Two Wild Women for the Birds (They are Back at It)

You know you want to come with us.

 To stand at the edge of the sea, 

to sense the ebb and flow of the tides, 

to feel the breath of a mist moving over a great salt marsh, 

to watch the flight of shore birds 

that have swept up and down the surf lines of the continents 

for untold thousands of years, 

to see the running of the old eels and the young shad to the sea, 

is to have knowledge of things that are as nearly eternal 

as any earthly life can be.

~ Rachel Carson

THURSDAY EVENING:

We had a couple of errands to run as we headed south for the state meeting. Georgetown first and then La Grange. The folks at the Texas Quilt Museum gave us a wonderful welcome. Then it was time to head south again to pick up my seester for a weekend of adventure with the Texas Master Naturalists.*

An extraordinary work by Susan Shie at the Texas Quilt Museum. We had to view the exhibits before we left (50+ doves down, but with two memberships and a book on a butterfly quilt exhibit). Susan calls her works "diary quilt paintings." This one, with a Native American and nature theme, really spoke to me. [She gives permission for photography.]

I love this bridge - just outside of La Grange.

Clouds gathered and threatened just outside of Victoria.

We snagged BH and visited the Dia de los Muertos exhibit at the Nave Museum** before hitting the road for our final leg - to Corpus Christi Bay.

DH was driving (he has "rule" of sorts - his car means he drives) so we let him nap while we headed to Indian Point. "Certainly there would be some shorebirds," we thought.

It wasn't high tide. We saw no water over the road. But the park was closed.

The park was closed. Closed. Bummer.

We parked outside the gate and used our binoculars to view the few birds there. Great Blue Herons, Great Egret, Small Blue Heron, Laughing gulls, cormorant, and Belted Kingfishers we all present.

Probably a Small Blue Heron.

Great Egret and Great Blue Heron. They were so far away we could just see them.

Did I mention the Brown Pelicans?

Brown Pelican in flight over the salt cedars.

We drove slowly down the access road. We've seen large groups of Brown Pelicans in the water here (the causeway side of Sunset Lake). We saw a fellow fishing and thought of our father and brothers who spent some time here - birding and fishing.

Fisherman

Then we saw them and pulled over. I brake for big white birds. I know the egrets and herons fairly well, so I stop for them (like when you see a friend). But these birds were not egrets or herons. They were ibises!***

I've seen them before - in the ponds near my home. But it was great to see them up close.

Two White Ibises were feeding in the shallows and ignored our excitement. They ignored us and we took photo after photo.

We headed back to the hotel to get DH and meet our cousins for dinner. Our cousins are amazing people. They are so involved in their community. And, after the hurricane, they have worked tirelessly. They have cut tree limbs, handed out donations, fed the multitudes, and clothed evacuees.  They will tell you that they had help, but they provided structure and leadership to provide others a way to help.

We caught up on family and made some plans.

As we left the restaurant we watched a huge meteor flash across the sky.

Yeah. It was a sign. It was something.

Our cousins are something else.


FRIDAY MORNING:

BH and I were up before dawn to grab a cup of coffee/tea and head to Sunset Lake Park. If we were going to be locked out of Indian Point, we'd go to the spot nearby where we had seen even more birds.

I kept trying to stop, but my sister made me drive further, until I had to brake for a big white bird - Snowy Egret.

It's a Snowy Egret just beyond the salt cedar.

We found a place to stop and got out of the car, heading down a path to the beach on the bay side of the park. There were a few birds. But we were here for the sunrise.

Seagull

The sunrise.

Sister and seagull

Plover-like bird decides to take flight. It's a Willet - really. Don't you trust me?

"What do you think it is?" "Let's say it's a Willet." It WAS a Willet.

Sanderling

Laughing Gull

The beach was fairly clean and almost empty save the Lightning Whelks with their hermit crab occupants - Thinstripe Hermit Crab, to be precise. I almost never have a shot like this.

They usually tuck themselves away where I can only see the tips of their toes.

The Reef Road from the other end. We drove down the road until it was blocked for the park. Drove through water once (don't tell my kids). It was shallow and not flowing. We were mid-tides.

I only knew about the causeway. I suppose I should have known about the Reef Road.

These low areas provide shelter for some plants to continue flowering long into the fall. We stopped over and over to see tiny blooms.

Dayflower

Partridge Pea

Grasshoppers

Roseatte Spoonbill feeding in the shallows of the lake. Even at a distance, there is no mistaking this bird. If it is pink, it's a Roseatte Spoonbill. We don't have flamingos here.

Retama

Turkscap

Ibis, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, and other birds. Note the Bushy Bluestem in the foreground.

I love Bushy Bluestem. It is an obvious grass and grows where it is damp. My grass knowledge is like my bird knowledge - I know the obvious ones and am working my way to the more difficult.

It was foggy that morning and the water was beaded up on the grass.

Belted Kingfisher. We saw two the day before and then these. I argued with myself a bit and compared my bad photo to some good ones. I'm sure. Need a better camera.

This amazing young man, Alex Uhler, was responsible for the original signs identifying park flora and fauna. Someone continues to bring fresh flowers.

Water across the road in the walking area. We later learned why the water was so high - even at low tide. There were off-shore winds blowing the water inland. So these winds were causing the flooded roads and higher tides.

Laughing Gull

All too soon it was time for us to get breakfast and head across the harbor bridge. We did stop a couple more times - once to see the alley cats and once for the stack of coiled wire outside of one business. We would be inside for much of the next few days - training. But we were scheduled for another adventure on Sunday provided we had energy and fair weather. [Shhh! We did.]

Alley cats - hell on birds.

Feeding my obsessive love of stacks of stuff.

NOTES:

* TMN=Nature Nerds - fun bunch.

**We participated in the retablo silent auction and plan to make a family altar next year.

***I looked it up. One can also use "ibides" as plural for "ibis," but that's just silly.


FINAL NOTE: I stayed up writing of these adventures until early Saturday morning. And the program didn't save the post. <sigh> So this is the second telling. I may need to edit it a bit as I remember missing matters.