Robert What were the dates of this trip. Winston A. Walden Cookeville, TN wwalden@xxxxxxxxxx ----- Original Message ----- From: "Robert" <rwf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, October 16, 2002 3:57 PM Subject: [tn-bird] Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail > > Hi TnBirders, > > I went to the Texas coast for vacation this year. We took a train > to New Orleans, then rented a car. We followed the Great Texas > Coastal Birding Trail from the Sabine River near Louisiana to > Padre Island, Texas. > > It would be impossible to list all the incredible birds that > we saw. We saw several large flocks of Roseate Spoonbills. > They hang out with the White Ibis and their brown young. > Anahuac NWR is well maintained and very busy with birds. > > Brown Pelicans like to crash-dive dramatically into the ocean > from a height of some thirty feet off the water, but the > American White Pelicans like to float calmly on the water and > troll carefully for fish, together in a line. > > In the swamp behind the Port Aransas Water Treatment Plant, > we saw flocks of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks dabbling > dangerously near a giant alligator the size of a horse. > > We saw lots of birds that we also see here in Memphis, like > Great Blue Heron, White Egrets, and DC Cormorants. But there > were also flocks and flocks of Little Blue Herons and Tri-colored > Herons. And lots of Snowy Egrets and Wood Storks. > > Along the coast there were always the Laughing Gulls, but we > also saw Royal Terns and the Black Skimmer with his strange > looking bill. > > Ride the Galveston Ferry and look up. There we saw Magnificent > Frigatebirds, male and female. Look down and you'll see lots > of Dolphins playing in the wake of the ferry. My favorites were > the amazing looking Long-billed Curlew and the American > Oystercatchers. > > The best places we visited along the trail were: > Sabine Marais on the Louisiana side of Sabine River > Smith Point on Galveston Bay > the Galveston Ferry > Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge > Port Aransas Water Treatment Plant > > Brazoria NWR was closed, when we went by, due to flooding. > Texas Point WMA was disappointing. Redhead Pond WMA south > of Corpus Christi was overgrown, not well maintained and > the brown trail sign had been knocked down; there were actually > more birds across the street. > > We left the coast at Corpus Christi and drove across the Brush > Country of south Texas, heading to Laredo. If you've never seen a > Crested Caracara, you need to go to see them. They were perched > atop every other telephone pole along the highway. One radio tower > near San Antonio had fifty-two Turkey Vultures on it! > > Scissor-tailed Flycatchers were everywhere. We saw one Fork > Tailed Flycatcher. Before this vacation,I had never seen a White > Tailed Hawk, nor a Ferruginous Hawk. Along the road to Laredo, > we saw a Greater Roadrunner cross the road quickly in front of us. > Beep! Beep! > > We drove into Mexico, at Nuevo Laredo, but quickly returned to > this country. Four mexican soldiers made signals that they wanted > a bribe to let us re-enter the US. I just held on to one end of > my Spotting Scope and kept saying "No comprendo"... they finally > let us go. > > We drove our rental car to a place near the Rio Grande River to > scan the waterline. Just as I was setting up my spotting scope, > the US Border Patrol swooped in to check for illegals. When I > scanned the mexican side of the Rio Grande, I spotted the Great > Kiskadee! It's a small yellow bird with a distintive black and > white head. Being new to birding, I had not known this one even > existed, till I looked it up in my Sibley's. > > We went back to New Orleans and found a family of Monk Parakeets > nesting in a Palm Tree near my sister's house. That is the > only Parakeet that builds a nest with sticks. > > It would be impossible to describe how fun our vacation was. > My birding Life List doubled in size. My Nikon Spotting Scope > was invaluable. Compared to the fine cuisine we ate in Louisiana, > the food in Texas and Mexico were rough. We dodged two hurricanes > during our vacation, but saw impressive wind damage after the > storms blew over, as we drove thru. > > If anyone is thinking of doing the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, > I say go, but talk to someone who has been before. Take several cans > of Off and a wearable mosquito net with you when you go. We did not > have any problems. > > What a great vacation! > > Robert Fowler > Memphis, TN > > > =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== > > The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with > first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. > ----------------------------------------------------- > To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: > tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx > ----------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, send email to: > tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * > Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * > Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society > web site at http://www.tnbirds.org > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * > TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN > jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx (423) 764-3958 > ========================================================= > > =================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER===================== The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation. ----------------------------------------------------- To post to this mailing list, simply send email to: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ----------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send email to: tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society web site at http://www.tnbirds.org * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx (423) 764-3958 =========================================================