TEXAS: CORPUS CHRISTI AREA, PART II (ARANSAS WILDLIFE REFUGE, TREE TOP SIDEWALK, WHOOPING CRANES, AND SPOONBILLS)

 Friday, November 26, 2022

We spent the morning at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, a 115,324-acre protected area on the Gulf Coast. It was established in 1937 as a refuge and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife.

One of my favorite parts of the refuge was this tree top observation boardwalk that zigzags to a 40-foot-tall observation tower.

It is a design masterpiece, taking us from the understory, through the midstory, and above the top story. Educational material is found along the way.

The deck provides a panoramic view of San Antonio Bay.

I was intrigued by these glass spikes "decorating" some of the signs and posts along the walkway. At first I thought it was a Dale Chihuly art installation, but then I realized it is a "poop guard" meant to keep birds from landing (and pooping) on the signs and posts. This is, after all, a bird sanctuary.

The binoculars on the right could have used a few spikes.

Along with the geography, I was entranced by the beauty of the trees. This one looks like it has a story to tell.

On another walk in another part of the refuge, we came across this naptime scene.

Yes, that is at least SIX slumbering alligators. 

Time for lunch at Bob's favorite restaurant chain: food trucks.

This one wasn't a winner, however. I had a burrito that I would give a B+, and Bob had a fajita torta that he gave a B.

The Gulf Coast is known for its whooping crane population. In 1941, there were only 21 wild and 2 captive whooping cranes left in the world. Thanks to conservation efforts, today there are over 800. Every year, starting in late September, they migrate 2,500 miles from Canada's northwest territories to the Texas coast. In mid-April they start the journey back to Canada. 

Earlier in the day, Bob had heard the calls of some whooping cranes in another bird sanctuary, and he saw a couple in the distance.  He was very excited about that. However, the best was yet to come. We had booked a three-hour boat tour out of Rockport that focused on seeing whooping cranes.

We appreciated the Thanksgiving décor on the dock:

We boarded a flat-bottomed boat with an enclosed lower deck and open upper deck. It seated about 40 people and was pretty much filled. The crew consisted of a "captain" who drove the boat and provided commentary (We think he was a naturalist with a PhD) and a friendly girl who brought around granola bars and coffee, hot chocolate, and tea. At the beginning the captain had everyone say where they were from. Most were Texans, but there was one couple from New York. Along with them, we were given a fun children's book about whooping cranes for having traveled the farthest.

Our guide/captain was exceptional--very knowledgeable and fun to listen to. We learned lots about whooping cranes (which he pronounced "hooping" and called them "hoopers"):

- They dwindled to fewer than 25 adult birds because of habitat destruction, hunting,       DDT, etc.

- They mate for life.

- They only hatch one egg at a time. If the hen lays two, they abandon the second egg     after the first one hatches. Conservationists have been rescuing and hatching the         second egg to replenish the population.

- Babies grow one inch every day.

- They eat blue crabs. 

- The main migration route is from NW Canada to Aransas National Refuge, but they      are trying to establish a second route that ends in Florida.

- About 500 birds migrated to Aransas last year, and conservationists are hoping for         550 this year.

We were very excited to see our first pair of whoopers. They were easy to spot because they are huge--the tallest bird native to North America. Adults are about five feet tall (or more) with a wingspan of over seven feet, but the males weigh just 16 pounds and the females 14 pounds on average, so they are quite delicate. The following are all Bob's photos:

Whooping cranes whooping:

Those black wingtips don't show unless they are flying. How is that possible?

We saw almost exclusively pairs or pairs with a teenager.

Teenager whoopers are almost as large as the adults, but they still have some of the reddish-brown feathers of their chick stage. They are easy to pick out because they stay close to the parents.

The last pair we saw had a nearly grown baby, and the three birds were very close to the water passage our boat was in. We got within about 20 feet of them. It was an incredible experience. Even the boat driver/guide was excited.