Valentine’s Day 2015, Time for Whooping Around

Our friends Mark and Shirley had invited us to join them for a Valentine’s Day of birding at The Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and of course we accepted. What else do you want to do on Valentine’s Day but to do something you love with each other and with friends?

It seemed like it took no time at all to reach the refuge, (Our friend Mark goes by the nickname AJ, after a famous race car driver, and Mark really did race cars at one time in his life). Upon our quick arrival at the refuge, we were somewhat shocked at how dry it was. Jones Lake had disappeared with only a field of weeds outlining the once full basin.

Hoping to get some bird images with our new camera we next went to the two viewing towers and were rewarded with four whooping cranes feeding on the land and in the water. It was a beautiful seventy degree day with light winds and so we took our time enjoying the bird’s eye view from the upper platform.

A turkey vulture flew overhead and I was quite happy with the image I was able to take, (this was with the 75-300 mm zoom). Moving to the lower tower brought us closer to the birds and we got some pretty good images even though we were quite a ways away.

After stopping for lunch AJ drove us to one of our favorite birding spots, the Heron Flats Trial.

Shirley explained her love for alligators, (not), and of course we were greeted with a nice eight footer sunning in the first pond. A pied bill grebe fed carefully near the lazing gator, keeping a wary eye out for any sudden movements.

Heading down the trail we passed pond after pond, all empty of the lazy reptiles. The only birds we saw were a few more grebes. The mosquitos swarmed down upon us and we decided we didn’t want to go into the forest canopy. Instead we retreated to the car along with the swarming dengue infected bloodsuckers.

Heading back to Lamar, I mentioned the whoopers having taken over several fields there. Happily upon arrival we were greeted with four whoopers feeding near the deer feeders, along with several dozen sand hill cranes. A flock of sand hill cranes took off, heading for another feeder and they were soon followed by two of the whooping cranes. Trying for another flying shot got great results, with good resolution for the two moving birds.

The sun was setting as Mark and Shirley dropped us off. It had been a great day, birding with friends and a special thank you to Mark and Shirley for inviting us along on their Valentines Days adventure! Clear skies and hope you had a Happy Valentine’s Day!