Goose Island State Park

Brown Pelican

It was still cold and rainy the morning we left Galveston but by the time we arrived at Goose Island State Park the skies were lighter and the rain had turned to mist.  Although David and I had visited Rockport and the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge before, we had not camped at Goose Island.

The park has two camping areas, one right on the beach and one in the woods about a quarter mile from the beach.  We elected to stay in the woodland after our windy stay on Galveston Island - a little protection from the wind sounded like a good idea.  

After a short hike near our campsite and some of David’s excellent homemade tomato soup for dinner to warm us, we went to a birding program given by volunteers in the park.

 

Great Blue Heron 'take off'

 

The next morning the sun was out and though still a cool 48 degrees, we could tell it was going to be an excellent day.  Inspired by the birding program the previous night, we decided to join the 8 am bird walk.  We had a great time birding with other campers and Jim, the volunteer leader from Arizona, was excellent.  Jim has been coming to Goose Island every winter for the past 10 years to lead the birding activities in the park.

Roseate Spoonbills and Ibis

The weather just got nicer so we stayed outside in the sun as much as we could. The next three days consisted of early morning bird walks that didn’t end until 11 or 12, followed by lunch at our campsite, then an exploratory afternoon hike with Maya, dinner and the nightly birding program.

 

Bird Tracks on the beach

 

 

Jelly Fish

 

 

The Big Tree

 

Goose Island is known for two celebrated residents so one afternoon we took a drive to look for them.  The first one, the Big Tree, an enormous 1,000-year-old coastal live oak was relatively easy to find as it stays in one place. The other one, the rare endangered whooping crane, was going to be a little trickier.  

A very small population of whooping cranes winter on the Texas coast around Goose Island so our chances of seeing them were fair.  We were so glad to find five whooping cranes - one pair and then another pair with a juvenile crane.  They were fairly close to us and we got a great view of all five cranes with our binoculars.  But they were not quite close enough for my new Christmas present, a telephoto lens, to photograph very well.  I am developing quite a respect for good wildlife photographers.

Seems like we can't escape fire but at least this one

was a 'prescribed burn' to improve bird habitat on

the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.

 

 

Brown Pelicans "Moe, Larry and Curley"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Galveston Island and More Rain...

As quickly as it came, the sun went away.  We left Brazos Bend for Galveston Island State Park and arrived there in wind and rain. We had arranged to meet my brother and sister-in-law for the weekend. They were staying in the historic Galvez Hotel and we were to stay in the state park. The plans were to divide our time between beach and state park and great seafood and a little pampering at the Galvez.  But mother nature had other ideas...

The temperature dropped into the low 40’s.  That plus the 35 mph wind and rain made us want to stay inside something - the RV, the hotel or a good seafood restaurant and eat and drink warm things.

The Galvez is a lovely, historic hotel and it was fun to explore it.  We did a little driving around Galveston as we hadn't been there since before Hurricane Rita. Galveston looks like it has recovered well except for those beautiful old oak trees that are no longer with us.

We only toughed it out for two days but we did have some great seafood, clam chowder and lots of coffee.  It was fun to be with my brother, Tim and his wife, Linda even though we didn’t get in any ‘beach time.’ 

Brazos Bend State Park

Cormorant at Brazos Bend State Park

As we left Palmetto State Park the sun and blue skies were out, a most welcome sight.  We drove about two hours east and a little south and arrived at Brazos Bend State Park, a new park for us.  Brazos Bend State Park includes about 5,000 acres of bottomland and upland coastal prairie just southwest of Houston.  Containing woodland, wetland and prairie habitats, the park has an amazing diversity of plants and animals.  The park is on the Texas Coastal Birding Trail with over 300 species of birds seen regularly plus 23 species of mammals and 21 species of reptiles including one of the largest, the American Alligator.
 

Gator with green algae 'beard'
Notice the teeth - alligators have an overbite so you see
their upper teeth. 

 

As soon as we got a campsite, we grabbed the binoculars, the camera and Maya and went out into the sun to try our luck at spotting some of those many species of animals.  My goodness, there were so many birds!  I don’t think I have seen so many coots in one place in my life (and I’m not talking about the campers…)

 

Great Egrets

 

Also, it was so warm, we put on shorts!  We forgot about rain and winter for 2 beautiful days and like the alligators, we basked in the warmth.  Speaking of alligators we saw dozens of them and several were so large we did not want to meet them on the trail - but we did!  You want to give them about 30 feet of space but a few times we did not have that option.  The ‘gators’ were so happy and docile basking in the sun that we were not too worried.  Still we never took our eyes off them as we carefully skirted around them on the trail. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A New Year and the Joys of Winter Camping

Possumhaw Holly Berries

It is 2013 – the world survives into another year!  I never doubted it though there were those dire end-of-the-world predictions. Texas is certainly starting off the new year with much needed rain.  I think we are all hoping this will be a wetter year for the western states and a cooler year for all.  2012 being the warmest year on record is not something to have repeated in 2013.

Rainy winter day in Palmetto State Park

We are living a little closer to nature since we sold the house and went on the road.  A small RV is not exactly living off the land but it is not quite the luxury of a house either.  Much of the time we do have the comforts of electricity and water, but I think of them now as a bonus where before I seldom thought about them at all (except maybe during hot summer months when we paid the high bills.)
 

'Hanging out to dry...'

The main reason for choosing our new lifestyle - the ability to live and be outside most of the time - becomes more challenging in winter. Although Texas winters are mild by most standards, winter rains do make camping and hiking more effort.  The RV is often humid and cramped with wet boots and clothes and towels hanging to dry.  Maya’s little feet have got to be sore from being dried off so many times a day.  And we all are a little colder than we like. Still, the rain is good for the drought – if not always good for our mood…  But there is nothing like a walk between the showers observing the beauty the rain brings to lift our spirits.

Fallen Prickly Pear Pad

We have been bouncing around a little to try to stay warmer and/or drier the best we can.  After a wet week in San Antonio we headed for the coast with a stop over in Palmetto State Park.  Rain can be hard to outrun and it really caught up to us at Palmetto.  So we decided to hunker down for a couple of days until it let up.  We do have rain pants and jackets so we managed to hike some in spite of it all.  It was good to see the swampy areas of the park filling back up with much needed water after such a dry season. 
 

 

Dwarf Palmettos and swamp receiving much needed rain

 

Lichens love rain too!

Soggy man and dog...

Not Dead Yet...

Black Vulture at Palmetto State Park

Call off the vultures, the blog has come back to life!  We are now able to post photos again.  Blogger got the problem fixed.

I'll catch you all up to what's been going on and where we are as quick as I can.

Technical Difficulties

We hope to have some new posts up soon.  There have been problems with inserting the photos.   

In the meantime, we are headed for the Texas coast.  We will catch you all up with our adventures soon...

South Llano River State Park and Turkeys...

Young turkeys crossing the campground headed for roosting area

Junction, Texas is about 2 hours west of San Antonio and we have travelled past it many a time on our way from San Antonio to visit family in Odessa over the past 15 years.  That stretch of I-10 is long, fairly straight and you can go 80 mph for much of it.  But not so in our RV - rather than a 5 1/2 hour drive, it is more like a 7 hour drive. We decided to break up our Christmas trip both coming and going by stopping at South Llano River State Park just 3 miles south of Junction.

Red Oak still in color on Buck Lake

This proved to be a great decision on our part allowing us to have a little quiet time both before and after all the family gatherings and Christmas celebrations.  We were able to arrive well rested and calm and then afterward we had a few days to hike and rest and get that calm back.  The restorative powers of nature are amazing.
 

South Llano River

Prickly Pear Cactus in purple death throws

One of the coolest things about this park is that from October 1 to April 1, a portion of the park is a designated Turkey Roost Area.  As many as 800 young turkeys winter here.  They need  proximity to the river for water and the thick growth of oak, pecan and other trees that extend to the water’s edge for their nightly protection.  During the day the turkeys roam the area and nearby ranches ‘scratching’ for food and then return to the park to roost at night.  

Turkey track

Cardinals in bird blind area

 

There are also several miles of both hiking and biking trails near heavily wooded warbler and vireo habitat.  Besides the turkey roost area, there are two nice bird blinds in the park.  The enclosed blinds have comfortable chairs and benches along with pictures, bird books and lists to help identify what birds are there.  We even saw an armadillo taking advantage of the water feature in one of the bird blinds.  You will only see the turkeys from October to April, but this is a great park for birding year round.

Approaching the 'Roost'

 

 

 

David and Maya enjoying the pecan log bench