March 12, 2024

Whooping Crane Boat Tour

March 12, 2024/ Gwen Morrison

We were at the dock for the 7 AM departure of our boat on the third day of the Whooping Crane Festival.

I took a few pictures before we boarded – the moon over the harbor area.

Our destination was the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge where Whooping Cranes feed in the marshy/shallow areas…only visible via boat and it took over an hour to get there from Port Aransas. We passed familiar areas early on and saw a group of American white pelicans, morning light with moon setting over the shore, roseate spoonbills and white ibis in the distance, and the Aransas Pass Lydia Ann Lighthouse.

Then we entered an area that was different than our previous tours and more open water…with occasional platforms with cormorants and great blue herons hunkered in the chilly morning wind. There was a tall bridge as well.

Then there started to be a lot of small islands full of birds: Cormorants, great blue herons and brown pelicans. One area seemed to have a lot of great blue herons and I wondered if the island was their roost. There were also groups of laughing gulls. (Click on the small images to see a larger version.)

And then we started seeing Whooping Cranes. Even at a distance – they are easy to identify because they are so large…and so white. The young are rusty looking – particularly their heads. Many sightings were of 3 birds: 2 adult birds and a colt; it must have been a good year for increasing the whooping crane population!

There were other birds to see too between whooping crane sightings – roseate spoonbills, green-winged teals, willets, American avocets, more great blue herons, buffleheads, cormorants, an osprey, and reddish egret (that took off as a wave covered the spit of shells the bird was standing on).

I took some closeups of some shells…out of the water at low tide.

I also realized how wakes of boats impact the shoreline…why there are often blocks on the shore to reduce the erosion wakes can cause. It doesn’t take a big or fast-moving boat to cause damaging wakes in smaller channels.

And then we took a break as we headed back to Port Aransas – no more photos until the jetty with the usual brown pelicans.

We got back to the dock with plenty of time before our afternoon field trip for lunch; we then headed back to the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center.

May 03, 2023

Fort Pickens

May 03, 2023/ Gwen Morrison

We visited the Fort Pickens area of Gulf Islands National Seashore twice during our visit to Pensacola. We looked at the fishing pier area first --- searching for birds. Brown pelicans were searching for breakfast…not minding the fishermen on the pier nearby. They are probably in the area year-round.

Some of the structures were derelict. Water and salt are hard on concrete.

Several immature red-breasted mergansers were also finding food in the surf. They might continue north even though they are not breeding this year.

Willets and a great blue heron were wading in the surf.

Immature Bonaparte’s Gulls were on the beach…resting.

Looking toward the mainland from the Fort (on a barrier island), a lighthouse is visible. It is on the Naval Air Station which limits tours to people with military IDs.

We heard and saw small birds in the grass near the historical buildings/discovery center. Looking closer we saw that they were blue grosbeaks! They were probably refueling before they continued their migration northward.

Two osprey were building a nest at the top of a chimney nearby.

On the drive away from Fort Pickens after our first visit, we spotted a mature bald eagle in a tall pine. I’d spotted a large nest as we had driven toward the Fort….so we were looking closely for the bird!

We joined a ranger-led walking tour of the fort to learn a little about its history. Fort Pickens was built after the War of 1812 and before the Civil War….built with slave labor (many were skilled laborers specializing in brick structures). It was the largest brick structure on the Gulf of Mexico after it was finished and was a deterrent to conflict for a time. Its only active use was during the Civil War; it stayed in Union hands for the duration. Much of the brickwork has survived. The Fort was modified for other purposes over the years…with part of the structure used to store land mines! It served as a prison for Geronimo before he was sent to Fort Sill (in Oklahoma). Today – plants grow on the structure and in areas that were once busy with military preparations. The tour was a bit long (1.5 hours); I enjoyed the first hour but was tired for the last half hour.

February 13, 2019

Another Florida Beach

February 13, 2019/ Gwen Morrison

After lunch at Dixie Crossroads, we headed over to a beach close to Titusville: Cherie Down Park in Cape Canaveral. It was a breezy cloudy day….a little cold. There were people fishing from the beach. At first it didn’t seem like there were very many birds. In some ways that made it easier to photograph the ones that were there.

The Sanderling at the water’s edge was the first bird I noticed.