Feathers, Scales, and Sleek Skins

Friday, 1 May 2015
Gulf Waters RV Park — Port Aransas, Texas
Temps: Hi 77F (25C) / Lo 65F (18C)

Mother Nature smiled on us this past week and we wrapped up April — the fourth wettest in this area since they started keeping records — with lovely days.

Temps in the mid-70F (± 23C) range … sunshine and blue skies … and best of all, no humidity!  At least one reservoir has benefited from all the wet stuff that has been falling from the sky.  Though for how long?  That’s the big question.  In any event, we’ve been enjoying the turnaround in the weather!

The first day of May dawns with a lovely sunrise over our pond at GWRVR.             

My friend Mary is an avid birder.  “I’ve been at this for only eight years, so I’m a newbie,” she says.  I think she’s being modest.  It is one of — if not the primary — reason she and Tony visit Port A in the spring.  She’s been going around to all the birding hotspots since they arrived at GWRVR at the end of March.  And she’s been trying to get me to go along with her.

The problem is that after four months of being attached to my camera at the hip — or eye, as the case might be — I had no desire to take photos.  So, go anyway, right?  Enjoy the birds through binoculars.  Well, I’m not that kind of a birder.  I enjoy our colorful, feathered friends; but I’m a photographer and if I don’t click the shutter, birding is no fun for me.

A tranquil morning of reflections in B&W.

Well, I finally set out with Mary today to make the rounds of the birding sites in Port Aransas.  Wouldn’t you know it — the birds were gone.  What was our first clue?  The parking lots that had been crammed with vehicles were empty!  Oh well.  There were enough birds and other critters to still make it a worthwhile outing for me — especially since I had Mary for company and saw several new-to-me birds.

And on that note … let’s start out at the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center.

American Coot

American Coot

Great Blue Heron

Black-Necked Stilts

Cormorants

Off we went to Charlie’s Pasture next.  Here we stopped to check out the bottlenose dolphins — including a mom and calf — that were working the seawall along the ship channel, feeding on schooling fish and probably some algae as well.  My best dolphin sighting thus far, but it did make me sad to see all the healed cuts from the boat encounters they have in the channel.

Mary captures me capturing a dolphin working the seawall.

From Mary's perspective as a dolphin approaches the seawall.

We’re not the only ones enjoying the dolphin sighting;
the ruddy turnstones are checking them out as well.

[In case you can’t make it out, there is a dolphin just where the seawall bumps out.]

After getting our fill of the dolphins, we set off to see what birds might still be at CP.  Turns out, not many.  Can’t say the same about the mosquitoes, however.  They were swarming.  So much so that, we hot-footed it back to the pavilion at the start of the trail after just a few minutes of walking.

Left: Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher and Eastern Kingbird.

Right: Tropical Kingbird or Couch's Kingbird ... only way to tell
the difference is by the voice, and this one wasn't performing

Barn Swallows

The third stop of the morning was at the Joan and Scott Holt Paradise Pond.  When I visited the pond last year, there was very little water in it.  This time, the water level was at capacity — and the surface was covered with duckweed, which changed the feel of the place entirely.

Red-Eared Slider

Gadwalls (I think; I could be persuaded otherwise).

Gadwalls (???).

Then, back to the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center we went … our timing was perfect.  No sooner were we on the boardwalk that we heard the roar of a bull alligator — Boots was calling out to and scurrying across the pond to his mate, Bags.  Boots and Bags — you get it ;-)  Love was definitely in the air, and for a minute or two — or 15, or 20 — it looked like there might be some “action.”  But they flirted for a while in the age-old alligator way, and then fell asleep ;-)

Mary captures me from the birding tower as I ...

... photograph alligator trails.

Tri-Colored Heron

Cormorant	Roseate Spoonbill

Black-Necked Stilt

One of my favorite sightings of the day was a black-crowned night heron (juvenile) … just look at those bold, brilliant eyes.  I just couldn’t resist spending time with it.

White Ibis (Juvenile)

Black-throated Green Warbler (female or juvenile is my best guess).

But my birding day wasn't done when we left LTBC.  Back home at GWRVR, I got to enjoy the company of a lone wading bird that has been coming around our pond for a day or two now.

Spotted Sandpiper

It was a great day … and I’m just sorry I waited this far into the spring migration to get my camera out and go out to the birding sites around the area.  If I am here next spring, I’ll try to do better.

Gotcha You Little Hummers

Sunday, 26 April 2015
Gulf Waters RV Park — Port Aransas, Texas
Temps: Hi 77F (25C) / Lo 73F (23C)

Not the greatest images of the hummers visiting our site as they migrate through the area, but at least I now know that if I sit outside with my DSLR at the ready, I have a shot at getting some decent photos of ruby-throated hummingbirds.  (These images were all taken with a Canon SX50HS.)  I just need the sun to come out a bit and the skies to turn blue again.

I questioned whether this was a ruby-throated hummingbird … until I read that under
certain light conditions and from certain angles, the red throat patch can look black.

Ruby-throated hummingbird ... female methinks!

Half asleep and Sitting still on a frond of our Ponytail Palm after grooming
for a while, this little hummer rewards me with a pretty neat shot.

Of course, while I was clicking the shutter for the hummingbirds, I had to capture a few more shots of the Baltimore orioles that continue to visit us.  Mui invested in an oriole feeder that they seem to like.  The bonus to the new feeder is that the grackles don’t seem to be interested in it.

The orioles are getting used to the new feeder … they especially like that they can drink nectar
from the covered holes and don’t try to use the hummingbird feeder to quench their thirst.

Just love the colors on these Baltimore Orioles … all adult males I believe.

But in this bird frenzy, let’s not forget the resident red-eared sliders that make their home in our pond.

Let’s catch some rays before the sun disappears and it starts to rain again!

We’re supposed to have some sun in the days ahead … plan to go birding with Mary, so keep an eye out for more images of feathered friends coming soon to a blog near you.

The Colors of the Day are Yellow and Orange

Thursday, 23 April 2015
Gulf Waters RV Park — Port Aransas, Texas
Temps: Hi 78F (25.5C) / Lo 68F (20C)

Nope, haven’t dropped off the face of the earth since my last post almost a month ago.  Just chilling and enjoying some social time with our friends Mary and Tony, and other owners at Gulf Waters RV Resort, here in Port Aransas, Texas.

We’ve had our share of weather challenges since settling into our pad at GWRVR — a couple of doozies in the form of thunderstorms and deluge-like rains to keep us alert and on our toes.  Not complaining.  As is the case with many places around the US, there is a drought here and every inch of rain helps to add to the reservoirs.  Otherwise, the weather has been pretty good — certainly conducive to early morning beach walks and sitting outside most days.

We’ve done a few chores and run errands … nothing earth shattering or newsworthy.  Spare time has been dedicated to making plans for our upcoming travels — fall will see us overseas again; but summer will on the road with the Phaeton.

Yes, the wheels will be turning on the Phaeton to do more than take us between Port A and Houston so we can fly off overseas.  We have a month-long stay planned at the USAF Academy FamCamp in Colorado Springs, Colorado; another month at a small campground near Ruidoso, New Mexico; and who knows what else in between and after those stays.  Any thoughts on things to do … or special places to stay in the vicinity of either planned location … we’re open to a little boondocking too … weather permitting — sing out with a comment or a link to your blog posts.

Finally got a hummingbird feeder up, and we’re being visited regularly by hummers.  No photos of them yet, as I’ve been too lazy to get out the DSLR equipment.  We’ve also put out some oranges for the colorful birds migrating through the area.  They manage to get their fair share despite the attempts of the grackles to quickly do away with the sweet fruit.

The pesky grackles try to get more than their share, but the little birds do challenge them.

Today was an especially good day to bird through the windshield, so I grabbed my Canon SX50 and took a few photographs.  Would have preferred to be outside, but didn’t want to scare off the little guys.  The Baltimore Orioles were easy to ID; the others not so much … although Mary did say that she thought they might be Wood Warblers.  So anyone who would like to educate me … do leave a comment.

Not looking happy with life!

Let’s see … what else have we been up to … other than nibbling happy hour munchies and sharing delicious meals with friends?  Those who pop over to the Two to Travel blog know that I have been busy processing photos and putting up posts for our cruise around South America last December.  One more port of call will wrap up the first leg of the cruise, and then I’ll be taking readers around Cape Horn and up the east coast of the continent.  As much as I enjoy our travels, I also enjoy looking back on them … so making progress to catch up pleases me no end.

This guy seems to think he’s a hummer; he must be getting some of that
sweet water since he keeps returning to the feeder ;-)

OK – I know the one on the right is a Baltimore Oriole; what is the one on the left?

Baltimore Orioles

Baltimore Oriole

Enough writing; need to get back to my perch on the Phaeton’s dash and watch the birds.

Moving Onto Port A … Tomorrow

Tuesday, 31 March 2015
Marvin Shields RV Park — NAS Corpus Christi, Texas
Temps: Hi 78F (25.5C) / Lo 67F (19C)

As the month draws to a close, so does our stay at the Marvin Shields RV Park onboard NAS Corpus Christi.  One more sleep here and we’ll be heading to our home pad in Port Aransas tomorrow morning.

We arrived at NAS CC about 2:00p on the 27th.  The drive down from Houston was mostly uneventful.  I say mostly, because we got a low-coolant alert about a 100 miles out of Houston and had to deal with that before we could complete the rest of the drive.  This was the second alert in the space of 24 hours, the first one being when we were at the storage facility the day before.  Mui had topped off the engine coolant then, so it’s now apparent that we have a slow leak somewhere.  Anyway, nothing we could do about it there and then except to monitor the situation, so once the coolant was topped off again, we got back on the road.  The rest of the trip went fine with no blinking red lights or beeps to worry about.

The awkward location of the coolant reservoir means Mui has to get creative with the funnel.

Arriving at NAS CC, we negotiated the narrow maze of concrete dividers that were instituted last summer to slow down any potential do-no-gooders on the approach to the security checkpoint.  Then it was a simple matter of checking in at the park office to get our site assignment — #67.  Nice site; with plenty of space between rigs.  Unlike when we were here in July of last year, the entire campground is nicely greened up; makes the facility seem so much nicer.

Panorama of Site 67 and our neighbors.

Sunrise Panorama from Site 67.  Love all that green grass!

After settling in, we headed off to grab an early dinner at P.F. Chang’s.  Always a favorite, we started off with the restaurant’s signature chicken lettuce wraps.  Normally we would have then followed up with a single main course to share, but since the next day was going to be a busy chore day, we ordered two main courses and brought the leftovers home to give Mui a break from cooking for one more day ;-)

We finish up the chicken lettuce wraps (top right) at PF CHang’s, but bring some of the
ginger chicken with broccoli and beef lo mein home with us for lunch the next day.

The four days that followed were indeed busy … not much fun, but necessary chores after traveling overseas for four months.

One of the reasons we opted to come to NAS CC for a short stay before settling in at our pad was to take advantage of the free laundry with four big washers and dryers.  It was a smart move on our part.  I got all the laundry that would have taken me at least two days to wash and dry in the rig done in half a day.

The other reason we opted to come to NAS CC — get the routine medical appointments taken care of … the medical facilities are much closer to the base than they are to our RV Resort.

Of course there was a third reason for coming here — to finish provisioning the rig with a shopping trip to the commissary ;-)

Chores and provisioning … check!  Medical appointments … check!  Now it’s time to relax and have fun.

We’re Home!

Thursday, 26 March 2015
Advanced RV Resort — Houston, Texas
Temps: Hi 69F (20.5C) / Lo 54F (12.2C)

We’re not at our home pad in Port Aransas yet, but after 4 months of traveling overseas, we are finally back in our “home on wheels.”  That’s what really counts ;-)

Treated to a colorful sunset at our overnight spot at Advanced RV Resort in Houston.

Tomorrow we head to Corpus Christi where we will stay at the Naval Air Station campground until our renter at Gulf Waters RV Resort leaves at the end of the month.  In the meantime, we are looking forward to sleeping in our own bed for a change ;-)