Whoopie!
Sorry about the cheezy title but it seemed to be less cheezy than my other choices: Whoop there it is or The crane the crane.
Anyways Whooping crane was my target bird for this the second weekend of the new year. Last weekend I attempted and failed to find a tiny and secretive little brown bird. So this weekend I would try to find a big white bird that stands almost 5 feet tall and has a wingspan of over 7 feet. Can't miss right?
I started the morning out before sunrise as usual and headed out to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. This area is the only place wild whooping cranes are found in the winter, in the summer they are nesting in Canada. I believe there are some in Florida just in case there were a disaster along the intercoastal waterway. The Whooping Crane is one of the greatest success stories in conservation. In 1941 there were only 15 birds left on the planet and Aransas NWR is where these birds spend the winter. Their current population is 400+ now so I figured I could go try and find one.
The temperature was in the low 30's when I got there and the wind was ripping out of the north. I drove around for a while then I would stop and get out of the car and walk some of the trails until I could not handle the cold anymore then I would get back into the car and drive around again then get out and walk a bit and you get the picture right? COLD. It was so windy I could hardly hold the scope still and I was shivering so much I could not hold the binoculars steady. But no matter, I ended up with a bunch of ducks and since the wind had been blowing so hard out of the north there was hardly any water in the bay or flats so it was great for shorebirds. Just no Whooper. So after a few hours of torture and searching I thought I would head down the coast to Goose Island.
After a few minutes of driving around the Big Tree area I was able to get a quick glance and picture of Texas Life Bird 407
I was not completely satisfied with these images so I tried to relocate these birds. I drove to Goose Island State Park which had been hammered by Hurricane Harvey. Most of the beautiful live oak trees in the area had been stripped of most of their leaves or so damaged they were pruned to the ground. There is still hurricane debris all over the place. The park itself is barley open. There is no access to the campground area and the road to the pier area was almost completely gone, so there was not much I could do to relocate them with such limited access.
Overall the day was a success. I now have 97 species in Aransas county and 116 birds for 2018.
Anyways Whooping crane was my target bird for this the second weekend of the new year. Last weekend I attempted and failed to find a tiny and secretive little brown bird. So this weekend I would try to find a big white bird that stands almost 5 feet tall and has a wingspan of over 7 feet. Can't miss right?
I started the morning out before sunrise as usual and headed out to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. This area is the only place wild whooping cranes are found in the winter, in the summer they are nesting in Canada. I believe there are some in Florida just in case there were a disaster along the intercoastal waterway. The Whooping Crane is one of the greatest success stories in conservation. In 1941 there were only 15 birds left on the planet and Aransas NWR is where these birds spend the winter. Their current population is 400+ now so I figured I could go try and find one.
The temperature was in the low 30's when I got there and the wind was ripping out of the north. I drove around for a while then I would stop and get out of the car and walk some of the trails until I could not handle the cold anymore then I would get back into the car and drive around again then get out and walk a bit and you get the picture right? COLD. It was so windy I could hardly hold the scope still and I was shivering so much I could not hold the binoculars steady. But no matter, I ended up with a bunch of ducks and since the wind had been blowing so hard out of the north there was hardly any water in the bay or flats so it was great for shorebirds. Just no Whooper. So after a few hours of torture and searching I thought I would head down the coast to Goose Island.
After a few minutes of driving around the Big Tree area I was able to get a quick glance and picture of Texas Life Bird 407
Overall the day was a success. I now have 97 species in Aransas county and 116 birds for 2018.
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