Day 16 - An Anniversary With Three Life Birds And More Comfortable Beach Camping

It was a fine morning when we awoke at Goos Island State Park. We had originally thought that we would stay for a couple of days, but with the lack of canopy and birds we decided to move on. After a fairly quick loop through the various feeder sanctuaries in the campground (16 species), we said farewell to Goos Island, hoping that its woods recover in the next few years.

Our destination today was Corpus Christi, a few days earlier than anticipated, but there had been a sighting of a Northern Jacana at the botanical gardens there. It is a Mexican bird that rarely comes this far north, true rarity in the United States. The nearest other recent sightings are in the Yucatan and Guadalajara Mexico, over 700 miles away.

We drove through Rockport and Port Aransas on the way. They are towns that were right in the path of Hurricane Harvey last September and were both badly damaged. We used to shop in Rockport when we were at Aransas NWR. Aransas seemed in better shape. All on the big businesses like Walmart, H-E-B, Ace Hardware and other national chains looked like they have been rebuilt with new cladding and signage, probably the backing of big corporate funding and good insurance. Some of the smaller older businesses back for the main road were still out of commission.

Port Aransas seemed a bit further behind in its recovery. There were still many businesses and building under construction. We made a couple of birding stops while in Port Aransas and in talking to a local birder, it seems that Port Aransas had a much bigger storm surge than Rockport and the damage near the shore was worse. One of our favorite birding spots there, the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center, which had a long boardwalk out into a shallow lake and marsh was still wiped out with the boardwalk and observation towers gone.

After that, it was on to the South Texas Botanical Gardens, which also happens to be the site of the Birdiest Festival next weekend. We are attending two days of it. It was mid-afternoon when we arrived sporting our binoculars. The women at the entrance jokingly asked if we were here to see there latest bird. We were...and they pointed us in the direction of their lake.

The Jacana was easy to find, just look for the nearest photographer with a giant lens. The bird was easy to spot in a section of marsh that it seems to have made a home in. It looks like a big, long-legged, more colorful gallinule, although it is in a family of its own. It was standing in plain sight, practically standing on top of the water with its enormously long toes. We got some great looks and had a couple of Sora appear as a extra benefit. If the Jacana stays around until the weekend, he will be the hit of the festival.

We continued birding the lake, which was filled with shorebirds, waders and ducks. We actually had two more life birds, although more common than the Jacana, Hudsonian Godwit and Stilt Sandpiper.

After a couple of hours at the botanical garden, we continued on to Padre Island national Seashore, fetching up at the Bird Island Basin campground. It is on the bay side on the beach and is incredibly inexpensive, $2.50/night for us seniors. It is a a windsurfing area and the sites, which back up to the beach all in a row (more like parking spaces), were filled with vans full of surfboards and small trailers. Lots of Pro-Master van life conversions.

Speedy At Bird Island Basin

Even the camp host is a windsurfer. He got the job after spending four months here one spring before the Park Rangers noticed and asked him to leave. They did, however, suggest that he might apply as the camp host and stay all season...so he did and got it.

It is currently blowing about 20 mph and the forecast is for more of the same overnight and tomorrow. The windsurfers will be out in droves.

Did I mention that it is our 36th Anniversary today...and we are in a great spot to celebrate it.