A Day at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, March 2014

You really have to see the low water to appreciate the severity of the drought here. Ponds that usually hold water are completely dry and the ones that do have water are the lowest levels we have ever seen. Of course the wildlife follows the water and so alligators are scarce, compared to years past.

We hadn’t visited the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge this year and so with a weather forecast of forty miles per hour gusts we loaded into Pam and Roys car and headed out for some high wind birding.

It wasn’t the best of conditions but we hoped to see a few whooping cranes along with the usual plethora of alligators. Upon arriving at the refuge, our first surprise was that the visitor center was closed Monday through Wednesday and that wasn’t the only thing closed. A list of closures included a bridge on the Heron Trail, the walkway out to the water’s edge near the observation platform, and Hog bayou.

As we drove out to the observation towers we first stopped to bird at Jones Lake. There the water has receded to a very small pond and the top of one alligator’s back barely emerged from the shallow pond. We did spot a kestrel, which is fairly common bird, but it did exhibit its beautiful breeding plumage.

Everything is so dry here that as we parked at the observation tower the only greenery was the new growth of leaves on the coastal oaks. Upon climbing the tower we looked to the usual distant places but the whoopers instead were really close. Another birder had told us that the cranes had really spread out searching for food.

After driving the eleven mile road we stopped for lunch at the picnic area before hiking the Heron Flats trail. Another whooper surprise greeted us as there were two wading alongside the road searching for crustaceans, again in a place where we have never seen them.

A large gator greeted us as we started down the trail but we didn’t see any more until we neared a pond alongside the road. There several were quite close to the trail and seemed to pose for images. I was uncomfortable with how close they were to us and was glad when the picture taking was over.

One final gator stop was near the visitor center and our yearly visit was done. The wind had calmed a little bit and Renita was driving so it was a nice relaxing journey back home. While the birding hadn’t been great we did see six whooping cranes and that’s pretty good for the ANWR. Hopefully they have found enough food to fatten up for the long flight north. Clear skies