I recently had the wonderful opportunity to visit Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, which is a place I had been to maybe 4 decades ago. This trip I took a boat tour of Aransas Bay and San Antonio Bay with Aransas Bay Birding Charters, which sails from near Rockport , TX. A boat tour is really the only way to see Whooping Cranes, which was my primary goal for this trip – this species was a “lifer” for me. Whooping Cranes are an endangered species, and most individuals overwinter at ANWR. We saw plenty of Whooping Cranes – pairs and the occasional family, which consists of a pair with an adult-sized chick. There was one point at which we could see three pairs and one family from the same vantage point. These birds are territorial even in the winter, but their territories are not very big.
During the boat tour we saw lots of other bird species, and I got decent photographs of some of them. Here is a series of Whooping Crane photos:
I also saw American Oystercatchers, which I think is another lifer.
And Black Skimmers, which is unusual in that it is the only bird species with the lower bill longer than the upper bill. Another lifer.
There were plenty of American White Pelicans and Double Crested Cormorants.
I got a good photo of the American White Pelican in flight.
And of the Brown Pelican.
More bird photos later.
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