JANUARY - MARCH 2014

THE SLABS, ARIZONA, NEW MEXICO and TEXAS

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TRAVELOGUE #6

February 7 - February 10, 2014 - More Texas: Padre Island and the Gulf

When I left Laredo, and headed south along the Rio Grande to south Texas, I ran into some really cold, windy weather so I holed up in Mission TX for a few days for the weather to get better. Finally made it to Padre Island. It was still cold and foggy and very breezy, but the bad winds had passed. This was not the optimal time to be there as the spring migration had not yet begun. But still it was a fascinating area.

I camped two nights in South Padre Island at a state park at the very south tip of the island. I visited several bird sanctuaries and drove up the island as far as the road went. Once you passed the city, it was pretty desolate for miles, then there was a resort - with horseback riding and everything! The road ended just a little way past it. I can't imagine people going that far, but maybe it's popular in the summer! I went back across the causeway to the mainland and headed north to Corpus Christi and crossed over to North Padre Island and north from there to Mustang Island. By this time, it was getting really foggy. There was a state park on Mustang Island. You can see below, that as the fog rolled in I could barely see the RV's on the other side of the road from me. The next day, I drove to the north end of Mustang Island to the town of Port Arkansas. There was a ferry that went to Harbor Island . Very small, frequent ferries (they left about every 10 minutes), free. Very different from WA state ferries. There was a bridge from Harbor Island back to the mainland.

These are Laughing Gulls - seen on Padre Island in huge flocks. This was the view from my window.

I was right next to the marina and had an unobstructed view.

Kelley, this one's for you!

The wind ruffled this heron's top feathers. I think he looks really cold!

The city (town?) of South Padre Island. The large buildings are hotels.

View from the top of the tower at the bird sanctuary.

Osprey with fish. I watched him fly in with the fish. A little later, a second osprey flew in with a fish of its own. Probably a mating pair.

I think this was called a red-necked heron (further research says this is a reddish egret). He was amazing to watch. He ran around in the shallows picking up fish to eat. He was always active, not like the great blue heron who waits in one spot for prey to come to him.

Redhead ducks with heron standing by.

Common Gallinule

Great blue heron blending with the grass

Belted kingfisher - so common in our area too

American coot

These two attracted my attention by their squawking. The egret was chasing the heron!

 

Snowy egret

Great egret

On the beach

Royal terns (could be Elegant terns)

They let cars drive on the beach. The view fades in the distant fog.

This was the road going north on Padre Island. In many places, the dunes had blown over the road and not been cleared.

I laughed when i saw this sign. There are no buildings anywhere in either direction for miles. $495K? Really? Talk about hopeful! Actually, I hope they never develop this long stretch of beach. It's wonderful in its wild state.

Heading back into civilization, South Padre Island...

This photo shows the causeway that connects south Padre Island with Port Isabel.

The south end of the island, in the state park.

There was a huge flock of laughing gulls on the beach. Only later did I notice the man in the surf. It was cold and windy, so he was a hardy soul.

Driving back across the causeway to Port Isabel

Camping in the fog on Mustang Island.

I scared 'em.

These little guys were just trying to keep warm. Notice that the two on the ends are also standing on just one foot - the other one is tucked up.

Happy dog

There were a lot of folks fishing. Didn't see much catching.

I was less than 60' from the RV when I took this...

This is the boardwalk into a smaller bird sanctuary on Harbor Island.

White pelicans (above) and brown pelicans (below). I didn't capture a photo, but when you see them side by side the white pelicans are significantly bigger than the brown ones.

 

 

Two Northern Shovelers - male (front) and female. I tried taking dozens of photos of them trying to get them with their heads out of the water. They are serious dabblers!

These two brown pelicans fished as a pair. I watched them over and over fly up, go a short distance, then dive for fish, in tandem. I'm not sure if this is a male/female thing or just friends...

 

Top: Northern shoveler, bottom: probably a green winged teal.
Middle: I'm not sure...

Same green winged teal.

Northern shoveler. How does he get his leg up there???

Roseate Spoonbill and friends

A cousin to our Islander? On Harbor Island...

You can see one of the ferries straight ahead. See how small they are? I was too big to fit on the ferry that was loading when I drove up, so they put me on first on the next ferry so I had a great view. I only waited a few minutes.

The ferries are open and there's no passenger cabin because the crossings only take 10 minutes.

I counted 5 slips available for docking on the far side.