March 18 2001 - Spring Break Day 5

Michael and I headed over to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge early in the morning for another adventure...

(If you want to see any of the photos closer, please click on that photo)

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Just before we entered the front entrance we spotted this dead snake in the road. I had to turn back around as Michael wanted to see what kind it was. Yes my son is very interested in snakes and thought this one was pretty cool even if it was dead and smooshed in the road, sigh. I didn't get out or flip it over but from our Texas snake book it looks like it might be a Bull snake.

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I've been going to ANWR for the past 10 yrs and I still hadn't walked all the trails. Michael and I decided to do something different on this trip. We wanted to walk as many of the trails as possible, there are 8 trails. We did fairly well, and the only one we didn't walk was the Birding trail #2. Two of the trails that I found very neat and wished I'd tried sooner was the Birding trail #1 and the Big Tree trail. One reason I or we haven't done the trails often is because of the Mosquitoes. They can be awful. But this time we covered ourselves in Mosquito repellent and off we went.

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Palamedes swallowtail on a thistle. The Thistle is known as a horrible thistle in one of my books and the Palamedes swallowtail is found in marshes and swampy areas. We found these on the rail trail.

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Palamedes swallowtail a bit closer...
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And even closer with a bee for company.

The butterflies and bees were loving these thistles. I could have stayed here all day taking photos.
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A common moorhen amongst the reeds...rail trail.
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A juvenile Alligator, they were all over the banks of Tomas Slough. We had fun trying to spot them. Michael kept asking me where are Mom and Dad Alligator, I told him I didn't know but we had to keep our eyes open.
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This one was easy to spot because of how yellow and black it was...
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This one was snoozing amongst the reeds.
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A type of rail called a Sora. A first for me, the book says they are fairly common. We saw one earlier in some brush on the slough but I wasn't able to get a decent photo of it.

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I was just stunned and amazed at the amount of butterflies on the thistles. I love going to ANWR and each time we go we see something new or different.
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Michael at the Heron flats trail checking for birds.
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Exploring Birding trail #1.

It was so quiet and beautiful down this trail. We heard a lot of birds but Michael was in walking mode and didn't want to stop. It's a very short trail but nice.
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The Blue Beast looks like she is hiding from us...Hide and Seek anyone?
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Indian Blanket or also known as Firewheel.

We found these near the Bay Overlook trail. It was really windy which doesn't make for photographing wildflowers easy...ANWR is on the San Antonio Bay and the wind seems to always be blowing.
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Ducks of some type out on the bay. I just don't have the lens for this type of photography. There were dozens and dozens of birds floating out on the bay. We were standing on the fishing pier by the picnic area.
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My all time favorite trial...Dagger Point. They've closed part of the trail and the boardwalk that over looks the bay due to erosion and it makes me sad. I've asked several times if they are going to fix the overlook and stairs and they say no. I guess it's not possible due to erosion.

We did walk this trail and went to Dagger point but shh don't tell as we walked the trail they closed. It wasn't dangerous and we were careful near the top of the dunes. We did not go over or near the stairs or wooden boardwalk.
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Near one of the scenic bay overlooks on the trail...
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Here you can see the stairs and wooden overlook, it's crumbling. I love to beach comb this area.
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Michael likes to play in the sea :o)
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Watching the dolphins just off shore. We spotted a pod while we were on the trail looking at the bay, too cool. When we got to dagger point they were still out there.
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A Dolphin fin, sweet...Not sure if they were fishing or playing.
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Whatever they were doing they were making a lot of splashes...
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Above is looking back towards the fishing pier and picnic area.

This used to be dry land and about 200 yds off the point a house used to be there...That would be so cool to live out there. Well when it wasn't covered in water.
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He was playing with clam shells...take a photo Mom. One problem Mom had her wide angle lens on the camera, I tried.
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Dreaming of the sea perhaps? It was gorgeous out there.
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Mint family
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Michael spotted this on a tree...good eye Michael.

Texas Spiny Lizard, male (blue stripe). This was on the Big Tree Trail.
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Boardwalk at the Observation tower.

He was looking at the oil and gas platforms out in the bay. He loves the fact that the telescopes are free but wanted to suggest they get the focusing mechanism fixed, lol.
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While standing there I was watching this bird soar closer to us...and I finally realized it was an Osprey. He practically flew right down on top of us and I got a couple of good shots of him, sweet! I've been trying for years of a decent photo of an Osprey, normally they are pretty shy when it comes to people.
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Looking towards the observation tower, It's in the middle of the photo at the top of the trees.

They are building a new one (to the left peeking out of the trees), I am not sure if they are going to shutdown the older one. I hope they don't it's above the canopy and I love being able to look out over the top of the trees.
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This little pond is just off the Big Tree Trail and I was stunned by all the birds. Tri-colored Herons, Woodstorks, Herons, Egrets, just all sorts of shore birds, wow. So this is where they hide during the day, lol. Now I know and I will certainly go back. I had a couple tell me they had seen whooping cranes in this area before too, cool. I've never seen the whooping cranes up close.
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Headed out, he's in a hurry.

It was getting a bit warm. I think I heard him chanting...truck a/c, truck a/c, lol...
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A view from the old observation tower looking at the boardwalk where we were earlier...San Antonio bay in the distance.
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American Coot at the Jones Lake viewing area.
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Jones lake.

We walked out on the boardwalk and stood there not see anything except the Coots and a few ducks. Michael turned around and said lets go. I said Nooo, there is something here we just need to look a little harder. I just know there is more here Michael. He sighed but then started looking off the boardwalk into the mud and water...
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Wapato or Duck Potato.
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and Look what Michael spotted...Cool!

He was so excited. We just looked it up in our Texas snake book and it looks to be a Western ribbon snake.
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Here is another one. Yes there were two of them slithering through the mud. Michael watched the snakes. He also pointed them out to the people who came out to the viewing area. Finally they both slithered back into the brush...
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Then Michael spotted this leopard frog...
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And the American Coots came a bit closer...Michael in the mean time had spotted 2 more leopard frogs and told me Mom you were right there was more to see here. I think he learned his lesson...you may not see anything but stop and look harder and you might just be surprised.

We had a really good day. We arrived at 9:30 am and didn't leave until 2pm. Normally with Michael it's always been a quick trip to ANWR but today he slowed down and seemed to enjoy himself. I know I did.

I used my 100mm Macro lens, 10-22mm wide-angle lens, and the 28-105mm lens. All lenses were Canon.

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That was the end of our Spring Break Adventures.

We hope you enjoyed our Spring Break photos and stories.

It was a busy week.