Day 15 Fifty two years ago in Corpus Christi TX

Seawall panels (cement) Note wheels of crane!

This is the day we start moving west a bit faster. A one day stop here and two days there, etc. It started this morning as we headed west toward Corpus Christi and the journey north from there to San Antonio. It brought back memories of my days in Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, when in the middle of advanced medical basic training in the US Army, (June 1955) some us boys took a one day pass into Corpus Christi for the day. It was unbelievably hot in San Antonio but when we were about 5-8 miles from the Gulf, the temperature dropped amazingly quickly. It was a full 15 degrees cooler there than in S.A. It was great day just to get out of the heat. The memory is still a good one.
Corpus Christi is now the fifth largest port city in the USA and there are ships of every shape and size. The Harbour Bridge at 235 feet above the water is the highest on the Gulf as it allows all types and sizes of ships to pass under including the United States Navy. There is an observation deck on the bridge

The Wharf Cat that we took to see the Whoopers

to observe the shipping. Galveston Bay, remember, does not have a bridge but a Ferry.
That route Texas 35 took us to I-37 heading to San Antonio, northward. Here the fields and land are ready for planting. Mostly planted are Cotton and Milo with some wheat. It is all dry farming as we did not see any signs of irrigation. It is very flat for 30-40 miles
Of course San Antonio, named after St. Anthony of Padua, has 1.3 million people in its borders and over 2 million in the metropolitan region. It was a chance for us to do a little buying and when here we always stop at the S.A.S shoe store to buy some of their SAS shoes on the cheap. What does SAS stand for? 'San Antonio Shoemaker'. The old barn and huge store are a marvel of simplicity, yet full stocked with good things besides shoes. It even has wooden floors. Every tourist and traveler should stop there once at least. Old cars (they are building a “classic car pavilion”), food, cheap peanuts and popcorn, knick knacks, even a demonstartion shoe factory and Hispanic influenced gifts are present. The help there is the friendliest and helpful you will ever find.
We ate lunch in the huge parking lot at SAS on Zarzamora St, made our purchases and headed north and west out of town. Just west of town the Texas “Hill Country” starts in earnest Monstrous homes on top of hall the hills seem to be the vogue. Such redundancy. Here the land rises up with sandstone and limestone (Buda and Rose Lime) domes and agriculture pretty much grinds to a halt. The topsoil is only 6 inches deep so grazing and the big 6-7,000 acre ranches start popping up. It gets to about 2,000 feet in elevation.
The air in Kerrville is noticeably drier and in the afternoon the humidity was at 25 %. There is a fire threat and just north of here more than ¼ million acres have burned since January 1. and 1700 homes have been evacuated. Judges, justices, DA’s and Railroad Commissioners. as well as US Senator and Presidential primary candidates are being elected this week. It is an open ballot system and the voters have one week to turn in ballots or appear at the polls. They close on Friday, tomorrow.

This guy (LAGU) hung around (on the car) for breakfast!

Speaking of which, tomorrow we head for a favorite out of the way place called, Balmorhea, and if you can find it on any map you are a good geographer. There is a giant spring there and from it a huge lake has been maintained. But more on that and the birds,

tomorrow.

Today’s bird count “from the car” was 22 with on after we drove in.
Thanks for reading and Blessings to y’all. ...Whoops !

Jim and Ruth

Day 14 Visit to The Whooping Cranes

WHOOPING CRANES AT ANWR

What a treat to see the World’s most endangered bird. As the tallest of the North American birds they are in their wintering ground between the barrier Islands of Texas and the Gulf Coast. Actually, we travelled on the Texas Intracoastal Waterway (TIWW), in order to see them. The Tour, aside from weather delays, was the first time it was delayed. The ship, a twin screw catamaran with 500 hp engines, got up on the plane easily and slowed just as fast. There is a "No wake" clause in the TIWW whenever other boats or ships are present. The late start today, however was due to a problem in the generator which was fixed and we left four hours late at 2:00 PM. That meant a later return but we were not in a hurry and it was a sunny, 60 F, day.
Exiting the large harbor at Rockport

White Tailed Hawk

We passed a number of gas wells and gas wellheads (collecting places) before we got to the Aransas NWR where the Cranes are feeding this winter. We saw a number of them and there are more than 250 this year as there were 38 live chicks that lived through the first winter. This is the best ever. You can learn more about the endangered Whooping Crane at; http://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/aransas/ Basically, they need lots of space to raise their young especially the first year. They mate for life only after the first successful breeding of chicks. Hmmm! If not, they will try with someone else. Their dance is very important in the breeding process. The nest in Northern Alberta in the summer.
The TIWW was replete with barges that were hauling oil, diesel fuel and other miscellaneous cargo from the Gulf ports north. We passed four of them in that short two way, three hour tour. One was bound for Indiana. Deep hulled vessels cannot use this route as it is less than 12 feet deep in most places. Hence the barges are used which have a very shallow draught and

are pushed by tugs

The TIWW maintains a depth of 12’ but in some places is only 7 and 9 feet deep. See TIWW site at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intracoastal_Waterway Those barges are 200 feet in length, can be pushed in tandem (sometimes as many as 8) and can ship as much material as 60 double bottom trucks, or 4 trains, for much less the pollution, and less waste.
But I digress, as the Whoopers were the main thrust of this day. The delay caused none of the 60 passengers to drop out, as they mostly all were retired and were on either a tour or vacation. We saw many other birds along the way and our “guide” filled us in on the NWR history at Aransas and the Whoopers.
Ruth and I saw more than 55 birds on Wednesday and that included; The Whooping Cranes and the Peregrine Falcon seen on a gas well head on the way back to port. Also new for us were; the Ruby Crowned Kinglet, Eurasian Collared Dove, Gadwall, Bridled Titmouse, Eastern Kingbird and the Pyroloxia. Some of these were seen on the “Break” while waiting for the ship to arrive. We don’t waste the opportunity to “do birds”. We have seen more than 120 to date. It was a great day, which ended for us with an “All You Can Eat Shrimp Dinner” at “Off the Hook” restaurant right on the Gulf. (Fresh from the sea!). Enjoy the pictures. –Love, Jim and Ruth

Day 13 To Aransas Pass and Mustang Island

Today I will merely say that we went to the above places and did see some new birds and then I will spend the time placing more pictures on the site. Mustang Island is across from the mainland by Ferry (8 minutes) where there are a number of birding sites. It is just 11 miles from Rockport. (Mostly water and marsh lands.) It was windy (30-40 mph) but sunny all day. Our bird species numbered 44 today with four new specie. (Ring Necked Duck, White Rumped Sandpiper, Yellow Crowned Night Heron and the Redhead Duck.) Here are the pictures of some of the places and birds. Tomorrow we go to Aransas NWR to see the Whooping Cranes by boat. See you then.-- Jim and Ruth

Black Necked Stilts Blue Winged teal


Brown Pelican with Fish (left)

Great Egret (above) Great Blue Heron

Slider Turtle Shoveler DuckYoung Yellow Crowned Night Heron Young Nutria

Day 12 Inland Birding out of Rockport

When we moved to Rockport we knew that there would be many sites in the area that we would want to discover as well as some that were hot spots for us in the past. Near here there are two rivers that run into Copano Bay and Aransas Bay. We headed for those wetlands that adjoin those rivers some 20-30 miles inland. This ride took us north some 30 miles before we headed inland. That meant we passed the Aransas NWR (we will visit later) and some good shoreline birding on the way. Traveling northeast on TX 35 we turned inland toward Refugio at highway 774. Tis road is a narrow, two track, paved that has scrub land on both sides. It was the first abundant hawk territory we had seen since Arkansas. There were Red Tailed hawks on the poles and on the wires were many Kestrals ,the smallest of all the hawks. The crowning part of that leg was spotting an Osprey and not having it fly away before Ruth could get some pictures,

Here is one of the more dramatic Osprey poses.

The first river that we came to was the Mission River with a multiple assortment of flats and ponds. Here we picked some new birds for this trip and here is the way we set up our equipment for viewing. at a roadside.This was a two lane highway with adequate shoulder except for the bridge in the middle where we would set up our tripod. The first step is to view the area from the car to see what and if there is anything, out there . Then to step out of the vehicle away from the birds if possible (ducks are very timid and like lots of space between you and them. Use the car as a "blind" of sorts. Using the binoculars, scan the ponds and edges for what might be out there, then decide what you want to concentrate on. Sometimes it is the "unknown" birds as they might take longer to discern. (We are amateurs remember). Then set up the tripod and the scope to bring the birds in closer. If Ruth is close enough and we can get a good shot with her 200 X 500 lens on the Nikon D100 camera, then we put the camera on first. Shots from the car can also be made from the window with a beanbag pad on the window where it can be rolled up or down for proper height. That is desireable when one bird is sighted as the bird will tend to stay put. Stepping out of the car when the bird is close is sure to alarm the birds. And so it goes. Ruth is setting up the scope at Mission River Flats

The next river and site was the Copano River which had similar water and wetlands but also leads to a road across to a "connected" Island where we did pick up two new specie. ( Reddish Egrets, Brown headed Cowbirds and Purple Martins). The rivers were at low tide and that allowed us to see three distinct feeding types . There are 1) the ones at themudflat level (some will not go into water no matter how shallow), 2) the shallow water feeders, and 3) the water feeders like the dabbling ducks and phalaropes (didn't see any of them today).

It wasn't all birds today. This young foal didn't stray far from her Mom.

The other birds that were new to our list today were; Sandhill Cranes (19), the Golden Plover, Greater Yellow legs, The Short and the Long Billed Dowitcher, White Faceed Ibis, Bairds's Sandpipers (a large flock), and some Bank Swallows (under that bridge).

This made a good day although not long in time we covered 90 miles and the 75 degree heat turned to 81 by the time we returned to the trailer. The wind was fierce (30-40) and that keeps the birds "down" in shelter and harder to see. The exception were the wading birds in or near water as long as it is sheltered.

That was pretty much it for the day outdoors, and when we returned we rolled up our awning that we had alrady placed at "half mast" due to the wind before we left.

Tomorrow we hope to head for Aransas Pass and Mustang Island.There are some fine spots there. God Bless you all, Jim and Ruth

Day 11 Moving down the Texas Coast

We decided to pull up the levelers and move to Rockport to see if there were

Cattle Egret on Hurricane Dike

some different bird specie we could find. So after church at the Bay Harbour UMC We headed out. The Church had both a chancel choir and a bell choir and they did a marvelous job. We had a chance to see them use marts, plucks, and "two in hand" techniques and they performed well. (pop 950)

The trip covered some 220 miles and moved us south then west and SW until we caught TX 35 which took us into Rockport. There were however, a number of interesting observations along the way. One of the questions I had asked myself was,"How , when and with what do they plant and harvest rice?". After some research I discovered that rice can be planted either in dry fields (and cultivated) or in flooded fields as the situation shows itself. Flooding does prevent more insects and disease, but depends upon good weather for growth and excellent weather for mechanical harvesting. Getting harvestors stuck canend the harvest.. If the crop gets a heavy rain or gets too wet and is flat on the ground, , harvesting the crop lessens the yield. From 1965, when mechanization started until 2004, the labor hours it took to harvest a ton of rice, went from 3 hours to .15 hours per ton. The addition of new techniques like shakers, sorters and strippers changed the industry. More than 60% of the worlds population eats rice as the main diet. Rice raises 1/2 billion dollars for Texas, and 1/4 billion for the farmers annually. I found this page to have a lot of information on world wide rice planting and harvesting. http://www.hyss.moe.edu.sg/webquests/Curriculum/geography38sdk/Subsistence%20Wet%20Rice%20Farming.asp

Eared Grebes at Ship Canal Dike

We drove through Alvin , TX a 20,000 population city which has a hospital, some construction workers and many workers who are in the chemical Industry (See Alcoa below) The vultures along here were numerous although we only saw two hawks.The land is mostly mixed woods and poor grazing land. There is a big rice warehouse here. Rice can be stored as long as the temperature remains at or slightly below 0 C. For instance, a 90 minute blow of cold air is enough to keep the rice at temperature in the winter so that it loses no quality.

As we moved sfurther southwest we began to pick up some water in lakes and sloughs that reach inland from the Gulf. The town of Palacios has a fleet of Shrimp boits numbering 400 and is the "Shrimp Capital of the Gulf". Just north of Palacios you could tell you were in "money" country by the smell. Gas wells!

At Point Comfort, Alcoa has a huge aluminum plant that produces alumina and bauxite. THis is shipped throughoutthe worls to make aluminum. Unfortunately, there was a spill in Matagorda Bay a few years ago and now they have designed a better catchment to prevent this in the future. LaVaca is the city of 10,000 tyhat Alcoa is nearest there.

Sure we did stop in the DQ in Palacios and Jim had a banana split on sale and Ruth the usual Flurry. I understand that Grand Rapids DQ on Stocking St. is open. Maybe you won't get to it on Tuesday??? Will the snow ever end?

THE ENTIRE SATURN V ASSEMBLY USED ON THE APOLLO 11 MOON SHOT

The new park here in Rockport is right in town, but there must be a lot of "grayheads" in it, as the park is VERY quiet at 9:15 and I mean Q-U-I-E-T. That is good.

Tomorrow we will head from here to Refugio and Stinton to survey bird habitats. Stay tuned.-- May all be well, --Jm and Ruth

Day 10 Return to the Dikes

Legend has it that one of Kemah’s first inhabitants was the pirate Jean Lafitte. It is even rumored that he buried much of his stolen treasure around this horseshoe shaped section of Galveston Bay. There are still some long time residents who profess that some of Lafitte’s treasure was used to fund much of Kemah’s illegal and notorious gambling days shortly after World War II. Kemah has the third largest recreational fleet of boats in North America. (sail boats mainly.) We saw more than 100 in a Regatta today on the Bay.

The day promised to open up some as the clouds had a few breaks in them early in the morning. We decided that there was enough birds so we could return to the same spots two days in a row. We have seldom done that but agreed that that would work for us. We headed again for the Texas City refinerys. (Mobil, Marathon and others)

The first ponds held the same birds as we had seen the day before only with greater numbers (see yesterday's list). There were more Roseate Spoonbills as their pink colors gleamed in the hazy light. The great numbers of Green Winged Teals had increased and the usual Egrets and Herons were present. We added some Tree Swallows , too, (blue top , white under) as they darted in and out across the ponds catching insects .

The Texas City Dike (that 5.5 mile long one) had many more visitors on this Saturday with hundreds fishing on both sides of the dike. Remember this is 5 miles out in the Bay! The dozens of trucks indicated that here were many people out fishing in boats as well. It seemed to be a good time for families as there are many play and picnic areas along the dike and they were occupied. .

We stopped to get some pictures especially of the Black Skimmers that were massed on the lee side of the dike (away from the ship canal.). That stop lasted about an hour. When I started the car to move again the battery protested and was dead. A generous and kind man (in a pickup) stopped and gave me a jump. So I kept the car running the rest of the time we were there. We ate lunch,watched the ships , tugs and barges in the Bay and took a

Black Skimmers

few more pictures of the Eared Grebes in rafts then headed for home and a parts store. After another 30 minutes I had the battery checked , took out the battery and inserted a new one in its' place. It works fine as expected. The battery had some bad cells so was not long for this world. It is not pleasant to be on the road and find out that your vehicle wouldn't start and with all the "back roads" that we travel on looking for birds, we don't relish getting stuck on some rural road where no one comes by for ages (yes I know there is the cell phone, but we didn't bring it along.).Hey, I was born in 1931 remember?

We did stop for a DQ and Ruth likes a raspberry/chocolate Flurry and Jim likes banana/strawberry. It's a good after supper treat. It was salmon on the grill tonight!

YUM!

Tomorrow, after church, we will move on to Rockport where we will spend four nights before moving onto Kerrville west of San Antonio. There is good birding in the Rockport area.

You liked those "bad hair days" of the Mergansers, eh?

One picture today is of the memorial to the people who lost their lives in the 1947 explosion. It is the propeller from a ship that was destroyed in the blast... "The Hightower"

The memorial to the Texas disaster is a propeller of a destroyed ship (April 1947)

The Biplane is the tribute to the establishment of the US Air Force in Texas City.

Stay tuned--Jim and Ruth

Day 9 Birds at the Refinery!

The Texas City Refinery from the Dike

Yes, that is right! We birded at the refinery. Last night I mentioned the Texas City Refinery (a multi corporate owned set of buildings and towers) and today we did our birding in, around and near that complex. As the refinery is situated right on Galveston Bay and the ships and barges have to traverse by the dikes, and on the canals and passageways to the port, that means they have encroached on the natural and historic habitats of the wildlife in that vast area. The main canal was dug in 1889 at 8 feet deep ,.Over the years it was redug to meet the ships sizes to 12, 25, 30, 38, and now 50 feet deep. These ships are huge today.

"Bad Hair Day" for the Merganser--

Starting at the south end of the complex across from the bridge to Galveston, we stopped along both sides of the road there and began our survey the ponds on both sides of the road. That road took us directly through the refinery grounds and by the official Port of Texas City. It led to a 5.5 mile long dike that heads out to Galveston Bay. It is huge! The road and dike were built to guide the flow of water through the Bay to the Ocean. It has been added onto in width almost every year. And today there were trucks bringing more fill and huge, above ground 6 foot in diameter “pots” in which to plant trees. It is a great fishing spot as it practically “touches” ships going in and out of the Bay and the Ship Canal. We ate our "picnic" lunch along the dike and watched a large flock of Black Skimmer mixed in with Laughing Gulls, Sanderlings and those Common and Forster’s terns. Nice lunch treat!
One special group of birds we saw in the ship canal, were a number of rafts of Eared Grebes,100-200 in number, which we have seldom seen. The day began to open up with the early clouds starting to part. By the time we arrived, later, at the trailer, it was sunny.
The second last leg of the day was along the Hurricane dike that stretches for many miles on the east bank of the wetlands. From that vantage we saw some American Pipits, and a group of Bonaparte Gulls. This dike is well groomed with sloping sides down on both sides ending some 30 feet below the road level.
---The Hurricane Dike at Texas City

Finally we looked for and found (Jim skids to a stop) the Texas Prairie Chicken Preserve right off highway 146. This Preserve was created to help reestablish the Attwater Prairie Chicken whose number have been as low as 50 individuals in the last 20 years. Without a breeding program they would have been extinct already. The Center was not open but we talked with the administrator and learned that ongoing work is being done on this 2,203 acre plot donated by the Mobil Oil Co in 1996, with a $2.2 million donation. See this site for a look at the Attwater Prairie Chicken. http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/texas/preserves/texascity.html
The other birds we saw today (not already mentioned) were: Brown Headed Cowbird, Belted Kingfisher, Mourning Dove, Common and Great Tailed Grackle, Northern Mockingbird, Snowy Egret, Double Crested Cormorant, Pied Billed Grebe, Green Winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Roseate Spoonbills, Great Egret, Brown and White Pelicans, White Ibis, Coot, Royal and Caspian Terns, Great Blue Heron, Ruddy Duck, Bufflehead, Purple Martin, Pintail Duck, Starling, Blue Winged Teal, Willet, Common Golden Eye, Common Loon, the Herring, Ring Billed and Glaucous Gulls, Red Breasted and Hooded Mergansers, Common Tern, Semi- palmated Sandpiper, Caspian Tern, Northern Shrike, Cattle Egret, and the Bonaparte Gull.
That ended the day’s exploration and as usual Ruth downloaded the pictures, and sorted the shots. The tabulations are taken in the field as we move along or hike a trail. Today was close to the vehicle all day. (Water sites mostly)
The day was a bit cooler as the High Pressure slides by south of us and tomorrow we shall see some increase in temps when the winds shift to the south. Weather predicting is quite easy here for the most part. (Says Jim)

Tomorrow we will explain how we set up the camers, use the binoculars and the telescope for viewing. It's not rocket science.
Thanks for the encouragement for the Blog and I am sure the weekend will find others reading it when there may be more time. May the days begin to warm”Up North”. Y’all enjoy the weekend, --Jim and Ruth

Day 8 A Lazy Day

Day 8 Rainy Day

The SNAFU’s from the previous day’s blogs, I apologize for, as it is a learning process curve I should have mastered before I started composing them. At any rate I am using a new approach which shall be untold until I am finished and it is successful.
When I said it was a lazy day I meant just that, a day to complete the laundry and that was not without a surprise. (Later), Earier we got in some needed grocery shopping. (Nice to see all those fresh fruits and veggies start to come in from the Texas markets.) After that it was readin’, writin’ and watching the movie “Don’t Touch the Horses”, with Jane Seymour. Sable Island, where the film was made is about 90 miles off the coast of Nova Scotia at the edge of the Continental Shelf. It has a herd of wild horses that do not come in contact with any humans. The Island is 25 miles in length and really a “spit” in the true sense of the geographical terminology.
But back to the laundry as that was a highlight of the day for me. Another couple was just into the drying of their laundry when we started our washing. As we usually do, we exchanged introductions and noted that they were from Anchorage (AK). That piqued my curiosity and after further exchanges and that we had both taught in Alaska, I of course told him where I taught . “Newtok”, I said, and he just beamed. This man, Larry Smith had been the principal/ teacher with his wife as teacher in the early 1960’s at a time when some of the natives were still living in mud houses... He taught at the BIA school (Bureau of Indian Affairs) a K-8 school. Then we began a series of exchanges and talked of the people we knew who were still there. (I was there some 20 years later when they had electricity and a telephone and a TV in the village.) It really was an amazing piece of coincidence that we crossed paths. The village of Newtok had only 75-100 people when he was there and the village “nurse” was not married and now has many grandchildren. I do know her,well, and he told a story about Julia that involved him and the delivering of a baby when other medical personnel were 100 miles away. It is a small world. By the way, this was the cheapest laundry we have ever had on any trip as the dryers were $1.00 for a full 45 minutes. The washers were the same price per load. It was a very clean facility. That’s important when traveling.

Six tanks of Nitrogen at minus -320 F (JSC)
To review yesterday a bit I would again say that the Johnson Space center has much in the way of Space History and equipment from the past advances in space. The rockets, clothing, foods, tools, and the projects that are ongoing such as the International Space Lab are all depicted clearly and spread out enough so you can linger at any point and neither feel you are being in the way nor rushed. Atlas Agena Rocket
.Tomorrow as the rains go away toward noon we will take a short trip to some birding sites at Texas City the scene of the April 1947 “GRANDCAMP” ship explosion (Ammonium nitrate) that killed 581 people and injured 7,000 others. Every attempt that was made to put out the fire created a better environment for it. ("Steaming" the hull, pouring on water, etc) A second ship loaded with ammunition was also adjacent to it and received fire pieces from the explosion and it too eventually blew up and killed two {more people. Sightseeing planes flying overhead had their wings blown off from the supersonic explosion. But today the birds fly there in a few spots in spite of the huge refineries.. The Texas Refinery (Brit. Petro.) puts out 433,000 barrels of fuel per day with their 1700 employees. Baytown TX is the largest refinery in the USA, soon to be overshadowed by Port Arthur exp-anded by the Shell Oil Corp. The fire in Big Spring on the 16th (Feb) pushed gasoline prices up a bit. . --Enough on Texas oil.--

Old Command Center Building (JSC)

So hope all’s well out there and winter starts to” go away” Hooray for the rain in the east as they need it. Happy days,- Jim and Ruth

Day 7 NASA and Bolivar Flats

I am really sorry about yesterday , but I learned to get the pictures posted before "shifting gears" on the blog. Today we shall catch you up on that greattrip across the Bay and add the visit to the Johnson Space Center only fivemiles from our camp site.
Yesterday started very sunny and deteriorated as the day progressed. The trip across the Ferry (free) was smooth and takes about 15-20 minutes. On the othr side (east side) is a long peninsula that is attacehed to the east side of the Galveston Bay. In this area are some ten great birding sites and we visited some six of them. One was nthe 'back bay' and contained many of the wading birds that were not onthe ocean side (there's a topic for research). TheBlack Necked Stilts, and many diving Terns in cluding the Forsters, Common and the larger Caspian Tern. These birds are difficult to distinguish and we did use the trusty Sibley's Bird Guide a lot.
The drive to the Bolivar Flats is near the Pass where the ships travel to Galveston and Houston and as many as 50 a day. Then there is a drive on teh packed sand for about anothermile to the areas of interest where the birds feed in the shallows (Flats). We were too eaqrly as the tide was out in the Am, so we returned in the PM whe conditions were better.Here there are more than 10,000 American Avocets in rafts and flying and generally keeping fed for the trip nporth next month. Also were thousands of White Pelicans, numerous sandpipers ,Ruddy Turnstones, plovers, and even a few Long BilledCurlews. (See yesterday's pictures.) Inbetween waiting for the tide we ventured to the High Island's Smith Woods and the roosting site for the Roseate Spoonbills and Great Egret's nesting sites.IT waqs eaqrly but as yesterday's picture showed , they were begoinning to stake out territory for nests. There ws evensome gathering of twigs by a few. (See Spoonbills in yesterdays pictures).ON the way home before the Ferru ride we did see PIed Billed grebes, and two "American"birds , the American Wigeon and the American Avocet. What a beautiful bird!
Today it was a visit to the Johnson Space Center (JSC) just a few miles down the road adn not really "IN" Houston. Remember the phrases sent out from the "Command Center on TV in the 50's?. "Hello Appolo this is Houston", wellthis is the place. It is a huge complex, on 1,600 acres, and emplys 14,000 people and other civilians non attached. We did the tram tour which in cluded the Command Center first as rain threatened (That was a wise move). The Center besides the working part has a sort of "Museum/entertainment/history exhibit that includes memporabilia, and mockups of every possible connection to the space program. Ther are s\Flight simulators, :do it yourself" landing practices, a "take off " module (Go ahead and feel the G forces), real models of the sky lab, and portions of various modules in "cutaways" that you can touch and see. IT was a great visit and would beespecially good for those who hav an interest in space but are unfamiliar with what NASA has done. The Hubble

Day 6 Taking the ferry

This will be brief as I am still learning and "vaporized" the blog for the day.

Longbilled Curlew

Roseate Spoonbills

Tomorrow I will "capsuleise" the day and include tomorrow. (NASA space Center ). Here are some pics on the trip to the east side of Galveston Pass by the Ferry. See ya tomorrow!-

Jim and Ruth

Some of those Ferries

Day 6 Taking Galveston Bay Ferry (lost is returned)

The shortest way to get to the Bolivar Flats birding shoreline, is to take the Ferry across Galveston Pass to the east side of the Bay. This is a 16 minute trip on the Ferry with little waiting as there are more than 5 Ferries that ply back and forth all day. The Bolivar Flats is a huge tract of wetlands, lakes, fields and salt marshes adjacent to the Galveston shipping channel where you can watch the ships all day! (It connects with Houston on the north)Bolivar Flats is one of the most important locations for bird preservation in the world. The tide was out in the morning so we returned in the PM and we were not disappointed as there were 10,000 plus birds there of many varieties. Especially present were the thousands of Avocets and White Pelicans.

The road is packed sand to the site which ends at a heavy fence before the channel. Other species there were about twenty in species number. They included the Ruddy Turnstones, Western Sandpiper, Long Billed Curlew, rafts of Lesser Scaups, those 'running' Sanderlings, Black Bellied Plovers and a few others.

The road from the Pass and the Ferry (30 miles) to High Island runs along the Gulf shoreline and is flat, very sandy and has little in the way of cover. There is access to a "back bay" area, as well. There is some population growth here and the homes on the third row from the Gulf are three stories high, often, to see over the two and one story homes in front of them. A small unpretentious home (1,000sf) would cost $400,000. (Saw thatfigure today)

From the road to the north, we could see the Inland Waterway that runs from south Texas to New Orleans. and the ocean going ships carrying cargo back and forth. They look like "schooners on the prairie" with their wheelhouse sticking up above the grass. as they slide by slowly.

There were five stops along the TBT (Texas Birding Trail), that we stopped which included seeing a Western Meeadowlark, some Northern Shrikes, and quite a few Northern Harriers. We revisted High Island, but aside from the pre nesting White Ibis and Roseate Spoonbills, there was little movingt there. Hurricane Rita in October of 2005 had damaged many trees and nesting sites in the Smith Oaks reserve.The amount of damage is still eveident as all repairs are voluntary. It will take many years to clean up. The High Island Bird Association has limited membership.

We added Widgeons, Pied Billed Grebes, three Terns, the Black Tren, the Forster's and Common Terns, and a raft of Red Breasted Mergansers, ll with a 'bad hair day' near the ferry dock and one other place. The total species for the day was 40.

The trip back , including the Ferry ride from the east side of the Pass to the campsite, took about 35 minutes on good roads and through Galveston. (We did not stop this time and Ruth's navigation kept Jim on the correct roads).

The day turned overcast after a good sunny start and rain is on the way. scheduled for Wed and Thursday. We are off to the NASA Houston Space Center tomorrow and will catch you up on "Zero Gravity", "Living in Space", "Flight Simulation," and a "Blast Off". Keep in touch and check in with the blog if you haven't yet. Even an e-mail will be great!

.--Jim andRuth

Day 5 We start birding

It seems like we have our footing here in Kemah TX and the day centered around getting the "lay of the land" and doing some birding at some nearby spots of interest.

We did get Propane (for those who may have wondered) nearby , and after that made our plans for the afternoon. Getting some local maps helped with street names even though we use the Texas Atlas (in the DeLorme series) for most routes. Those are excelent maps as they detail all the main cities.

All the sites we visited were across the N/S bridge between Kemah and Seabrook. (Clear River and Clear Lake) They were small spots for the most part, a few parks, one donated by a birder, a garden that used to be a nursery but now fully grown, but all of them showing something even though we birded in the afternoon (Not the birders favorite tiem ofthe day). The Herons, Egrets, Spoonbills and Gulls were numerous and active. A soaring Osprey gave us a great view of it's black and white markings as it sailed past us headed for the water in the Bay. A few pictures of some birds are included . The White Pelicans were stretching and yawning for Ruth as she snapped away.

It is still warm but the north wind (cold front) keeps the air with a bit of chill. No shorts today, but the sweatshirt went off an on all day.

Along Todville road we could view the many ships that ply back and forth to Houston. They say there are 50 ships a day on the average. It is steady stream.

We met a biker (Ed) on the trail and as a retired resident he was filled with good information about the area and environment. He also plies the Barrier Islands in the summer in a sailboat. There is a Seabrook Environmental group,here, that has a done a great job protecting against damage and eroding of the environment. It demands constant vigilance as the new building activity is ongoing.

Sorry that the weather in Michigan and WI has been so bad, but can spring be far away.?

Tomorrow we head across Galveston Pass on the Ferry to visit Bolivar Flats one of the most filled (with birds) birding sites in the world.

See you next time. Jim and Ruth

Day 4 Sunshine and Palm trees

The sun coming through the trailer window this morning was a God send to be sure. What a marvelous feeling! Birds singing, geese on the small lake outside the door, and a gentle breeze blowingthe buds on the trees. Just three "rigs"last night in the campground. Who would have thought that on the night before, that the lightning strikes, thunderboomers and the constant whooshing an splashing of rain on the roof would turn the weather around so quickly? But it did and the morning short run from Nacogdotches to Galveston Bay actually warmed the car, and forced us to doff both the coats and our sweaters for the first time.

Northeast Texas is mainly pine forests and mixed hardwoods with the Davy Crockett National Forest , and the Agelina N.F. being two that we traversed. Small by standards in the midwest (150,00 acres each more or less), they are important in their contribution to recreation, wildlife, and habitat for the state and country. This is where the expression "Piney Woods" comes from.

In this area are Stephen Austin University (15,000) at Nacogdoches and some other educational institutions which are the largest employers along with medical and social services. Surprising however, is Pilgrim's Pride (chicken plant) which is the largest employer in Lufkin County at 1200 employees. Then there is Moscow, Texas , probably one of the smaller towns in the Lone Star state. "There it was".

The names of the fast food chains change a bit as we get this far south as there are; "Whataburger", "Sonic", "Wafflehouse", and of course "Jack In The Box" to mention a few. We want to try the rapidly growing "Catfish King" as Ruth is a catfish fan.

Two and three story schools were seen in some towns and that was surprise. It certainly saves space. (Remember the old "fire escape slides" from two story schools?)

We continued to look for Propane refills but even "Buster Brown's Propane store was closed (Sunday) and that was fine as we will get some in Kemah where we are staying.

The approach to Houston (we went right through the heart of town on Sunday and it was relatively quiet) is like "cement city" and I am referring to the 6-8 lane highways rather than the buildings. It is an amazing piece of engineering. At one point on the Freeway (US 59 finally becomes one) there were seven, that's right seven roads stacked on top of one another. We were at level two and there were five above us. That is amazing. How do they do that? There is much construction all along US 59, even south of Houston, as it converts to a Freeway. The recent rains of course had made much mud in many places.

Finally we did arrive at our destination , Marina Bay RV Park, and it is quite new (4 years) and "tidy", again with a lot of cement . As we had camped everynight on gravel, this felt quiet "ticky tacky all in a row" at first. There are no trees in the park and we will miss that. I put up my colored ribbonned spinner on the pole, the USA flags, and a couple of colored "twirlies" that spin with the wind on the ends of the trailer. (See picture). So we are ready to explore the area and just "chill out " on Wed and Thursday when the predicted rains come.

We saw and heard our first Mockingbird ,today , some Purple Martins, Snow Geese, Killdeer, Robins, White Crowned Sparrows, the ubiquitous Turkey Vultures, Grackles and a few hawks.

We will see what tomorrow will bring.- Jim and Ruth

Day 3 Getting into Texas.

RAIN ,DAFFODILS AND DOGWOODS IN BLOOM! DID YOU SAY IVORY BILLED WOODPECKER?

We were able to get ready to roll before 8:00 AM and it rained just after we started down I-40, from Brinkley AR. This was our last day on the Interstate system (started by President Eisenhower) when we veered south onto US 59 out of Texarkana TX. The Day's Inn in Brinkley had a light breakfast , and you may have seen their "waffle and other foods" assortment that they have, and it got us started off with a good lift.
This part of Arkansas has many gas wells and there is a lot of accompanying businesses associated with that. That also means that this route , which leads to Dallas/Ft Worth, Houston and ponts west and east (Memphis) is a busy truck route, and traffic moved along smoothly. There are, along both sides of the road, many wildlife areas, and in spite of the rain we did see many ducks, hordes of Vultures, and "Ta- ta- ta--- ta- ta" , the return of the male Red Winged Blackbirds along the sides of the road. We drove through the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge which is one of many in the area where the IVORY BILLED WOODPECKER had been seen and the search is still going on . We crossed the White River in which this NWR is located. See this site for more info on the I B Woodpecker. http://www.fws.gov/cacheriver/search_update.htm Ruth claims she saw a pair of them lol. Spring is coming. Before the day was over we did see a blooming dogwood tree, many daffodils, and some green grass a little further south in Texas. So yes, Spring is on the way.
The temps started at the low 30's in the morning, but by the time we arrived in Nacogdoches. it was 67 F. Did I say spring is coming?
On this route is a very large sign , so you don't miss the birthplace of President Bill Clinton (Hope AR). It is a tiny place as you might have known just at the edge of I-40. He wasn't home.
We splurged today with lunch at a DQ (Dairy Queen) and had a small cone. (Honest, no Flurries...yet!) The rains continued to pelt us along the way becoming harder at times and almost misty at other times. We attempted too late to obtain a refill of #30 pounds of propane (always carry two tanks), but missed the local Propane place as it was Saturday and they were closed. Maybe tomorrow at Walmart? The night is warm now so really don't use much.
Finally, after passing many gas wells in NE Texas we arrived in Nacogdoches, TX amid a very heavy rain so inadvertently passed the RV park in the dark (5:00PM) and had to call for directions. Ruth said it was the worst marked park she has ever seen since traveling (that's a lot of parks, folks.) She was right, however, as a small sign was the only marker and it faced one way only, next to many trees away from the road and obscured from vision. . When we called the park from the side of US 59 we were 100 feet from the entrance and still didn't see it. I did a 360 in a parking lot (with the trailer), crossed to the center lane of the highwqay (US 59) and made a left hand turn into the gravel road to the park. We did get set up , about 3 minutes before the rain came down in sheets. We are snuggled in among the thunderboomers and lightning strikes but the worst has past at this writing (9:30PM CST) and moved on east. Tomorrow sunshine is promosed. YEAH!
Drop a line to us even on the email, and be of good faith. If you have trouble getting on the blog, E mail me as I have a set of directions to make it easier. -Love you all, Jim and Ruth
crazy4birds@comcast.net

Day 2 Into Arkansas

Hi again friends and family,

This was another day of driving the freeways via I-55, I-57 and I-40 from Illinois through Missouri and into Arkansas. You may say, 'well that must have been boring'! Well, it could have been except that there were helpful people along the way, the weather was gently warmer (not too quickly), "Deathly Hallows" went for four more chapters, and the scenery had a lot to offer, not to mention the wildlife.

Where do you want me to start? With the wildlife again. No , too easy. How about the crops of the area. Or looking at tornado "Alley" that we went through?

OK it's the crops. At this time of the year, the land lies fallow, and remember that from southern Illinois through SE Missouri across the Mississippi River's Alluvial Plain (we did that today) into eastern Arkansas it is VERY flat and fertile (a lot of bottom land from the Big Muddy.). So although the soil is moist and wet in places there are tracks across the cotton fields where last year's crops were harvested, and there are cotton plant stumps from some of the cotton fields where there will be other crops planted this year. The cotton crop is the number two crop in AR. Among those crops is rice, as Arkansas is the leader in rice production in the USA with 10 BILLION pounds raised per year. The straight stretches of green miniscule "grasslike" carpet, leads the eye out for miles in every direction/ This wouldbe winter wheat just starting to pop forth. yet still hidden are the tilled fields waiting for the planting of corn when the fields are dry enough for planting. Bio diesel is now another leading industry for this state from soy beans and corn, both. We did traverse the Crowley Ridge, as well, which is fertile with loess and clay

Then there was the wildlife, and the 92 hawks that Ruth counted, mostly on I-40, include five varieties of which we could identify (on the fly... no pun intended) the Kestral, the Cooper's the Northern Harrier and the Sharp Shinned hawks. The HIGHLIGHT of the day were three old rice fields where the Snow Geese numbered over 1,000 in each of the three fields. The fields were a sea of white. From a distance they would resemble Sea Gulls, but the sea gulls almost always have some birds in flight. These were just sitting and feeding with NONE in flight.This was just west of Memphis in Arkansas.

The area of last weeks tornadoes on I-55/57 was replete with damaged trees and although there were no building that we saw damaged , that storm brought more than 300 official NOAA reportings of hail, wind damage and tornadoes in TN, AR, MO, and TN. More than 60 people were killed and here in Brinkley AR, there are public notices for emergency assistance needed by the agencies.

One of the major commercial buildings that we did see, was the Walgreen's Heqdquarters in Missouri just off I-57.

Our campground tonight is behind a Day's Inn and again is very quiet (there is one other camper). The pictures shows that and our own yard the morning we left Grand Rapids.

We are watching the Texas storms move east and will stay in Nacadoches,TX on Saturday hoping the rain will be sufficient for the soil to say , "enough!"

May this find you all in good health and able to get on board the site. I understnad it is still very white in MI

Blessings,





Jim and Ruth

Day 1 MIchigan to Illinois

Hi again friends and family,
Ruth and Jim did "Get outta Dodge" today and headed down I-96, I-69, and I-70 before ending up in Effingham,IL. We saw much wild life along the way as we have trained ourselves to spot it as we move. That included today, but was not limited to; more than three coyotes, some deer, more than 30 wild turkeys, assorted birds including woodpeckers, Kestrals, Sharp Shinned and other hawks .The sun shone, the temperatures rose above freezing a little, and the ice finally melted off the trailer and from under the wheel wells. A lot of trucks splattered ice and snow pieces as we drove along.
The snow line was just south of Indianapolis about where the corn crops start to grow in earnest. It surely is flat, fertile soil. Flood watches still exist on the Wabash and Tippicanoe River areas.
We are settled in a Park we had camped in before but never as the ONLY ones in the Park. Sure is quiet! Ahhh! Temps are still cool (30F at 10:PM), but no snow or precip at this time although some is expected in the AM (light).
Although today's drive was a bit long (450 miles) listening to Harry Potter (6th book-Death Hallows) allowed the miles to roll along imperceptively.
We head for the outskirts of Memphis tomorrow at Marion AR. Stay tuned.
Hope you have the entry system to the blog figured. If not, ask for help from the younger generation. Blessings, Jim and Ruth (pictures will come soon)

Getting Ready to roll

Hi Friends and family,

We are here in Grand Rapids on this bitter Sunday evening awaiting a "window" to escape to the southland. This is the site that you can follow in order to keep track of what the trip and the places along the way might be like.

We will add pictures, stories, geography (Jim's favorite) , and of course the bird life along the way.

Feel free if you wish to comment and add your thoughts , questions and feelings to the site.

As this is our first attempt to use this media, we will learn as we go along. We will be interested in your comments as well.

Here's hoping we can "Get Outta Dodge" this week.

Blessings,

Jim and Ruth