Aransas National Wildlife Refuge is the winter home to a migratory flock of about 500 whooping cranes, and it's one of our most favorite places in all the USA. (counted at 504 last winter; this year's numbers are not complete). But, it is not easy to find. First we go north, then east, then north, then east, then north again, skirting acres and acres of milo, cotton or sorghum. Here we are, still 14 miles from the Refuge entry gate. And this is the 2nd sign we've seen.
We were excited to arrive, because they have such a fun museum and gift shop, full of interesting articles and artifacts, as well as pretty things to purchase. And restrooms, CLEAN restrooms. But, um....this is what greeted us upon arrival:
A trailer. A TRAILER. We turned around and looked at where the beautiful brick building used to stand. It's that bare patch of sand, on the right, behind those 2 trees.
In its place now, is this TRAILER. And the other trailer is the gift shop. We asked what happened, and noooo, the hurricane (Harvey, Sept 2017) did NOT blow the museum away. But, it did so much damage that the building was condemned. In 2017. But, this is Federal Government property, so, yeah, it's taking a while to get restored.
After showing Driver's National Parks pass (granting free entry for us both), we chatted a bit with the volunteer, perused the limited offerings in the gift shop and moved along to visit the alligators. Just in case you needed a reminder, alligators are WILD and shouldn't be fed.
And for gosh sakes, don't enter their territory!
Our shadow-selves got photo-bombed by this cutie!
We had been told there was at least one pair of whoopers out in the flats. And we were not disappointed! There they were! This is about the very best my little phone camera could do.
Lucky for us, Driver brought his real camera, and his real telephoto lens. He was able to get a few really good shots, so, for those of you who have never seen a whooper in real life, here ya go! These birds stand almost 5 feet tall and their wingspan is about 8 feet wide! So, they were easily visible from afar, but even more exciting through his lens.
And then there was this little guy that watched us for a bit. Our good friend, Kerry, who knows things, tells us this in an American Kestrel. We knew he was some sort of a hawk, by his little feet (ha!), but I guess the stripes on his face helped her ID him more accurately. I didn't even notice them in the wild, nor when viewing the photo, but after she told me what he was, I looked him up in my bird book, and yup, I bet she's RIGHT! (she ALWAYS knows her birds! Not to mention her dance definitions and positions!!)
Can you see the garter snake? Doggie and I walked right by him, but Driver pointed him out to us. He's the striped "branches."
The tide was low; the water was calm.
And the tree (live oak) was BIG.
Can you read the sign? Yup, another area CLOSED to traffic. So, why is there a foot path? And who is that standing there? Don't tell HIM don't!
It was great to see the observation tower/platform made it through the hurricane safely. I went partway up this, once, a long time ago. In fact, I think this is about where I stopped and turned around. No need to do it again.
So, does he have courage or is he just nuts? Maybe a little of both?
Doggie and I waited while he cruised the beach. No one wants a sandy-footed, wet-bellied puppy in their camper. She was perfectly content to sit with me on the deck, basking in the sunshine.
What a treasure he found and brought back to us! A beautiful whelk shell. It was heavy and fully intact. Oh, it was sooooo tempting to bring it back with us, but, this IS a Federal Refuge, and it IS against the law to remove anything...but, who would know, one would argue. I agreed to leave it only when I couldn't answer the questions, "but what are you going to DO with it, and where are you going to PUT it?"
We continued driving the loop, till ole Eagle Eyes spotted this little guy by the side of the road. I got out and filmed him, while he simply ignored me. Armadillos can't see well (I guess that's why I relate to them so well), but they have excellent hearing and smell. Apparently, I was upwind, and still enough, that I posed no threat, and he waddled right by, only about a foot from my feet.
The check-in volunteer had mentioned that at mile 5.7 (yes, exactly at 5.7, not 5.5, not 5.6), they had discovered a nesting pair of bald eagles. First time since the '70s. Whoohoo. We knew we were right there when we spotted these folks blocking the road. Get a load of that lens! We had neglected to bring our binoculars (AGAIN!!!), so we asked for their help in locating the nest. HAHAHA....they laughed at us. The lady told us even she could barely make it out, using the lens she had. She indicated that she really needed one twice that size. Hmmph. So, there was absolutely no way we would see anything with our bare-naked eyeballs, so we just thanked 'em and drove on.
As we were getting near the entrance/exit to the park, we were treated to this lovely doe. And several of her friends!
There was a geocache located just outside the gate of the park, and even though the day was waning, and we were all hungry, and we still had a ways to go, we stopped to find the cache and capture another smiley for the record. It was a lovely day. Cold and windy? Absolutely. But, sunny and pleasant, and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. We are truly blessed.
