Saturday, February 21, 2015

Goliad, Mission Espiritu Santo and the Northern Crested Caracara

We drove about an hour and a half west to the town of Goliad to check out an arts and crafts festival.  Goliad State Park houses the Mission Espiritu Santo and the area also has a couple of other noteworthy historical places which I will touch on in my next post.

On the way, we saw a beautiful new (to us) bird in a tree near the road and then on the way back saw a couple of the same birds with buzzards enjoying a fresh javelina road kill.  Very curious, I looked it up to find out it is the Northern Crested Caracara, found in South America and this lower southeast part of Texas!  No wonder he looks so tropical!  Though a raptor, the Caracara is primarily a carrion bird.  We also saw a Bald Eagle on the same kill!


Northern Crested Caracara

 Goliad and the fair:




Mission Espiritu Santo, also located on the San Antonio River:











 Could not get a clear pic of the eagle

Yes the javelina in this area are black....and big!  We saw several at the Aransas Preserve but no good pics.  Too far away and too fast!  Look at tusk on this one!  Isn't the Caracara beautiful!


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