Day 12

When we stopped by the front gate office to add another night at Goose Island they told us that 10 Whooping Cranes and a couple of roseate spoon bills had been seen near “The Big Tree”. Since it is just a mile or so from the campground we decided to check it out. The Big Tree is a thousand year old Live Oak. It is well worth seeing by itself. There was a woman working there who said that the cranes were down by the pond, so we left the truck and walked the direction she had pointed and towards a group of vehicles and people. Although some of them thought they were seeing Whooping Cranes in the distance, we think they were mistaken. We drove slowly around a wet area across from St. Charles Bay and on the other side we saw another group of people. We went there and, sure enough, we found four Whooping Cranes in the field not far away. They are apparently drawn to the area by a cattle feeding station that throws corn out the bottom. It wasn’t as thrilling as seeing them truly in the wild, but it was good to see them so much closer. We left there and drove south, towards Padre Island. Just as we came off the causeway that is near the campground I saw a flash of pink to the right. We circled back and found a wading group that included a Great Blue Heron, a Great Egret and a Roseate Spoonbill. After taking plenty of pictures we continued south. We took the ferry at Aransas Pass and drove on to Mustang Island State Park. The park is situated right on the beach, with no trees or anything taller than the grass on the dunes. One can camp in the paved lot on the back side of the dunes or by pulling over anywhere along the beach. One of the roads was still flooded over but the woman at the gate told us that the other road had just opened 15 minutes before we got there. We drove to a mostly flooded parking lot and got out to walk up the beach. By then the sun was blazing in a brilliant blue sky and it was about 60°. (It is amazing what a completely sunny day can do to ones mood and outlook!) We walked along the beach as the tide receded, picking up shells and marveling that there were no other footsteps in the fine white sand. After sitting/laying in the sun for a while we decided to return to the truck and drive farther down the beach. We found a secluded spot and enjoyed our picnic lunch in the warm sun. After lounging a while longer we got back in the truck and drove about ten more miles south to Padre Island National Seashore. There is a modest visitor center there with a short video about the area. The most exciting thing about the Seashore is their successful efforts to save the gravely endangered Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtles. In 1978, it was feared that the Kemp’s Ridley would become extinct. Padre Island is now its primary nesting site and they have gone from identifying 42 nests along the Texas coast in 2004 to 197 in 2009, with 117 of those found at the National Seashore. We walked the beach for a ways, took their short Grasslands Nature Trail and, since it was 4:30 decided to head back to the campground. We stopped on the way at the Rockport Library to update the blog and check email. Arriving at the trailer about 7:00 we fixed chicken and couscous for dinner and fussed around the camper until bedtime.