there is a huge population of Black Vultures. These birds are huge and were everywhere I went in great numbers.

Ewwwww……

Black Vulture

mmmmmm…armadillo

Must be tasty as a squabble broke out over it

There are always lots of White-Tailed Deer around the San Antonio parks. I really liked this photo I took of a doe enjoying the wildflower field.

White-Tailed Deer

There were a few other blooming flowers about, but not many as San Antonio was experiencing a drought.

Honey bee enjoying the clover blooms

This squirrel appreciated the water put out for the birds.

ahhhhhh…..

While driving around, I came across this sign. I had to turn around to take a picture. Don’t you wonder how this creek was named???

Really?????

One morning I arrived well before sunrise. I came across this Little Blue Heron fishing. I loved the colors and lighting of this photo.

Little Blue Heron

It was nice getting out early every morning and seeing some fun bird sightings. I actually got a 3rd lifer, but sadly my photo is just too poor to post. I saw a Brown Boobie. I never dreamed I would see this bird in San Antonio. It was a rare sighting indeed. Sadly, it was on the far side of a lake with no way to get closer. My lens just couldn’t get a clear pic, though the markings are clear enough to identify it for me. Someday I might see one to get a better photo! 🙂

This doe found a nice place to sit out the day’s heat

San Antonio Birding – Dedicated to my Dad

In mid-April I went to visit my parents in San Antonio, Texas. My dad had been getting weaker and weaker. I knew I needed to go see him sooner rather than later. Sadly, two days after I arrived he passed away. I’m so thankful I was able to visit him before he passed.

One of my favorite photos of me and my dad. My wedding day on October 18, 1996.

I wanted to dedicate this post to my dad. He always looked forward to reading about my adventures and looking at my photos.

I had taken Scarlett with me. She was upset when dad died at the house. And she was upset that mom and I were grieving. So to help her and me both cope with the loss, I got up early every morning to walk and bird. When I am out in nature, I find it a balm to my soul and a time to talk with the Lord.

There is a greenbelt near my parent’s home that I walk whenever I visit. The first morning I was there, I took a walk on the familiar trail. Since it was April, there were still a few Texas Bluebonnets blooming.

Scarlett walking in the greenbelt.

Texas Bluebonnets

It was quiet for the most part, but I did find a couple of good birds. One bird was singing his heart out and it took me awhile to find him. Eventually I located him and was happy to see a White-Eyed Vireo.

White-Eyed Vireo

A further ways down the trail, I saw a movement in a tree. To my delight it was a Red-Shouldered Hawk. He didn’t seem to mind me watching him hunt for breakfast. So I got lots of beautiful shots of this gorgeous bird.

Red-Shouldered Hawk as I first saw him.

He then moved to this great perch and posed nicely for me.

I love the beautiful color and pattern of the feathers on his wings.

Success getting some breakfast.

The next morning I went to a newly found spot called Lake Converse in Converse, Texas. It’s a pretty little park with a semi-wild lake. One of the first things I saw was a pair of Egyptian Geese with 10 goslings. I think they had hatched within 48 hours.

Egyptian Geese with 10 goslings

Adorable baby

One of my favorite shots was of a Mute Swan. Such an elegant bird.

Mute Swan

A lot of the birds preferred to stay on the far shore of the lake – really testing the limits of my long lens. I had hoped to get closer to the Yellow-Crowned Night Heron, but no such luck.

This is the best photo I got of a Yellow-Crowned Night Heron

Cattle Egret

Pied-Billed Grebe

American Coot

Great Egret

Great-Tailed Grackle

As I walked around the lake, I saw quite a variety of birds. The air was filled with birdsong.

White-Winged Dove

Barn Swallow

Common Yellowthroat

Savannah Sparrow

Eastern Kingbird

Killdeer

Eastern Phoebe

Clay-Colored Sparrow in the foreground and a Chipping Sparrow in the back.

Yellow-Rumped Warbler (Myrtle)

Lincoln’s Sparrow

Carolina Wren

Northern Cardinal with an inchworm

One special treat was a Martin House that was in use. Purple Martins were occupying most of the holes.

Purple Martins

As I was leaving one day, I watched this Northern Mockingbird busy looking for insects. I watched him use his wings to try and flush out bugs.

Northern Mockingbird flushing out bugs

Another lake nearby called Live Oak Lake was another treasure for birds. It had a more park-like feel to it. It didn’t have as many birds, but was still a great place to visit. I got there very early one beautiful morning.

Black-Bellied Whistling Duck at dawn

Lake Converse at sunrise

There was a very tame Great Egret hoping for a free breakfast from a fisherman.

Great Egret

One a later visit that Great Egret was fishing along the lake shore. I thought it made for a beautiful photo op.

Great Egret

Small catch but tasty!

There were a several other waterfowl on the lake.

Mottled Duck

Mottled Duck babies – so adorable!

Blue-Winged Teal

Black-Bellied Whistling Duck

Black-Bellied Whistling Duck baby – beautiful markings!

I watched a Green Heron hunt for fish. He didn’t care that I was only a few feet away. He got so close that I couldn’t focus my long lens on him. I had to keep backing up!

Green Heron

While walking around this lake, I briefly saw a Cooper’s Hawk try to catch some Blue Jays. I heard the Jays squawking about it, but never got any photos.

Cooper’s Hawk

There were some other birds around the lake that allowed me to take their photos.

Golden-Fronted Woodpecker

Northern Cardinal

Western Kingbird

One of the highlights for me at this lake was a very sociable Spotted Sandpiper. He let me get within a few feet and take a number of photos while he groomed. In the past when I’ve seen these birds, they fly away before you can get a decent shot. So this was a real treat for me!

Spotted Sandpiper

One morning I walked along Mud Creek. It’s only about a mile from my parent’s house, so I got there at sunrise without much effort. I loved this sunrise shot with Texas Bluebonnets in the foreground.

Texas Bluebonnet Sunrise

The foliage was thick in this area, but I managed to get a few bird shots here. Mostly there were Northern Cardinals and Carolina Wrens. But a Black-Crested Titmouse was busy singing from the tree tops.

Black-Crested Titmouse

On my last day in San Antonio, I visited McAllister Park. What a wonderful place. Miles of trails in a park consisting of over 750 acres in the heart of San Antonio. There were lots of birds but very difficult to spot them. What I saw the most was White-Tailed Deer. They were everywhere!

Scarlett just couldn’t believe her eyes!! 🙂

Look mom! A deer is right there!!!!

While hiking along a road in the park, I was passed by a man riding a bike. He stopped in front of me and threw out grain for the deer. I think he does this often, as they seemed to recognize him. One in particular let him pet her. When he rode off, several of them followed him for awhile. What a wonderful connection with nature!

White-Tailed Deer

How sweet this deer trusts this man and calls him friend.

At the southern end of the park is where I got most of my sightings and photographs. A beautiful Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher posed for me then flew and showed off his seldom seen red feathers under his wings.

Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher

Beautiful coloring under the wings.

Here are the other treasures I got at the southern end of the park.

Carolina Chickadee

Northern Mockingbird

Summer Tanager Female

Black Vulture

The highlight of my bird sightings during my visit was at McAllister Park. While trying to photograph a Carolina Chickadee, I heard a noise behind me. When I looked, I saw a Barred Owl sunning himself in the top of a tree. A lifer sighting for me!!! And so beautiful!!!

Barred Owl

My last birding opportunity of my trip was a stop in Clovis, New Mexico, to check on the Great Horned Owls in Ned Houk Park. They had successfully raised two young ones, and they were far enough along to leave the nest. They kept a sharp eye on us.

Great Horned Owletts

Just before leaving I managed to find one of the parents. Such wonderful birds owls are.

Great Horned Owl

A Lark Sparrow and a Western Meadowlark were singing happily for us.

Lark Sparrow

Western Meadowlark

Scarlett enjoyed her visit at the park. 🙂

My sweet Scarlett

So while it was a sad visit to San Antonio, I found solace walking among the beauty God has created and seeing so many of his wonderful creatures. I know my dad would have loved to see these photos. The Texas Bluebonnets were always a personal favorite. I know he is at peace now and waiting for me in Heaven.

In memory of my dad:

Joseph Mathew Welch, Jr. Born April 28, 1935. Died April 18, 2018.

Birding at San Angelo State Park and Bitter Lake Wildlife Refuge

On my way home from Port Aransas, Texas, I took time to bird in San Angelo State Park in San Angelo, Texas, and at Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge at Roswell, New Mexico.

My drive to San Angelo was mostly rainy. So I didn’t have any opportunities to bird that day. I did stop in a little town to get a pic of an old building that looked interesting.

I arrived in San Angelo with steady rain. When I awoke the next morning, it was pretty foggy. So birding conditions were not good at all. But I still managed to get a quite a few sightings. I didn’t stay long as I wanted to have some time to bird at Bitter Lake.

Bullock’s Oriole

Curve-Billed Thrasher

Bell’s Vireo

Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher

Pyrrhuloxia

Lark Sparrow

Cactus Wren

Black Vultures

Canyon Towhee

Brown-Headed Cowbird

Black-Crested Titmouse

Bobwhite Quail

Golden-Fronted Woodpecker

The best find of the morning was seeing a female Vermillion Flycatcher building her nest. She would get some moss or grass and place it in the nest and then check it for comfort. Then go get another piece to add. I never did see the male.

Vermillion Flycatcher – female

There wasn’t too much activity at Bitter Lake as I arrived there around midday. After driving around for a little while and hiking a couple of short paths, I managed to find a few birds.

Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher

Yellow-Rumped Warbler – Myrtle Variety

Lark Sparrow

Green Heron

Cinnamon Teal

Scaled Quail

The highlight of the day though was seeing a variety of nightjars! These birds are so difficult to find in the wild. But on this visit, they were all perched out in the open and very close to the road. Awesome! I was able to get some good photographs! Even with that advantage, it was still very difficult to identify the birds. I mostly used size as a reference for the Common Poorwill as it is the smallest of the nightjars. The Common Nighthawk flew and sang right after I took the up-close photo which made it easy to identify.

I think you’ll agree these are really cool birds!

Common Poorwill

Lesser Nighthawk

Common Nighthawk

That concludes my 10-day trip to the gulf coast and all the wonderful bird sightings I was able to see during my travels. I got 27 new lifers and my total number of lifer bird sightings is now at 396!!!

Pronghorn Antelope

Miscellaneous Birds and Other Fun Stuff in Port Aransas, Texas

I saved the most difficult category for last – miscellaneous birds. Specifically flycatchers. I am challenged when it comes to identifying flycatchers. Thankfully, there was a local birding expert nearby when I saw the flycatchers, and she was able to identify them for me. You can see why it’s challenging to identify them…they almost look identical!

Here’s the many variety of flycatchers I saw at Port Aransas. And they are all lifers!!!

Alder Flycatcher

Acadian Flycatcher

Yellow-Bellied Flycatcher

Eastern Wood-Pewee

Least Flycatcher

While visiting there, I went out every morning before dawn. I saw some beautiful sights around the town. One morning I toured the marina and took a few pics.

Beautiful sailboats

Homes on the Port Aransas Marina

The beach at dawn is gorgeous. Very few people, calm winds, the sounds of the surf and birds.

Horace Caldwell Pier at sunrise

I found some sand sculptures one morning. They must have had a contest the day before that was sponsored by Crown Royal. I was pretty impressed with the sculptures, though I can’t figure out why the pig was the grand champion. Hmmmmmm…..

Willie Nelson

It’s always 5 o’clock somewhere

Lovely mermaid

Grand Champion Pig

While walking Charlie’s Pasture I did encounter a few butterflies. They were difficult to find as the wind blew pretty good almost my entire trip. I found other fun stuff too while hiking the boardwalks.

A gorgeous passion flower

I believe this is a White Peacock that survived a close call!

Funereal Duskywing

Ceraunus Blue

Green Anole shedding its skin. I loved to catch these lizards when I was a little kid living in Houston!

Common Buckeye

A very fresh Pipevine Swallowtail

One morning at Charlie’s Pasture I came across a coyote. Just beautiful!

Coyote

While visiting the Leonabelle Refuge I saw lots of Great-Tailed Grackles and a few other fun things.

Crab

The sightings of the day 🙂

Great-Tailed Grackle

Mullet – this fish was 2.5 feet long!

I had two birds I really wanted to see while visiting the Gulf Coast. The first was the Roseate Spoonbill, which I did see and posted about previously. The second bird was the Crested Caracara. I have looked for this bird for years. On this trip I finally saw it. Then like my blogging friend Aussiebirder who recently commented “it takes you forever to see that lifer bird, then it seems like once you see it, you see it everywhere!” I think I saw over 10 individuals while there this last trip.

Crested Caracara

Along with the Crested Caracara I saw these other two birds I scared off a dead coyote.

Turkey Vulture

Harris’s Hawk

One day we visited Aransas Wildlife Refuge. It took about 1.5 hours to get there, but was well worth the trip. That particular day was extremely windy. The beach would have been miserable. But with all the trees at the refuge, it was a beautiful day. The very first thing we saw were 3 alligators!!! 🙂 That was awesome!

Alligator

Alligators

We drove around this large refuge and came across some fun stuff. There was this 80-foot high catwalk. It was so fun to walk that climbing, winding cawalk. At the top the views of the coastline were amazing!

Scarlett loved running up the path

My mom waving from further down the path. Such fun!

Gorgeous view!

While hiking this catwalk, we spotted a huge butterfly. It landed very briefly for one photo.

Palamedes Swallowtail

And I got a beautiful shot of a dove.

White-Winged Dove

We had a picnic in a lovely spot. A deer greeted us as we drove up. This would be one of several deer we would see that day.

White-Tailed Deer

Me and Scarlett

Beautiful picnic area

I love the oak trees in Texas

I took mom and dad out to a nice dinner for Dad’s birthday. The restaurant was small and intimate and the food was delicious.

My dad (Joe) at his birthday dinner

But our favorite place to eat was Trout Street. We ate there twice on the patio enjoying the marina view. After dinner on one visit, mom and I toured the docks. I really considered buying this yacht that was for sale (NOT!). 🙂

Mom and Dad (Dorothy and Joe)

Dad looking very nautical in his blue and white striped shirt 🙂

Me enjoying a lovely dinner on the marina

My beautiful mother!

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New Mexico Birder

Birding & Photography in New Mexico & the Southwest

Category Archives: Texas

Last Time to Bird at Port Aransas, Texas

San Antonio Missions National Historical Park

San Antonio Japanese Tea Garden

San Antonio Summer Birding

San Antonio Birding – Dedicated to my Dad

Birding at San Angelo State Park and Bitter Lake Wildlife Refuge

Miscellaneous Birds and Other Fun Stuff in Port Aransas, Texas