Whooping Cranes!

The long distance pics I took of the whooping cranes in the NWR were nice but when we went to Goose Island State Park in Larmar, just a few miles north of us and south of the NWR,  I thought to ask if there had been any sightings of the cranes in the park.  We were rewarded with a "yes" and shown on a map where the cranes had been sighted just outside the park.

We drove there directly and were able to view a handful of these beautiful birds in a pasture setting.  The whooping crane is an endangered species with only approx. 460 (back up from just over 100 in 2003) living in the wild.  The are the tallest bird in North America standing between 4 1/2 to 5 ft full grown.  In this pretty setting we were also fortunate to see some sandhill cranes in the distance behind the whooping cranes....and I had thought the sandhills were big!  It was quite a thrill!

 A sandhill crane in the background

 When this crane started flapping around, I thought it was just stretching.......

 until I saw the vulture standing behind it!

 This young one ran to it's parent and chased off the vulture in the process!

 The youngster is stretching his wings now

 Here is the family

 Some sandhills in the background....

 

Rockport Aquarium and Museums

Mike and I checked out a couple of local museums located right down near the waterfront.

The aquarium was helpful and interesting in that it showcased fish you can find in this area.  We had  seen several restaurants  in the area advertising redfish but had no idea what the fish was or looked like and then we saw it at the aquarium.  I'm going to have to try it before we leave the area!

This is a 5 foot plus spotted eel which was actually just donated by someone, don't know that it is actually from this area:

 The fish at the lower right of this tank is a redfish otherwise known as a red drum

 These sea horses were some of the largest I've seen and the pipefish in the corner was interesting!

The Texas Maritime Museum offered a history of the fishing industry in the area :

 At the Bay Education Center we listened to an interesting lecture on global warming and alternative energy sources.  The globe shaped movie screen sure kept our attention, very cool!

Local Pics in Rockport, TX

Having a nice time here but a lot of overcast, rainy days.  Here are some pics from just walking, driving around Rockport:

 When the sun shines, the turtles at the city park behind us love to sunbathe!

 Pleasant surprise to see some Sandhill Cranes in the area!!

Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Rockport, TX

This area of the gulf coast is known for birding.  Whooping Cranes are here this time of year and I have never seen them before so I was hoping when we drove out the the refuge we might see some.  We did.....from a distance, along with other water fowl and some furry and hard shelled four legged friends!

 Just outside the visitors center we said hello to our welcoming committee;)  We are in gator country!

 Off in the distance our first whooping crane!

 We saw a raccoon scamper away from a pond....maybe these were his tracks??

 A small oil rig out in the Gulf

White Pelicans

 My first sighting of a live armadillo.....bout time, I've seen plenty of dead one by the road sides!!

 This new observation tower was ADA compliant ...and felt like a quarter mile walk!!  Awesome view of the surrounding refuge though!

Out in the distance we could see several water fowl and the cranes are very distinctive

 Leaving the refuge in the late afternoon we began to see deer everywhere.