It had been a couple of weeks since we had last gone to Lamar to see the whooping cranes, so we grabbed the cameras and crossed the Copano Bay Bridge. Driving along the St Charles Bay Road we saw cars along Eighth Street and that’s a great sign. The Whoopers had arrived for lunch and so we stopped and counted twelve birds.
Four others were flying away, bringing our total count to sixteen of the magnificent, endangered cranes.
The bird lined up. They were waiting for the feeder to start dispensing corn, and it looked like a bunch of snowbirds in our Recreation Hall! The birds do have a pecking order and the dominant whoopers are always first.
Some sandhills cranes were also waiting nearby and being smaller they wait patiently for the whoopers to allow them to also feed on the free handouts. In addition, a flock of rock doves, pigeons, flew in to wait for their turn.
Meanwhile a large flock of Rosette Spoonbills napped in the warm sun.
The one thing we have not seen this year is the huge alligator that sunned itself in the backyard of a nearby beach house. Perhaps the reptile had been moved or more likely harvested. I certainly would not like such a large cold-blooded predator living in my backyard.
The Texas flock now numbers over five hundred birds. It’s a success story as the flock at one time it only numbered sixteen. The count was only twenty nine in the entire world. Hats off to all who saved the beautiful birds!
Clear skies
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