Winter 2006 - Texas Coast

When we planned this trip, we hoped to visit coastal parks in Mississippi and eastern Texas. Unfortunately, hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused so much damage that the parks are still closed. As a result, we have two long driving days to get from the Florida panhandle to south of Houston.

We had a pair of Northern Cardinal join us for breakfast at the feeder. Lots of fun to watch these common but beautiful birds up close. Our 320 mile drive was uneventful, except for the phone call from Sandy’s mom, telling us she fell and broke her arm. Later in the day we heard that she would have surgery next week but for now she is back home. Sandy is really feeling the stress of being so far away and unable to contribute to mom’s care.

We stopped at a campground east of Baton Rouge, LA. We caught up on shopping and laundry. In the supermarket, Carl was befuddled by a new product; “Fat Free-Half and Half”. Carl thinks that Half and Half is half milk and half cream. The difference between milk and cream is the fat content. How can there be Fat Free Half and Half? Can someone please explain this to him.

Well, it’s Friday the 13^th and it lived up to the promise of bad luck. Today’s drive was about the same distance as yesterday but it took two hours longer. There was a strong cross wind for the entire day that required we drive more slowly. After lunch, a construction crew closed all three westbound lanes of I-10. We sat in traffic for almost 90 minutes with long stretches of not moving at all. We listened to the CB radio for a while as the truckers shared their frustration about the delay and lots of other interesting, though at times unintelligible, chatter. We made it to the park at sunset. It is just behind the sand dunes on the gulf coast south of Galveston. There are lots of great birding spots around here and we’ll start checking them out tomorrow. We spoke to Sandy’s mom (and aunt and brother). Mom’s doing pretty well and her surgery has been moved up to Monday.

We awoke to a glorious sunrise, crystal clear skies and 44 degrees (with a forecast for the high 60’s). After breakfast we headed to San Bernard NWR just a few miles away. This place was wonderful. With a three mile loop drive and several hiking trails, we spent the day spotting birds left and right. At one point we did this quite literally. Carl stopped the car and pointed to the right just as Sandy pointed to the left. We had each spotted our own Red Shouldered Hawk. San Bernard is one of the big Snow Geese wintering spots. We didn’t get close to the flock so we couldn’t spot the less common White Fronted Goose or the rare Ross’s Goose. However, on several occasions the entire flock erupted into the sky honking away. It is awesome to see perhaps a thousand geese take flight and darken a big patch of sky. The highlights of the refuge were a King Rail, Marsh Wren and Crested Caracara. We saw a total of 50 bird species on the refuge. As we started hiking down one trail there was a sign reading, “Wildlife observation encouraged, Watch out for snakes and alligators”. This is our kind of place!

Back at the campground we hiked the beach north to the end then along the quarter mile long jetty. We spotted an additional ten species of birds and two bottlenose dolphins. Walking back to the coach we stopped to chat with the couple a few sites away. Turns out we have crossed tracks a few times in the past. They bought their new motorhome at the Springfield FMCA Rally we were at last July and they spent a month at Ho Hum Campground on the Florida panhandle, leaving just a few days before we arrived.

Another wonderful wildlife day. We visited the Brasoria NWR and found a similar type of refuge to San Bernard with hiking trails and an auto loop. Unfortunately, it has been a very dry year and the ponds are very low, hence their edges are far from the road. Still, we saw ten species we didn’t see yesterday, bringing our two day NWR total to 70 different bird species, including one life bird, the Greater White Fronted Goose. With all of this avian diversity, the wildlife highlight was not a bird (imagine that!). Along the auto loop we spotted a Bobcat walking slowly along the edge of the tall grass. We approached very slowly, not wanting to scare him out of sight. We watched for about two minutes and Carl got a so-so photo through the windshield and then he was gone. This is the first time we have seen a Bobcat in the wild. After a picnic lunch, we drove down another refuge road where we were told to look for mother and baby alligators. We found them quite near the road, momma and five yellow banded babies. We then drove to the northern border of the refuge to look for Sandhill Cranes. These are the more common cranes (sadly, so common that they allow a hunting season for these majestic birds). The endangered Whooping Cranes we hope to see next week. Just where the people said they would be, we found a field with hundreds of Sandhills. We took some pictures and spent time just watching them walk along feeding and cackling. Back to the coach for a couple hours relaxation before dinner. Sandy called her mom again. The whole family is pitching in to help care for her. The surgery on her arm is tomorrow.

Today was one of those, “Good News/Bad News” days. The best news was that Sandy’s Mom’s surgery went well and she is recuperating in the hospital. Her doctor wants to make sure she can walk without needing the arm that is healing. The other good news was the campsite at Goose Island State Park. Once again we have a site right on the Gulf, less than ten feet from the water. The bad news includes cancellation (due to forecast high winds) of our boat trip to see the Whooping Cranes tomorrow and the failure of our satellite antenna. It won’t slew in azimuth and we don’t have room to drive in circles until we get a good signal. Carl will call the people who installed it tomorrow. Aside from all of that, we drove about 160 miles down the coast and spent some time doing chores, then did some exploring in Fulton and Rockport. After supper, a weather front passed through the area, causing violent gusty winds and driving rail. The forecast is for 20-30 knot winds from the southeast, changing to 30-40 knots from the northwest as the front passes. This, of course, was the reason for the cancellation of tomorrow’s boat trip. On the exposed beach, the coach rocked and shook a bit but it was more exciting that frightening.

Carl awoke shortly after sunrise and looked out to see about 100 ducks feeding just offshore. Four different species of ducks right outside our window! It was easy to get Sandy out of bed today! After a breakfast that included watching the ducks, we went exploring the various birding hot spots in the area. We also visited the “Big Tree”. This Live Oak Tree has an 11 foot diameter trunk and is over 1,000 years old. Very impressive! The winds offshore were true to the forecast and we were glad we were not in a small boat. We did see lots of ducks and shorebirds close to shore, though at times it was hard to focus on the birds while being buffeted by the high winds. After some more birding we picked up our three weeks worth of mail at the post office and Sandy did some shopping while Carl sorted through the mail. We had lunch in a local place called, “Captain Billy’s Wife’s Place”. Excellent shrimp but they were out of oysters. We spent the afternoon driving south, stopping at the spots recommended in our birding guide. At one point we found dozens of Black Bellied Whistling Ducks, Blue and Green Wing Teal, Long Bill Dowitcher, Coot, Moorhen and Pied Billed Grebes close to the observation platform. Really neat if you love birds. Back at the coach we relaxed for a while, then Sandy called her mom (she has been moved to a rehab center and is doing OK) and Carl tried unsuccessfully to fix his camera. It seems all of his toys are broken; first the satellite internet, now his digital camera. After dinner, Sandy called her brother to compare notes on Mom’s progress.

We were up early to go for a guided bird walk offered by the park. Abut 20 people showed up and the lead couple were excellent. We saw almost 50 species during the morning, including several we had not yet seen on this trip. , including a Long Billed Curlew and an American Pipit (we don’t make these names up, we just look for the birds ;-). After the birdwalk we packed up and headed south for the short, 40 mile trip to Mustang Island State Park. Unfortunately, when we got to the ferry at Aransas Pass we were turned away since the tide was so low that the steep ramp might damage our motorhome. Our options were to wait four hours for high tide or drive 75 miles around through Corpus Christi. We elected to drive around and it turned out to be easy. After settling in to the campground, Carl called the guy who installed our satellite antenna to discuss the problem. Most likely cause was debris in the gears. It has been, and still is, very windy. We tried it again and it worked!! Now, at least one of Carl’s toys is working!. We took a short walk on the beach but the wind was fierce so we drove to some inland birding spots in Corpus Christi. At one spot along a shallow bay, we saw hundreds of ducks and shorebirds, including a flock of over 50 Whimbrel. Sandy called her mom, who has been moved to a nursing home. She seems to be doing OK and will be there for at least a week. A quiet dinner and some delayed internet time as the wind continued to howl outside, brought an end to another wonderful day.