A very worthwhile trip indeed. Thank you for your kind comments.

Thank you sir. I appreciate to taking a look and commenting.

Things always change, but most times not for the better. I think there is a highrise bridge from Padre to Corpus now to facilitate the large amount of traffic. I met a guy on Padre that had been out fishing in his boat. He said that the fishing was still good there. Thanks for looking and commenting.

Thank you jererick for the bird ID. They certainly are quick little things, and this photo is heavily cropped because I could not get really close.

Love the cathedral and the old town best.

Very nice series. I really like the castle and the cliffs. I am always amazed at how close houses in Europe are to the roads there....virtually no sidewalks at all.

On my recent Texas trip, I drove down to Padre Island National Seashore to see what that was all about. Living on the Atlantic Ocean, I figured it would be pretty much like "home" but had never been on the Gulf of Mexico before, so headed out. Now, my GPS and I are sometimes not on speaking terms, and other times I talk to it - questioning where it is taking me - and this trip was no different. My road map (which by the way are extremely hard to find in gas stations anymore) appeared to have a road to Port Aransas where I would get the road to Padre Island NS. Driving along I spied a sign - "Wait for ferry 30 minutes." Wait. What? Ferry? What ferry? Turns out that there is a State of Texas ferry operation across the shipping channel between the mainland and Port Aransas (where there was a Whooping Crane Festival going on that I decided not to attend because I was closer to the Cranes in Rockport and could book my own tours of the Wildlife Refuge). There are 6 to 7 ferrys that run 24/7/365, so that was a nice adventure it itself. Padre Island had a lot of wildlife to photograph, although the Kestrels were nearly impossible to photograph. There were also Roseate Spoonbills along the side of the road in the ditches and a lot of other birds in the marshes. Profitable day and nice drive.

Laughing Gulls at the ferry. Poop, Poop, Pee, Do

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Great Blue Heron

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Willet on Padre Island

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American Bittern - Padre Island

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Sanderling - winter plumage - Padre Island

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Beak prints - Padre Island

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Brown Pelican - Padre Island

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Not sure what this is - someone help me out please

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Roseate Spoonbill - breeding plumage

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I feel that I did hit it pretty good. I booked a trip on a boat out of Rockport, TX but it was one of those companies that put a lot of people on a boat and drive around hoping to see things. A couple days later I had a boat trip with Aransas Bay Birding Charters with Kevin and Lori Simms and it was a whole different experience, even if it was foggy. I booked a "shared charter" where you only pay for a portion of the charter cost. I paid $120.00 with them for a 6 hour trip versus $90 for a 3 hour trip with the first charter - and the boat had trouble getting started for an hour - so we only had a 2 hour trip. There was no comparison - Kevin piloted his boat with a private charter and I was with Lori and 2 other people. They stayed as long as we wanted to at a site and tried several different places for photo opportunities. The boat I had been on a couple days before was also out with another bunch of people and they only stayed in one place about 15 minutes before moving on. If you ever get down in that area when the Whoopers are there, hire Kevin and Lori - you won't be sorry that you did.

Mary Ellen

Thank you Pat. Had an extremely tight schedule again in Texas. Was in San Antonio, then Rockport and ended up in Marble Falls for a day. I want to return again, because I love your area of Texas a lot, and I promise that I'll let you know so that you and your lovely wife and I can do lunch.

Mary Ellen

Thank you very much. I really enjoyed seeing these magnificent birds in the wild.

I took a trip to Texas in February to see the Whooping Cranes in the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge outside of Rockport, Texas on the Gulf of Mexico coast. Rockport is about 30 minutes north-east of Corpus Christi. To see the cranes the best you need to get on a boat and go into the Refuge to where the Cranes like to "hang out." These are magnificent birds that are slowly breeding their way off the endangered list. I even saw a young Crane called a "colt." They eat blue crabs as their main diet, but also snakes when the can get them, berries, and I just learned today - clams - whole. Had a great guide on a 6 hour "float" - unfortunately there was quite a bit of fog, but that only lent an air of mystery to these wonderful birds.

A bonded pair

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Flight through the marsh

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The young colt is on the right

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The young colt is on the left with the brown head

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Displaying in a field on a ride around the area

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Foster's Tern

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Savannah Sparrow in the bushes of the Refuge

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Pictures 8 and 9. The flowers look orange to me, but could be an orange-red, because nasturtiums have those colors. I can tell from the leaves that they are nasturtiums.

Everyone should have the problem of not having enough time to process their photos because of too much traveling.............

Love each and every shot in this set, especially the weathered rocks.

Very pretty scenery. I love the pink rocks with the pink flowers. Your orange flowers are Nasturtium.