Port Aransas Whooping Cranes, A Family Group, February

For the past several years, a pair of whooping cranes had spent the winter in Port Aransas You could usually see them at Leorna the Turnbill Birding Center. Despite three trips to Port Aransas we had not yet seen the pair.

Having a new camera lens, we made another trip in the hopes of seeing the cranes, or at least getting some more good shots of the birds at the center. We also planned to drive to Paradise Pond and Charley’s Pasture. We first went to Leorna Turnbill and the sun was right for some great images.

Arriving at The Turnbill Center, we had just left the parking lot when a yellow-rumped warbler posed on a reed.

A little further and we saw that the huge alligator was sunning itself in the shallow water and of course the usual ducks,

American white seagulls

, snowy egrets

, a reddish egret, ( a really long way away),

and all were in their customary places.

The sea gulls were gathering rock/feeding in one place and I managed to catch one with a rock(?) between its beaks.

Five black necked stills stood in shallow and still water and allowed me to catch them with their reflection.

A flock of avocets was also present, (still in their winter plumage),

and in the distance a reddish egret stood tall.

A tricolor heron, also know as a Louisiana heron, preened nearby.

Our next stop was at Paradise Pond.

Several years ago, a housing subdivision started construction next to the small birding spot and really damaged its effectiveness, but trees were replanted, and slowly the spot is returning to its former haven.

The bird of note, to us was a rough-legged shrike. The shrikes are known to impale food on thorns or barb wire fences, (grasshoppers for example).

From there we drove to Charles Pasture.

It is a large open area of reeds and bushes with bays flooded during the highest tides. It also has areas of fresh water. Arriving at the large-covered pavilion a cara cara   perched on a small shelter.

As we watched a juvenile whooping crane appeared! It was quite a distance away and the only reason I could take an image was due to our new lens.

As the parents followed the youngster into the opening where they all fed for a bit before flying across the bay to another brush covered area.

Now however the birds were not only visible to us but also to the birders a Leorna Turnbill. They continued to walk across the area and disappeared near some new houses. Renita and I ate our lunches and the birds later reappeared but this time heading back.

As we walked back to the car, a kestrel was hunting but the sun was in the wrong place for us to get any decent shots. On our drive back to Rockport, we talked about how relieved we were to see the whoopers of Port Aransas and to see that they now had a juvenile, (note the brown splotches). Clear skies