October 9, 2009 | 
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I invite you to take a look at my glorious day in Port Aransas, TX – rain and all! The area has been dry for so long that the residents have been on water restrictions. This rain was welcomed by wildlife and the locals…so I decided to have fun with it myself. I have lots of pictures to share, so sit back and enjoy!
This sign was in a park near the ferry landing – and I know I saw and photographed all of these animals except the Laughing Gull. (And I may have a picture of laughing gulls in juvenile plumage and just don’t know it!)
This is my first-ever sighting of a “real-live” sea turtle! Isn’t she(?) beautiful?! I was standing on the rocks rather precariously – tripod and all – trying to focus on her through the shallow water. There were at least two turtles, swimming languidly along the shore. I saw them come up for air a time or two – I can’t explain it, but I instantly fell in love with them. I did a quick Internet search to attempt to ID this turtle, and found something much more interesting:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 9, 2009Obama Administration Officials to Hold Gulf Coast Regional Ocean
Policy Task Force Public Meeting on October 19, 2009New Orleans, LA – Obama Administration officials will hold a Gulf
Coast Regional Ocean Policy Task Force Public Meeting in New Orleans
on Monday, October 19, 2009. The Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force,
led by White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy
Sutley, consists of senior-level officials from Administration
agencies, departments, and offices.The Task Force, established by President Obama via presidential
memorandum on June 12, is charged with developing a recommendation
for a national policy that ensures protection, maintenance, and
restoration of oceans, our coasts and the Great Lakes. It will also
recommend a framework for improved stewardship, and effective coastal
and marine spatial planning. The meeting in New Orleans will be the
fifth regional public meeting held since the Task Force was created.
The public is encouraged to attend and an opportunity for public
comment will be provided.Members of the public can access the meeting in three ways: by
attending in person at one of the sites listed below; by calling into
the listen-only phone line (800-369-1897; participant code: 2495142);
or via live webstream at http://www.whitehouse.gov/oceans.See full press release by clicking here.
I am DEFINITELY going to watch the webstream – I hope you will too. I am excited to learn about all of the ways that we can protect our oceans and our precious (see above turtle) ocean wildlife.
I’m going to hope that this fella is the same little bird on the sign – a Ruddy Turnstone. If not, maybe in the same family…? Today’s post will be more about sharing photos and thoughts, less about providing species identification…so if you happen to know the species ID or common names, please chime in!
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These little birds scurried about through gusty winds and splashing surf. They did not seem to notice or care about the few fishermen standing around – or me in my soaking wet clothes. Rain slicker? What rain slicker? Oh yeah…the one I left in the trunk of my car.
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This bird (godwit?) was the only one of his kind amongst the flocks of other shorebirds that I saw. He dashed around the rocks, undeterred by the strong waves rolling in. This struck me as particularly brave of this lone shorebird…though it might be all in a days’ work for him. I must have been projecting – I know that I was feeling brave about standing out there with him. 
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This Snowy Egret made his stand on the railing at the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center. I visited this part of Port Aransas twice that day. The first visit was mid-morning, and I hopped out of the car as soon as there was a break in the rain. It was warm and muggy. As I setup my tripod, I was immediately attacked by a swarm of evil, biting mosquitoes. There were warblers flitting all around me – I could hear them and see flashes of yellow. I think I gave the whole business a valiant effort, but I did not make it to the boardwalk on my morning visit. I managed to get one warbler picture – I think a Yellow Warbler:
At midday, a cold front moved into the area, bringing a strong, cool, gusty wind with it. I made a second visit to the Turnbull Center in the afternoon. Though raining, the mosquitoes were mostly absent. Since I was already drenched, I gladly hit the boardwalk in the rain.
I believe that this is a Pied-billed Grebe…but it was pretty small. He seemed to float around aimlessly, not minding the rain, but not exactly frolicking in it either.
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This Great Egret was having a ball. He was constantly plunging his face into the water, fishing for his lunch. I won’t say how many pictures I snapped, hoping to get that one shot where the egret has a fish in his mouth and is about to swallow it whole. If I got that shot, I’d be showing it to you now!
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This Grackle had a thing or two to say about the rain – he and a few of his friends. I always love to see grackles out in nature, as opposed to the local shopping centers and fast-food restaurants.
I am going to bring this post to a close, though I still have several Brown Pelican pictures to share. Since I love pelicans so much, they get their very own post.
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Wow! What a great trip this looks to have been. I’m hoping to head back down to the coast soon and only hope I can enjoy as much discovery as you did.
Your turtle looks like a green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas). Notice there seems to be only one set of prefontal scales (the scales leading from the forehead to the nose). What a breathtaking sight…
Yes on the ruddy turnstone photo.
The little scurrying birds are sanderlings.
The long-legged, long-billed gray critter is a willet. Not unusual to see them by themselves amongst other species.
Looks like a first-year yellow warbler to me. Good catch!
Absolutely yes on the pied-billed grebe. Aren’t they adorable, precious little birds? Plenty of them will spend winter at WRL, so you ought to come see them (they’ve already started showing up along with the pelicans). I always think of these grebes as children, little babes who need protection and help and adult supervision. They prove me wrong every year.
Your great-tailed grackle is just growing his tail back. Your timing was perfect for that, though a week or two earlier and you would have seen them without any tail at all.
I can wait to see the brown pelican photos!
And I should clarify I can’t positively say the turtle is a green sea turtle. You’d need a good, clear view of the face to make sure the prefontal scales are a single set rather than multiple sets. I’d say I’m 90% sure, but a different angle and/or different lighting could blow away that idea.
Great captures of all the birds Amber! I must say, I’ve never seen a Great Blue Heron hunkered down that far. I love the shots of the Willet making its way through the surf and the Snowy Egret standing up to the wind.
The Warbler looking right at you is precious and the Pied-billed Grebe looks as if it just popped up out of one of their submarine dives. The front-on view of the Great Egret is comical and your photo of the Great-tailed Grackle shows their beautiful iridescent color without giving away their sometimes loud and annoying call.
All in all it looks as if you had an excellent birding day and got to see lots of cool stuff. Just like you and the birds of Aransas, we are enjoying some much needed rain here in northern California.
I am so glad to see the current administration turning around the policies of the last eight years for our environment. Unfortunately, I will be working during the live webstream but will try and catch a summary of the meeting.
Jason-thanks, as usual, for all of the help with identifying from insects to birds, to marine life. YES, the Pied-billed Grebes were so adorable – probably because they are small. My voice hitches up a few notches whenever I exclaim over small (=cute) creatures. I didn’t know that I didn’t know that grackles lost their tail feathers all at once – doesn’t seem fair.
Larry-I DID have a great day birding at Port A, and nearly every day since then has been a blur! I have been traveling much more than usual, and all of my routines are off-kilter. I was recently in your home state of CA, but I think I was well south of you, in Orange County. I am looking forward to visiting you at The Birder’s Report to see what you’ve been up to.
[...] of Birder’s Lounge visited Port Aransas on the Gulf Coast of Texas back in October 2009 and found herself contemplating not only super shorebirds but also national [...]