In the 1940's there were less than two dozen whooping cranes left in the world. There are now more than 600, and the best place to see them is Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas.
Rockport Birding and Kayak Adventures runs boat tours to get close views of these endangered birds. I was on the 8:00 trip and we were scheduled to come back at 11:00. As the boat cruised into the fog enshrouded Aransas Bay it suddenly occurred to me that we were all on a three hour tour, a three hour tour! (Cue up the Gilligan's Island theme song). Fortunately we did not get stuck on a desert island for five years with a professor who could make a radio out of a coconut, but couldn't patch a hole in a boat. We did however, spend the morning in a thick fog. The captain kept us out an extra hour in hopes that the fog would burn off, but it did not.
It is sometimes possible to see the cranes without going on a boat, but not today. I'm glad I was on board to see the cranes in the mist and a few other birds.
Today's final count: nine new species for a total of 126.
I spent the afternoon driving to Rio Grande City to be close to tomorrow morning's target bird. Do you want to know how to keep someone in suspense? I'll tell you tomorrow.
Typical Whooping crane family: two adults, and a youngster
Young crane (colt) with its head up
Great Blue Heron welcoming us back to the dock
Our boat, The Skimmer
A young red-tailed hawk, one of many hawks seen on the drive to Rio Grande City
Way to leave us in suspense, Dad! It's been 2.5 days. ; )
Other readers, he's fine. He just hasn't had wifi for the last couple nights since he was in a remote area. He got his target bird for Jan. 9, but I don't know what it was yet, so we are all left in suspense.
-Karen O'Keefe