A not very friendly Cottonmouth, birding at the Aransas Wildlife Refuge

We had already had a great day at the Aransas National Wildlife Reserve! A family group of whooping cranes were close to the road at Heron Flats, along with another flock of five about a mile east on the same flat. Now we were driving on the Nine Mile one-way road when I noticed something in the middle of the road. I yelled snake and Renita stopped the car.

It had already been a great day of birding at the refuge. The family group of whooping cranes had posed for pictures and was the closest we had ever been at the refuge.

Usually, the whoopers are far away as each family stakes out a one-and-a-half-mile territory, which they strongly defend! Our next stop was at the Tower and the marsh was empty of whooping cranes. Walking the Oak Forest Trail is usually a good place to take photos of various egrets and herons along with other shorebirds.

As we watched a American Kestrel hunted for its lunch and I got a great short as it hovered oved the marsh. It dove and took something back to its perch, but we could not see what it had caught.

On the bay, a great blue heron landed, and an American White pelican flew over my head.

Willets fed in the shallow water and a Marbled Godwit got close enough for a picture.

As we drove over it Renita parked the car so we could identify the road killed serpent. Walking back, we all noticed that the head had moved and that the snake was alive. It had been sunning itself by warming up on the road. The snake had a triangle shaped head and did not like our presence.

It opened its mouth and showed its fangs and white cotton colored mouth/throat. It also had a cat’s eye pupil which always indicates a poisonous snake. Of course, it was a cotton mouth! They are known for being aggressive, but this snake just wanted to escape. It rattled its tail mimicking a rattlesnake, even though it did not have any rattles. Continuing to open its mouth it struck Dan, but he was too far away for it to hit, he has owned snakes before and knows to keep clear. Barb and Renita joined us in watching the beautiful snake as it crawled toward the roadside ditch. Stopping there, it tried to hide in the short grass and its camouflage was pretty good, but it still stood out.

If we hadn’t known it was there, it would have been easy to miss the reptile and step on it. We left the snake unharmed; they do have an important place it the ecosystem and make up one of the menu items for whooping cranes. The wind came up during lunch and it kept the mosquitos at bay as we ate at the picnic area. Now usually we walk the one plus mile of the Heron Flats trail. But today was not a good day as the mosquitoes were swarming and when we reached a sheltered area I got bitten even through the heavy shirt I was wearing. My lotion had worn off and it was time to turn around. Usually, we see quite a few alligators but today there was only one.

It was resting on a log on the bay side of the trail. We have never seen one on that side, so it was another first for the day. From now on we must be leery of gators lurking on either side. It was another fun day at the Aransas Wildlife Refuge. The birds had posed nicely, and we even got a new bird for our life list.

It was a Savannah Sparrow. Many of the sparrows are hard to identify but I got a great picture and was able to id it with our bird book. Clear skies