February 15, 2014 The Rest of the Week

The internet service was so iffy at Port Aransas that I just gave up on posting here.  I will summarize the week here.

I think I left you yesterday  morning as we were going to breakfast.

Thursday and Friday
Both days we left Mustang Island, crossing on the free ferry to go to the Rockport TX area.

Thursday we visited the site of the Fulton Mansion--see yesterday's photo.  It is not nearly as large as the Biltmore but makes me think of it with the innovations added to the building.  

We had lunch both days at "Charlotte Plummers" Restaurant, an excellent seafood restaurant.  Oysters, shrimp, oyster stew, shrimp gumbo was delicious as well as bread pudding for dessert.  Note; this wasn't all one meal!

Thursday we then boarded the "Skimmer" a tour boat, going toward the Aransas National Park, home to the Whooping Cranes.  The boat captain was excellent.  We enjoyed his closing speech: "friends don't  let friends go birding on a fishing boat", meaning he was a birder.  He was excellent at locating and describing the birds seen.  We saw nearly 40 species that afternoon.  Of course the Whooper Cranes were the highlight.  I am showing you just a few of the 60 I have in the files.

Sub Adult age, about one year.

Parents and offspring

Adult with band and radio transmitter--like a GPS so it can be tracked.

The population declined in the first half of the 1900's until there were only 30 birds--total in US, but has increased with care and preservation of enviroment to about 400.  An adult is about 52" tall with a wingspan of 87".  They are equal-opportunity eaters-- eating anything, but love soft-shell crabs.  

The picture just above shows a crew unloading 100-lb burlap sacks of oysters.  Each boat can harvest 50 bags per day, with the season lasting six months--November to April.  

This Big Tree is a live oak, or coastal live oak, at least 1000 years old.  It is located in Goose Island State Park, just north of Rockport.

Finally, two more pictures of Whooping Crane and Sandhill Cranes.  The last two show 7-8 whooping cranes mixed in with two dozen or so sandhill cranes in a pasture.  The homeowner had put out a feeder (see above) and the whoopers were enjoying the easy-eating.  

Sandhill cranes are much more abundant, social birds, about 41 inches tall with a wingspan of 73 inches.  It was great seeing these birds, appreciating the efforts that saved the Whooper Cranes.

Last night our sweethearts--Glen and Gary--took us to a community theater performance of "Steel Magnolias", with a cast of six women.  The outing was complete with chocolate and a free drink!

The performance was enjoyable.  The actresses did a great job.  We talked about the ability to memorize lines.  

We were up early this morning, driving the three hours or so back to Zapata.  Back to our own bed, back to fast internet!  

We thank Gary and Evelyn from our hearts for sharing the condo with us.  It was a great week, even if the first few days were cold.  The week had....beach, sand, birds, seafood, boatride, seafood, whooping cranes, seafood!!