Alligators: Bags and Boots - Sun., Jan. 12, Part 2

Okay, the title is a trick. Our destination after lunch was Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center in Port Aransas, Texas. No visitor center, just walk in and visit. The alligators, Bags and Boots, live in the pond here. Whoever named them had a black sense of humor.

Bags and Boots

Unfortunately, we did not see Bags and Boots today. We did find this fellow, however.

I stuck my head in an alligator's mouth. LOL.

I added some new birds to my list...

Common yellowthroat

Yellowthroat preening

Green heron hunting

Two Barrow's goldeneyes with a green-winged teal

Other birds at Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center included roseate spoonbills, a flock of white ibis, brown pelican, ruddy ducks, and American coot. Here are photos of the Birding Center environs and more birds.

Boardwalk and observation tower.

From the observation tower we spotted six Roseate spoonbills and a flock of white ibis.

Ruddy duck with tail in the water

Pied-billed grebes - winter plumage

Roseate spoonbills

Flock of white ibis with American coot behind.

The following brown pelican was sitting so beautifully in the sun. All of a sudden it was bath time. No mistaking the sound of a big pelican's wings slapping the water! Scroll past the American coot to see the pelican bathing.

Brown pelican

American coot

Pelican bathing

Pelican bathing

Pelican bathing

"Aren't I handsome?"

Great blue heron thinks it's a statue!

Looks like black-capped petrel.

A very successful bird walk. The birding center will be on my must-see list whenever we go to Aransas Pass.

Next we stopped at Paradise Pond. One of the other birders at Leonabelle Turnbull told us not to expect much at Paradise Pond as there is no pond left. We saw one bird by a watering hole and a bunch of weeds and trees, no pond.

Fungi were the most visually interesting vegetation at Paradise Pond.

Close-up photo of fungi

Erin and Mui mentioned Charlie's Pasture to us. Again, the gentleman at Leonabelle Turnbull gave us directions to Charlie's Pasture. If you go, be sure to stop by the ship channel and watch for dolphins swimming by. We saw one or two as we looked out over the channel.

The sky kept getting darker and we could see rain cells moving in. When we got to Charlie's Pasture, we started walking and a brief shower made us turn back to the pavilion. We waited a few minutes and set out again.

Beautiful blooms in January.

Sun and rain

Boardwalk at Charlie's Pasture

Wilson's phalarope, lower center

Little blue heron, I think.

Little egret

The rain started in earnest and we cut our walk short to hightail it back to the car. We made it before we got too wet. It was a very short drive to the Port Aransas ferry crossing so we took advantage and drove on the ferry to take us across the channel. The ferry is free and runs 24 hours a day. The wait was only about ten minutes and the ferry crossing takes 5-10 minutes. Soon we were on our way home.

Back in San Antonio, we had dinner at Taqueria Guadalajara across the street from our RV park. Bob had enchiladas verdes and I opted for fajitas de pollo. They make very good food and I had enough fajitas left over to make at least one more meal.

This night owl is calling it a morning. Tomorrow, a friend and I are off to see a movie. I'd like to see "Her."

Good night.