Winter Texans - True Winter Texans (1-14-24 - 1-20-24)

We had a laid-back day on Sunday.  We drove along the bay at Rockport/Fulton then came home and got ready for the winter weather that is coming in tomorrow night.  

Of course, we checked on Crane City while we were out and about.

Sunday Pics:

The winter weather arrived a night earlier than was predicted.  We were expecting to have temps in the mid 30's when we got up Monday morning.  Instead it was 29 degrees and dropped to 25 degrees with icy precipitation.  It was a good thing we prepped yesterday.

We spent the day playing on the computer and watching tv.

It was 22 degrees for the low on Tuesday.  By noon, we were up to 33 degrees on a sunny, windy day.  It was another stay inside kind of day.

Wednesday, we finally had a break from the cold and got out and about.  We made a stop at Ace Hardware and Wally World.

When we returned, we went to Crane City and watched the Whoopers in the bay.  The tide was way out which gave them an opportunity to forage closer to us.

Wednesday Pics:

Thursday, we both had a good night's sleep.  It was the first night in a while that we didn't have to leave the water pump on to drip the pipes.    

We had no plumbing issues when the water was turned back on in the campground.  The laundry didn't fare as well.  The water will be turned off until it can be repaired.  Good thing, we put 110 gallons in our water tank before the freeze.

It was foggy when we got to Charlie's North Pasture in Port Aransas.  By the time we walked to the community center, the sun was out, and we were overdressed.   We saw lots of sparrows and a little bit of waterfowl on this 2.3 mile hike.

When we returned to the parking area, we watched Whoopers across the bay.  One of the parents was solo while the rest of it's family was foraging together.  After a few whoops to each other, the family got back together.

Leonabelle Turnbulle was hopping again today.  We saw a couple of rails, one of them perched on a mound of grass and preened.  Very unusual to see this secretive bird on display.

We had our picnic lunch at Port Aransas Jetty then jetted across the ferry.  On the way back, we walked the North Cove Harbor Wetland Sanctuary boardwalk.  We saw a few wading birds and hermit crabs.

We got back to camp right before the heavy fog rolled in. 

Thursday Pics: 

The fog was blown out of here when we got up Friday morning. We made a quick look at Crane City then headed to Aransas NWR.  We didn't even stop for a picture at Crane City.  

There were a couple of gators cuddling at Jones Lake.  Love must be in the air.  Or they could be trying to stay warm in this howling, cold wind.

We saw 30 deer on the refuge. Eight of them were bucks.  They were strutting around showing off their nice racks.

We saw a couple of Whooping Cranes on the Auto Tour Loop.  

We found a photogenic American Kestrel as well.

We made it back to camp and had running water for a couple of hours.  Another freeze is predicted tonight.

Friday Pics:

Lauren was sure that the temps were not going to get low enough to freeze the pipes, so we did not drip water Friday night.  He was right.  The temp got as low as 33 then went up to the mid 40's for the high.  The only time we got out of the camper on this cold, windy, dreary day was to hook up the water. We have used up most of the 110 gallons that we put in the camper on Sunday.  Glad we put more water in the tank than we thought we needed.

Winter Texans - The Bay Life Continues (1-7-24 - 1-13-24)

Sunday morning, we checked Crane City on our way to Aransas NWR.  There were not quite as many cranes as we usually see, but still enough to enjoy.

We saw 10 whoopers while we were riding around the refuge.  Two of them were hanging around the marsh at Heron Flats and eight of them were spotted along the auto tour.  The most whoopers that we have seen on refuge.

We saw a Bald Eagle perched above the eagle nest.  Hopefully, they have nested.

We saw lots of waterfowl, a couple of gators, and a hog at Jones Lake.

A Red-shouldered Hawk was perched in a tree when we got out of the truck at the Heron Flats Trail.  We got pictures from the parking lot, then took more pictures as we got closer.  It stayed on its perch as we walked by it allowing for a great photo op.

As we were leaving the refuge, we saw an American Kestrel and a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.

The evening was spent grilling ribs and listening to the elusive calls of the cranes.

Sunday Pics:

Monday was a howling wind kind of day.  We finally got out for a bit and drove to Crane City.  All the cranes and critters were hunkered down, hiding from the wind.

Monday Pics:

When I went out to take a sunrise picture Tuesday morning, I heard and saw cranes flying around.  Thank goodness for a breeze instead of a howling wind.

We checked on Crane City on our way to Padre Island National Seashore. 

 

We saw all kinds of cool stuff on the Island, including a coyote and several groups of Sandhill Cranes.

We went by the Harley shop then to Sam's.  Sam's was a mad house.  We are not used to the hustle and bustle of the city.  We were glad to get back to the bay and enjoy the quiet life.

Tuesday Pics:

Lauren took sunrise pictures on Wednesday morning, while I was still in bed.

  

We did our usual check on Crane City then headed to Aransas NWR.  We hiked the Rail Trail before heading to Jones Lake.

We had heard that a gator had venison for his meal last Friday.  When we got to the overlook at Jones Lake, we saw a gator and several vultures.  The vultures kept finagling around the gator so we suspected they were wanting to help the gator with his leftovers.  The vultures finally got brave and started eating on the deer carcass.  

We anticipated that the gator was not going to go along with this, and he didn't.  All the sudden he spun around with his mouth wide open,  the vultures went airborne. The gator then pulled his leftovers underwater.  My oh My!!  What big teeth he has!!

We watched for a couple of hours. The vultures would try to steal the kill and the gator would snatch it back. It was like our very own National Geographic moments.

While all this was going on, a coyote made several appearances in the brush, wanting in on the buffet.  He was smart enough to realize that the outcome may not be good for him if he indulged. 

 

We took a walk at the tower board walk, stopped for a picnic snack at the lake, then headed back to the bay.

On the way home, we, (or rather Eagle Eye), spotted White-tailed kites.  Our first sighting for this trip.

Wednesday Pics:

Thursday, we took a road trip to Port Aransas after making a stop at Crane City.

We ventured to a new place today, Port Aransas Nature Preserve.  A short, but nice walk.

As we were walking to the Leonabelle Turnbull Nature Center boardwalk, we saw a Great Egret catch a snack.

We saw lots of colorful waterfowl and wading birds from the boardwalk.  A lot of them were bathing.

The Whooping Crane family was out in the marsh foraging.

We got away from all the people and hiked to the observation tower seeing a few birds along the way.

After we left the nature center, we headed toward the state park in the hopes of finding the Aplomado Falcon.  We looked for one when we were in Texas in 2021 but never found one.  Today, we found one.  Another lifer for us!

The waves were crashing when we had our picnic lunch at the Port Aransas Jetty.  

We checked out the Yarn Bombing and Bollard Buddies then made our way back to camp.

Thursday Pics:

Friday, we got a few household chores done on this cold, windy day.  It was a no picture taking kind of day.

A couple of Crested Caracaras had joined the vultures at Crane City Saturday morning.

We did a little bit of hiking and nature chasing at Aransas NWR, seeing 5 Whooping Cranes and some other cool stuff.

Jones Lake was disappointing.  We only saw a gator, a couple of grebes, a hog, and a kestrel.  Nothing like the excitement that we had the last time we were here.

On our way home, we saw a lone Whooping Crane.  Very odd.

We got back and relaxed outside on this pretty day.  

Saturday Pics: