San Padre Island and Points South

No I didn't get lost or kidnapped and whisked over the border to Mehico...I've been way off the grid.  I was so braggy about having internet and wham! Gone. So today Im back in Civilization...I will try to catch up one day. Im still on the road...driving and sightseeing, but this is my last week out...

I stopped in Fulton to mail out some postcards, and saw this White Winged Dove up in the tree they are plentiful here,,,I thought it was a new bird for me, but  when I checked my book, I have seen it before on another trip to TX in 1994...but it was so long ago I forgot..

                           On this day I traveled to San Padre National Seashore. It's a long narrow spit of an island, and highways only go so far and then you have to access it by boat. 

                                               Wilma hard at work giving me directions.  

Hwy 35 past Corpus Christi, and then 358, to the park road 22. I found this little spot to stop for a leg stretch, 

...people were camping under that bridge but how can they stand the traffic noise?

Lots of water, that bridge is going to and around Corpus Christi.  

Just before crossing the bridge over to C-C there is a small island like only 100 ft long it was covered in Roseate Spoonbills But driving was impossible to get a photo, the ones I saw in FL last yr did not have this awesome pink breeding plumage at the shoulder this is the best shot I got...

I did see some others on South Padre with better shots...

Then finally I arrived at the San Padre National Seashore.  It is run by the National Parks Service, and so I got a nice stamp for my Passport booklet, and a coin for my collection! They did not have a penny turner much to my disappointment!

This is the Malaquite Visitors Center.  The road going in is under heavy construction....took forever, but finally I made it, the camping area lacks a lot: privacy, shade, and no charm what so ever.  But I found a spot, right across from Chris who got up and came over to introduce himself before I even got out of my van.  He polished off what looked to be a bottle of pretty good Scotch while he got his wind burn.  

I said windburn because the wind howled at about a good steady 40 mph the entire time I was there...I did take a couple beach walks but mostly I was hunkered down against the wind.  Check the white caps...

Had this Bob White Quail surprise me right behind the van...

There was a Sanderling convention going on, they were having a hard time staying on the ground...

There is another campground on the bay side the wind was getting them pretty hard too...saw this interesting young Brown Pelican resting, and some white pelicans out in the water...

Next day the wind was still howling so I left...made my way back to Robstown, and took Hwy 77 south that eventually becomes I-69E, and then Hwy 2 west to Westlaco where I found a motel for 2 nights due to the extreme heat.  It was in the triple digits when I arrived but before that I had a blast at one of the Hwy 77 rest stops...one near Sarita. 

cool tile mural in the ladies room

It was an amazing place just a tree filled spot in the middle of 4 busy lanes of traffic but a haven for the birds!!  

The Hooded Oriole...male and female, lifers,  I think they were nesting across the south bound lanes they would fly over get a worm and take off across the road..at first I was jumping for joy thinking this was the Altamira Oriole but finally I realized it is the Hooded, I was happy with that!

Another surprise was seeing this Tropical Parula  (no white on the eye) up high singing away...the Northern Parula migrates to SC, but not these...another new bird!!

Awesome!!

My plan was to stay in the Lower Rio Grande area for 2 nights and 3 days but the first day I got there late so I jumped in the pool and just relaxed....it was already too hot to try and do any birding or hiking.   I lined up my next couple days of adventure.  At the Motel  the next morning I got up early and found this amazingly huge Ringed Kingfisher on the wire.  What a way to start the day. 

His head is soooo much bigger than his body!

and more also seen's just cause they are so cool...

black bellied whistling ducks

black bellied plover

Laughing gulls

It's just not Texas without a Long Horn...even if he is napping!

Next up World Birding Center Estero Llano Grande State Park. 

ebird list here 

and here

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.

BIRDSSSS everywhere!

Casey and I had a cold night in Farewell Bend so we headed South this is where I made a complete navigational blunder! I had planned to go see Mt Shasta...but I found out about Lower Klamath NWR and Tule Lake NWR from studying the map so I left Crater Lake on the west side to find camping it was a short drive back to the  east side of 62 and then south down 97 alongside Upper Klamath Lake where I saw hundreds of Western Grebes !! Hard to photo due to a RR track and a Weird fence but I snapped this one..

The problem was I saw no access for me to just pull over and really explore the lake with my binoculars so this and of course the almost always present american coots which are always a treat to see anyways!  I kept driving South on 97 and took 161 East over to Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge.

Which is in CA! Goodbye to Oregon...I sure enjoyed every single moment of it...and I hope to return one day to continue to explore the areas I was not able to visit and I'm sure you could live there your whole life and never do that!  This Lower Klamath is chock full of birds the numbers are amazing!!

SO many species too...this is a mostly Northern Pintail flock...mixed with all sorts if anyone sees a duck I in this flock I have not mentioned let me know what you see!! Try as hard as I did I never got a really decent photo close up of one!  I drove down the canals and they would fly right away...

There was other wildlife to see as well...

And I saw more Sandhill Cranes! 

And I added the Cackling Goose, and in this same shot is the Great White Fronted Goose with the pink beak..

Flickr ate my photo

Northern Shovelers were plentiful I got this shot of a female. Still a bit grainy...

There is so much waterfowl there. This Redtail Hawk was not happy with me driving down the gravel road he was hunting on and flushing the hundreds of dabblers out of his way....he really looks pisst and he was screeching at me!

I also saw in this same area but got no photo of the northern goshawk! A new bird for me! I got a real good look but my camera was not in my hand and not even turned on when I took Casey out for a quick leg lift break...Im calling this next bird a pine warbler, until I am told different I couldn't pin any other I'D on this donkey so Pine Warbler it is! Thanks Jen for the correct I'D Orange Crowned Warbler

Flickr Ate my Photo

And lots of American Wigeon males and females were on the lake mixed in with the coots..

Brewers Blackbirds were around in numbers too...

Flickr ate my Photo

The beautiful thing is Lower Klamath is basically on the way to Lava Beds National Monument...so that's where I headed for the night to camp. I ended up spending the entire weekend there.  I will report on Lava Beds later....another great birding area nearby is Tule Lake,

 its located right by the Natl. Mon. So the next morning I left early and made my way into one of the photo blinds...BUT first I had to walk the mosquito quantlet!! The issue I had with this blind on Hill Road was none of the openings were for a person my height so I ended up on my knees...there were some openings 6 ft up and some 2 ft from the floor? SO strange...none at about 5 1/2 ft--the first thing I heard was all the shootgun blasts! Not what I wanted to hear...and hopefully none would penetrate the thin walls  of the blind while I was in there I spent about 30 mins in there...Once again Thousands of American Coots and Northern Shovelers, Northern Pintails, western Grebes, American Wigeons, Eared grebes, Mallards, White Pelicans, 

Tule Lake 

Female A. Wigeon 

Eared Grebe

I was so pleased to actually get this shot of the female Rudy Duck..

Found a cubby of  California Quail hiding in the brush.

Fkickr ate my photo

The White Pelicans gave me an air show...

The snow geese were unsettled...

ANd I've never seen such a large concentration of Egrets some great, some snowy's as well..

Saw 2 adult Western Grebes...

Feeding this immature Western Grebe..he was soooo cute!

And I watched the White Faced Ibis pick up crustaceans for a meal...

These 2 days of birding was fantastic I would recommend both these spots for migration and wintering water fowl!! Many of my photos are still unidentified and not really good enough to share! I will go over them with a fine tooth comb when I get myself back to SC. A bonus of being in this area is the natural beauty of the lakes...and the View of Mt Shasta!  I had a wonderful 2 days of birding in this great refuges...I only wish there was no hunting..that made me sad..:o( 

  

Lava Beds National Monument is my next stop and next post!

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.