Friday, February 7, 2025

Black drum

It’s been too long since I have written in the blog, (which is really my personal journal). It’s now time to catch up! Our jewelry and rock shows are about to start and my excuses for not writing are many. So, the first catch up blog is basically a fishing report. I have been fishing with my friend Dave who as usual out fished me in the catching department. We have concentrated on black drum, mostly with lots of small fish and an occasional keeper. Did I forget to mention oversize fish? Both the red and black drums have slot limits. For the black drum the fish must be at least fourteen inches and with a maximum size of thirty inches. All others must be released, (unless you catch a black drum over fifty-four inches which is not going to happen). The huge black drum are the spawners. They are tremendous fighters and difficult to get in the boat. Their bite starts as a few taps and then they run. Twice this year Dave and I have both been spooled. That means that the fish decides to head out for Gulf of Mexico and takes all the line off your reel. Yup all the line! Tightening the drag, already set, causes the knot or line to brake, (which is a good way to release the fish as the hook quickly rust out) Another tactic of the fish is too head for the nearest barnacle covered object. When the fish gets around it the line is quickly cut by the razor-sharp edges. Sometimes I use reels with fifty-pound braid, with the same result! The largest we boated this year was the one first pictured, a black drum that measured forty-six inches, (estimated at forty-nine pounds, with the world record being over one hundred and thirteen pounds).
My largest this year was thirty-seven inches and the one pictured is thirty-two inches and all were safely released.The one in the cooler is twenty seven inches and tasted great!
Did I say that they are one of my favorite fish to eat? The pictures speak for themselves, Clear skies, and tight lines!

Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Wading Whooping Cranes at Lamar

Pam and Roy joined us for a birding trip to Lamar. Its only seven miles from our Blue Lagoons Rv Park, and so after crossing the Copano Bay Bridge we turned right and drove to St Charles Bay. The water was extremely low as a strong cold front, with high winds blew the water out. The tides are very small here, so the Coastal Winds and offshore storms are the determiner of the water levels. Reaching Eight Street we spotted three Whooping Cranes wading and feeding on objects in the water.
Renita got a picture of the family group and on the right, the young Whooper had a small crab in its beak. Bluer crabs are a great food along with fish and other seafood.
As we watched they dipped their beaks but did not catch any large blue crabs, (it is amazing watching them using their beaks to easily open a large crab). It has been verified that a Whooping Crane killed a feral hog by driving its beak into its skull!
The birds started wading further out and the male turned as if to say hurry up! We decided to leave the magnificent birds alone, (they are five feet tall) and drove further along the road. Turning the corner near Big Tree an American Kestrel perched on a Palm Tree Branch.
Its feathers were ruffed up and it had turned its back to the wind. Parking at Big Tree, located on twelfth street, we walked around the tree watching for other birds, but we didn’t spot any.
I got a picture of Renita and Pam looking at the tree and you can see they are bundled up!
As we drove back along the beachfront two American White Pelicans flew over head and we both got good pics.
A little further and a flock of Sandhill Cranes fed and a flock of seven Whooping Cranes flew across the sky.
We love taking photos of flying birds and of course to get pictures of the endangered Whooping Cranes is always a special treat!

Wednesday, January 1, 2025

Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Texas 12/27/2024

We had not yet gone to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, so we invited Dan and Barb. Packing our our picnic lunch we headed there, looking for a day of birding, alligators, and perhaps a snake or armadillo. It’s a short drive, about 45 minutes, to the refuge which was established to protect the few remaining Whooping Cranes. Their numbers had plummeted to only twenty nine and the Whooping Cranes seemed to be headed for extinction, However, enacting protections, the numbers have slowly rose in the past century and today there are over eight hundred of the tall beautiful birds.
Now there are often whoopers on the Heron Flats Trail or visible from the Observation Tower and so those were the first two places we birded. The Heron Flats Trail is about one and a half miles in length. Walking the trail, you must be aware of both the alligators that cross the hike and be on the lookout for poisonous snakes, (besides being covered for the mosquitoes)!
The small observation platform gave us our first look at the flats, and Barb and Dan spotted either a Virginia Rail or a King Rail. The two birds are very similar in looks, but they were both new birds for their life list and so they added the King Rail. It would also have been a new bird for us but we were both taking pictures of other birds and never saw the rail before it disappeared into the brush.
Hiking down the trail we passed a flock of rosette spoonbills, numerous Great Blue Herons, (some white), and watched a pair of acrobatic Royal terns swooping down on surfacing minnows.
At one point a flock of Greater Kiskadees landed in a bush me and I got a great image!
We were all surprised that there was only one alligator on the brackish ponds and the only other birds we saw were pied billed grebes, Several Eastern Phoebes posed for pictures along with the ever present Northern Mockingbirds. Our next drive was to the Observation Towers, The tallest tower, has a great view of the waterways and brush covered mud flats. Usually three whooper’s, a family unit, are visible but all we saw were great white herons,
Black vultures, and Eastern Flycatchers. A metal post stood in the saltwater marsh and a Belted Kingfisher scanned the water before diving from its raised platform and making a fast meal of the rising baitfish. Three beautiful and brightly colored orange mushrooms had grown in a small area surrounded by the parking lot. I took a picture of them but didn’t touch them aware that many of the bright fungi were poisonous.
From the parking lot we turned onto the Eleven Mile Road. At one point we did spot a Golden Fronted Woodpecker which perched long enough for ne to get a focused picture. A little further several cars were stopped and the people had cameras and tripods set up!
It was the place where a Bald Eagle Pair had in past years, unsuccessfully nested and this year the male bird had returned! It was perched high on a dead branch of a towering Live Oak. Preening, it would stop and look at the eerie but we could not see if a female was sitting on eggs, One can hope for a successful hatch and rearing of young.
It has been over forty years since a pair had a successful rearing of eaglets on the refuge. We didn’t see much else on the drive as everything is parched from the prolonged drought, (we are on stage three water conditions as the local reservoirs are below twenty percent full). Reaching the main road we made our final stop at Jones Lake. Two alligators were sunning themselves and several Buffalohead ducks tempted fate by swimming near the large gators. A bobcat had been spotted that morning but didn’t appear.
On the way out, Barb spotted an armadillo! It was the first live one we have seen since we arrived in Texas. The armadillos are supposed to taste like pork but they do carry leprosy. Luckily, we don’t carry the genes that make some people susceptible. Even though we did not spot any whooping cranes, it was a successful day of birding with friends, Babr and Dan have almost as many birds on their life list and Dan is a better photographer that I am so I always try to learn some of his techniques! Clear skies and Happy New Year!

Saturday, December 14, 2024

A Clapper Rail, Kite Surfing at Port Aransas, and lots of Dolphins

After lots of pictures of the Flamingo, another birder told us about the two clapper rails. He had spotted them earlier and if we could see one it would be a new life bird! As he was talking the clapper rail walked out from under the boardwalk and put on quite a show.
The low tide had concentrated the fish and crabs in a very small tidal pool. The birds were having a feast, and the clapper rail was enjoying the smorgasbord. At one point we watched as it waded into the shallow pool and caught a small blue crab!
It carried the crab onto the mud flat, dropped it, and then proceeded to kill it before finishing off a fresh blue crab feast. We also watched as the snowy egrets, a little blue heron, black necked stilts, and even the grackles were gobbling up small minnows.
After our own lunch we went to the beach front and watched as three kite surfers enjoyed the strong winds and launched themselves high into the air. I asked if Renita would like a kite, harness and surfboard for Christmas, but she responded by wondering aloud if I was trying to get rid of her. It looked like so much fun and we are only seventy-three, what could go wrong?
Our last stop was at Browne Point where a pod of dolphins was eating their lunch and enjoying the day as dolphins always seem to do. Renita and several others were taking pictures with their cell phones. It was too cold and windy for me and I stayed put in the car, taking a picture of the sand sculture wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. It was a good end to the busy day. Clear skies

Saturday, December 7, 2024

Another American Flamingo at Port Aransas

We hadn’t been to Port Aransas since last spring. It is one of our favorite places to bird. Having heard that an American flamingo was present, Renita looked it up and read that the three flamingos from last winter had left shortly after we headed north.
Then a single American flamingo appeared and took up residence at the Leorna Turnbill wetlands, (near the sewage waste plant). So, we headed across the ferry to Port Aransas hoping it was still there. There were two cars with us, Dave, Jane, Betty were in their white Ford truckalso drove along and Barb and Dan in their bright red jeep.
When we arrived, we walked to the start of the boardwalk, I immediately looked for a clapper rail. It’s common there but we had never spotted it, The clapper rail feeds and then hides out in the thick swamp vegetation. Not seeing it Renita spotted the flamingo, (I have such tunnel vision that I hadn’t noticed the large pink bird! It was as close as we have ever been to one and so all thoughts of the clapper rail disappeared, it was flamingo picture time.
The bird was almost surrounded by a flock of American White Pelicans, and they seemed to shun the bright pink bird. As it feed they moved in mass away from it. The flamingo fed by extending its long neck so that its head was in the water and then moving it back and forth in the soft mud.
It. flew to the other side of the marsh and rested for a bit, so we turned around, walked back to a busy flock of feeding birds and looked for a clapper rail. Another photographer told us it had just disappeared below the boardwalk and sure enough it graced us with its presence. But that is for another post! Meanwhile the flamingo decided it was still hungry and flew back to the waiting group of fellow birders. Turning back to it we both took more pictures and watched as it moved across the exposed mud flat. It again put its head into the water, and we decided to leave and meet at our favorite Mexican restaurant in Port Aransas. A flock of roseate spoonbills joined the feeding frenzy and Renita was able to take pictures of the flamingo and roseates in the same frame!
Another birding enthusiast later remarked that the day was just like an early Christmas, and we all agreed! Clear skies

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Oyster Boats in Aransas Bay

The Oyster boats are out in force in Aransas Bay! We decided to check out the Fishing at Goose Island State Park and as we crossed the Copano Bay Bridge, we counted thirty-one boats. Each boat drags a small metal cage which scrapes up the oysters off their oyster bed.
The boats turn in hard circles and every so often lift the cage and dump it on the working table. There the deck hands pick up the oysters and chop off, (using a small hatchet), old shells along with any under sized oysters. These are returned to the sea. If a boat is caught with over twenty percent of undersize oysters the boat has to dump all their sacks of oysters into the sea, is given a large fine, along with fines for the deck hands.
The oystering was closed for two years due to the overharvest that took place and has just recently been reopened.
Let’s hope that this does not happen again!
Once in the park we drove to the fishing pier and were surprised to see how close the boats were to the pier’s end. We have never seen them this close before. In one of the pictures, you can see a colored flag attached to a piece of PVC pipe stuck in the oyster bar. Before I took the picture there were ten more boats but all but three soon left. In another of the pictures you can zoom in and see lots of boats in the distance. WE look forward to holding an oyster Happy Hour this winter! Clear skies and Happy Thanksgiving

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

War Birds over South Texas Air Show, Rockport, Texas November 2024

We are near the airport, in Fulton, Texas, and so we get a lot of airplanes flying over. The local newspaper had reported that the air show, War Birds over South Texas was on for three days and we started to see biplanes, several bombers including a B25, and many other vintage planes. S
ome were quiet but the sound of the B25 shook the ground as it thundered over us! Saturday morning Renita and I went to the airport to take pictures of the many different planes, most being flown and maintained by the Commemorative Air Force, (formerly the Confederate Air Force). My main interest was in the plane Named the Southern Cross.
It is a WWII C47 that was one of the pathfinder planes that led the 101st Airborne to Normandy on D Day.
Another plane one named the Devil Dog, a B25 bomber flew by the Marines on raids against Japanese shipping, and a Dauntless SBD Dive bomber.
There were so many planes and so much history, including Chuck Yagers P51 Mustang, which was painted with thirteen kills.
We loved the colors of the five Biplanes and at one point the air show conducted a mass fly out where plane after plane took off. The last planes to take off were four of them. It helped me to picture what must have been like to see a flight of biplanes leaving their base during World War 1.
Rides were available in many of the planes, a Navy Transport advertized fly like an admiral and cost seven hundred and fifty for a family of five.
While I probably would have enjoyed it, the sound inside the airplanes probably would have finished off whatever hearing I still have left. We also have a rule that we should not fly in a plane that is older than we are! This is the second Fly in we have seen here in South Texas and definitely the the most historic Warbirds. It fit in well with our previous post of Sea Wolf Park! Clear skies