On the Road: West Columbia, Texas to Bishop, Texas

Sunshine, blue skies and temperatures in the low 60s this Sunday morning in eastern Texas. I headed for Aranasas NWR, but stopped several times to look at hawks which are perched at least once every five miles. I even pulled off on a country road to go through the bird guide and take a few notes on the 3 or 4 species that are unfamilar to me. Today, I still kept seeing Red-tails, a couple of Northern Harriers and a Red-shouldered.

The speciality of Aransas is the wintering Whooping Cranes which migrate back to Wood Buffalo Provincial Park in northern Canada to breed. In 1942 when I was born, there were only 21 wild whooping cranes left (and 2 in captivity) due to habitat degradation and hunting. Today there are about 450, which is still a small number so people come from all over to see them at this refuge. I saw four almost immediately on what is called Heron Flats and then three more from the brand new observation tower (opened just 2 days ago). I walked up the tower ramp first with just binocs, but then went back to the car and got my scope as no one else had one up there. It was fun to let people look at them through the scope as the cranes were at least 1/2 mile away. Even with the scope there was a bit of shimmer.

I got another life bird but it was a humbling experience. A couple from Torch Lake, Michigan, and another gentleman who lives locally near the refuge were commenting on two herons flocking around in the marsh below, closer to the tower. After looking at both, MY stated opinion was that the smaller heron was a Little Blue and the larger a Great Blue. I was not equivocal about this, not bragging, but not hesitating either. One of those senior citizen volunteer couples showed up while there was still ongoing discussion about the herons, especially as the larger one was exhibiting some odd behaviors, and the volunteer woman pretty much said the larger heron was a Reddish Egret, which truthfully I hadn't even considered, having never seen one. So we all looked carefully again and I could see that it must have been a Reddish Egret. It was much less flashy than the guidebooks and also larger than I thought they were, but I finally did see some reddish plumes lift in the breeze. So it goes. She did confirm the Little Blue Heron though. One gentleman corrected the ID of someone else re a very distant Large Egret / Whooping Crane. I had privately sided with the Large Egret ID but decided I had said enough for the day.

A Red-shouldered Hawk flew by at eye level. There were a couple of Roseate Spoonbills and some White Pelicans but no birds in any great numbers like at Ding Darling, except for Northern Mockingbirds which were everywhere, both here and along the highways. There were several short trails, and I walked two of them but only saw big basking alligators and a couple of armadillos. I wanted to see rails (there even was a Rail Trail) but no luck.

I debated whether to do another ferry ride from Aransas Pass to Mustang Island (which is off the north end of Padre Island) but it was too late in the day, so I drove through Corpus Cristi and south to Bishop. Ate at the Jalisco, a Mexican restaurant near the motel. This was a small local place with Hispanic clientele and wait staff. One older Hispanic gentleman looked like Antony Quinn. I don't mean this in any way as elitest or patronizing but I like being on the fringes of other cultures, even in small ways like this. I ordered just one burrito which was tasty in a comfort food way as it had a lot of diced beef, including some very crispy pieces, with gravy over the top rather than any melted cheese and/or red sauce or even the spices I've come to associate with Mexican food. Is this more authentic? Am I only familar with Tex-Mex? Had a pina colada ice cream bar for dessert.