Birds of the Gulf Coast
The Gulf Coast of Texas is among the birdiest places one can find on this continent. On any given day, there are around 200 different species there. At times during spring migration, the number is closer to 300. During our trip along that coast last week, I didn't get anywhere near the 200 figure. The weather was rather miserable, gray and drizzly every day, and the conditions for birding were not optimal. Still, I did manage to see a goodly number of the feathered residents. I've already shown you the most spectacular feathered creatures we saw - the Whooping Cranes of Aransas . Here are a few others that we encountered along the way. The Whooping Cranes were not even the only cranes that we saw on the trip. In a meadow near the entrance to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, a small group of Sandhill Cranes were making a rest stop on their way north. A total of six of the birds were looking for snacks in the marshy field. And cranes weren't the only big birds around. We a...