Whooping Cranes...and an alligator

Today we drove up north to Aransas Nat'l Wildlife Refuge because we wanted to see Whooping Cranes and Alligators.  We were not dissapointed.  The weather was crummy and overcast all day so the photos are not very good but we saw them.

Whooping crane almost 5 ft tall

Whooping cranes are the largest bird in North America, weighing in around 15 lb and standing almost 5 feet tall.  They winter in this section of the gulf coast and migrate up north of the Arctic Circle to nest.  Almost extinct a few years ago, their population now counts as about 245 birds.  They mate for life.

Mr & Mrs. Crane in flight

After departing the visitor center we went across the street to have a picnic lunch under some oak trees.  Nearby we saw a fence with a sign that said Alligators - stay behind fence.  Ok.  This sounds like a good idea.

Serious Teeth

 After lunch we peeked over the fence and saw this fella.   He did remind me a lot of the crocadile in Peter Pan movie but he is an alligator not a croc.  Still...can't you just see Captain Hook scrambling for his life?

We started a little hike and saw this cardinal eating late lunch in an oak tree.  I started to shoot some pics and Sraddha grabbed me and escorted me back to car so this is the best photo I had.  not great but he is cute.  Turns out I had 50 mosquitoes on my shirt and pants.

If the Alligators don't eat you in Texas, the mosquitoes will!

Chisos Mountains and Lost Mine trail

Yes, we are now in Texas.  I didn't get to post much while in Big Bend because I didn't want to go over to the store every day and spend hours in hot sun.  (excuse?).  Sooooo.. am getting back to a couple of our hikes.
We hiked the Lost mine trail high up in Chisos Mountains which sit right in the middle of the park sticking up about 8,000 feet.

The most popular trail is the Lost Mine trail.  2.4 miles with 1100 ft elevation gain.  Switches back over it self over and over again.  Top was a point about 7200 feet.  Really fun.  Wind was blowing which was real nice because it kept the flies away mostly.

At the top we sat for an hour and munched snacks.  We were visited by a little Rufus headed sparrow.  Sraddha had glimpsed one before but this one came right up and was looking for food.  We watched him for a long time 

Walking down, we were the next to the last people off the mountain arriving back to car late in day.  saw some cool birds. 

 We returned to Chisos Basin for our picnic dinner and to try to see some more birds. Casa Grande Peak beckoned on the other side

Oh yes,  we did score some fresh shrimp today off a boat in the harbor.  They were not frozen.  We took them back, cleaned them and fired up the BBQ.  Shrimp on the barbie.  Yum.  I can see why the Australian's really like this.  We are vegetarian in our eating habits for various reasons however, everyonce in a while we eat a little seafood like shrimp.

Alligator!

Got your attention?

Am going to post little snippets. Here is one. We are out for the weekly wednesday expedition at the port aransas birding center.
Lots of migratory water fowl, pelicans, stilts, heron.
And then the 12 ft alligator appears. Real fun. He has lives here many years. Eery!

Notes and photos of Big Bend

Chisos Mountains greeted us

Vast desert plains with high mountains in the distance greet us as we enter the park .  While not the majesty of a Mt Rainier, the Chisos mountains stand tall amidst the rolling barren hills.  We are used to forests in the far west so this is more like Nevada deserts yet much different.







The first full day in Big Bend National Park, it was really cold and windy so we drove from one end of the park to the other. About 65 miles one way.

Chisos Mountains at Sunrise

Sunset near Rio Grande Village

A nearby nature trail near the Rio Grande river offered some interesting birding and a beautiful sunset.

Big Bend is a fascinating place.  Designated a national park in 1944 not just to preserve a wilderness, rather to blend cultural, historical and wilderness areas together.

Old Steam Engine in Castolon

As we travel around the park, we see remnants of old towns, long abandoned indigenous encampments, settlements, agriculture amidst wild and desolate areas.

Purple Prickly Pear Cactus

Over 20 species of cactus grow in the park.  No Sonoran desert yet Ocatillo and Prickly Pear abound.  Apparently the area receives an average of over 15 inches of annual rainfall, mostly in summer months, however a 19 month drought was finally broken last week with over one inch of rain over several days.  We can see the dried up muddy tracks where vehicles roamed through the dirt roads.

Big Bend Lupine

This rain enabled many wildflowers to sprout up.  We saw these near Panther Junction, the main park headquarters,  about 20 miles drive from our camp at Rio Grande village.  I laid down on the highway to take this photo while Sraddha stood guard.  Not many people visit the park due to its remote location, therefore not much traffic.  I was grateful.

Been off line for a while

In Port Aransas at county beach campground. I not been blogging regularly due to lack of internet in Big Bend, then driving to gulf coast, then finding our Mifi doesn't get reliable signal where we are camping. Sigh. I am now writing this with my iPhone so will keep it short.

We drove 500 miles to Lake Corpus Christi state park. First 300 miles SE through desert along the Texican border then east through ranch and then farm country to interstate then south to Gulf.

As we passed through pearsall, Texas, I noticed a sign that said this town produces 55,000,000 lbs per year of peanuts! Wow. That's a lot of shells. And I love peanuts and peanut butter.
We mailed some letters at the Pearsall post office and headed east out of town on a farm road. Speed limit 70 mph. On a farm road? Ok. The wild flowers in full bloom in the fields. We stopped to take this picture and the astral fragrance of the flowers hit us. Unlike anything I have experienced. Maybe this is one of the top Texas attractions.

As you may recall, we were dry camping in Big Bend so relying on our water tanks and batteries. It worked well and we found that with careful use of water and lights we lasted 7 days with only a 2 hour generator session to replenish house batteries. Of course it was moderate temps and we didn't have to run the heater or the AC.

But we did run short of water the last day of the drive so getting to the stare park allowed us to hook up and replenish water tanks and take a very long luxurious shower.

We had less than 100 miles to drive yesterday to our campsite in Port A as Locals call Port Aransas. More on that later. We arrived early at IB Magee county park. We had our choice of about 6 campsites so we drove around and decided on a spot. Good thing as it was Friday and the other campsites filled up by mid afternoon with weekend fishermen.

We headed off to tour the area. Sraddha had stayed in Port A 3 years ago do she showed me all her birding haunts. Last night was restful and quiet as the fishermen all went to bed early.

Today we are off to Farmers market for fresh veggies, etc and to shop for a few other things. I will be posting more regularly about current activities and will catch up on past.

Might be from iPhone. Yikes.