Corpus Christi - Aransas Area

Texas is a big state. Texan's like to tell you that its the largest state, but Alaskans take exception to that. In fact, if you cut Alaska into 3 pieces, Texas is still only the 4th largest state. All of that being said, Texas is still a big state. We drove for hours to get to some of the places that you have been reading about but somehow it doesn't seem that far when you look at the map. I guess it's all relative. For instance, it took us 2.5 hours to get to Blucher Park. We left there and went out onto the barrier islands - Padre to the south and Mustang to the north of the bridge. We saw some usual suspects like this Black-bellied Plover along the back bay.

Black-bellied Plover - Texas

We also saw some not-so-usual birds - another target species for me - the Franklin's Gull. I had no idea that we would see them in flocks. I kind of expected one here and one there. But they were very obvious in flight. They look almost exactly like our Laughing Gulls only they have different wing pattern at the tip and they also look pinkish when you see them flying. Check it out.

Franklin's Gulls - Texas

 This is a good comparison shot for those who care. The Franklin's Gull is closest and farthest. The Laughing Gull in the one over to the right. Can you tell the difference?

Franklin's and Laughing Gulls - Texas

We went out to the coast hoping for some shorebirds or other gulls but all we saw was wind and whitecaps.

Windy Beach - Padre Island

Thanks goodness the park rangers came along. They told us to go to Port Aransas for lunch and take the Ferry over to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. Here we are at Virginia's Bar and Grill where we had lunch. It was terrific.

Bird Nerds at lunch

This is the FREE ferry! It took all of 5 minutes to get to the other side. We have no idea why they don't just build a bridge.

Ferry Ride

Aransas NWR was a bust. We were hoping for Whooping Cranes but we didn't see any. The sign at the Visitor Center told the tale - they leave in Mid April. We were there on April 15th. Sigh. We were delightfully surprised to see Upland Sandpipers along the road into the park. In fact, we counted 16 of them. It was difficult to get a good shot since they would fly away if we got out of the car. They are unmistakable to identify since they are one of the very few shorebirds that is found in grassy fields. Birders call them "Uppies".They are rare in our area as they prefer open grasslands. Lakehurst Naval Airstation in NJ is the closest place to see them.

Upland Sandpiper - Aransas Texas

Of course, you can't throw a stone in South Texas without hitting a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. They were everywhere along our drive. I can't help but snap photos of them.

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

After the Whooping Cranes leave, Aransas is kind of empty. We climbed the observation tower anyway. We asked a lady to take our photo. She added her thumb to the top left corner. . .

Bird Nerds - observing nothing

We got a few species to add to the Texas list - Least Bittern and Sora - both calling from the Alligator Pond. It was a long drive back to San Antonio.

Now Entering the Jump Circle

The trip was originally planned for today which I couldn't make but was rescheduled to yesterday - hooray.  I had to send a copy of my driver's license and car registration and swear that I was a U.S. citizen to even be allowed on the trip. We had to meet the Conservation Officer at 0700 (that's 7 AM) outside of the base.  We carpooled to reduce the amount of traffic through the checkpoint.  We remembered the Hindenburg disaster. Then, we entered the "Jump Circle".

What am I talking about?  The DVOC birding trip to Lakehurst Naval Air Station to see Upland Sandpipers, of course.  Each year, Upland Sandpipers nest in the Jump Circle at Lakehurst because it is one of the only places in NJ that has an expanse of low cropped fields which is the perfect habitat.  The only reason that this exists in the middle of the Pine Barrens, is because the military keeps it mowed for parachute jumpers to practice.  After all, you wouldn't want the paratroopers to land on pine trees.

If you are old enough, you may have heard the famously chilling radio account of the Hindenburg disaster.  You have probably seen the 8mm film footage of the disaster no matter how old you are.  Well, guess where that happened?  Yep, Lakehurst Naval Air Base.  Here is a link to more information www.airships.net/hindenburg/disaster .  Here is a photo that I took of the hangar that housed the giant airship. The hangar is enormous.

Once we made it to the Jump Circle, we basically got out of the cars and started looking for our target grassland birds.  We were immediately met with flying, singing Upland Sandpipers.  These are shorebirds that never see the shore and don't act like shorebirds at all.  They soar like hawks and live like songbirds for the most part.  The weather was very overcast, so I didn't get a very good photo of any of the "Uppies", which is what the other group members kept calling them.

 Upland Sandpiper in flight - terrible photo

Click here to hear the call. It sounds like a construction worker whistling at a pretty girl walking past.  Honestly.  www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Upland_Sandpiper/sounds

Once the Uppies settled down, the star of the show became this Grasshopper Sparrow who refused to quit singing from this stem despite the wind:

 Grasshopper Sparrow close-up

Singing away

Wind blown from behind. We were all surprised to see yellow on the wings which does not appear in the field guide.

This is the basic habitat that attracts the Upland Sandpiper, Grasshopper Sparrow, Horned Lark and Meadowlark which we also saw on yesterday's trip.  Pretty barren, but they all seem to like it.

Still singing!

Dismissed!