Birds, Deer and a different hotel...

This morning I drove about 60 miles east to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, a 114,657 acre protected area situated on the southwest side of San Antonio Bay along the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Texas. The Refuge was established in December 1937 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as a refuge and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife. Bird life includes ducks, herons, egrets, ibises, roseate spoonbills, and the endangered whooping crane, whose population has recovered significantly since the 1940s. On this stretch of the Texas coast, the only wild flock of whooping cranes finds a winter home. Their trumpeting call can be heard across the far reaches of the marsh’s low-growing vegetation. The whooping crane is the rarest crane species and one of the rarest birds in North America. All of the whooping cranes alive today, both wild and captive, are descendants of the last 15 remaining cranes that were found wintering at the Aransas Refuge in 1941. The wild flock of whooping cranes nests in Wood Buffalo National Park in the Northwest Territories of Canada. The whooping cranes will fly 2,500 miles from Wood Buffalo National Park to their wintering grounds on the Texas coast at Aransas Refuge. I didn't get any pictures of the cranes but did see a couple through the telescopes at the viewing areas - too far away to get a picture.  I also head them which is a remarkable sound. 

This Great Blue Heron looks like he is cold and wondering where the warm, sunny weather is that he came for. 

Not sure what species that this pair belongs to but they were moving right along....

There was about a dozen of these black ferrel pigs near one of the view points including some babies. 

This is a flock of Sand Hill cranes that were way, way out in the marsh. The Whopping Cranes I saw were between these guys and the water in the background. 

This is one of a pair of deer that was along the road. 

However, one of my favorite pictures was of a stuffed cardinal in a diorama at the visitor center. 

Now for changing hotels....  I am paying several pretty pennies for this location on the beach.  Yesterday it was beautiful and worth it even though the hotel is in dire need of updating and the walls are rather thin. However, the weather for the rest of the time I am here is to be in the 50's during the day plus with drizzle, mist and light rain. So I decided it wasn't worth the money if I couldn't enjoy the beach. Tomorrow I move to a Holiday Inn on the harbor in downtown Corpus Christi. This is the 8th hotel I have stayed at on this trip and the first one I have been disappointed in so that isn't bad. Also, I am going to head home on Saturday instead of Sunday like I originally planned. Again, weather is a factor plus my list will mostly be checked off. Yes, I have already been looking at the weather for when I head home. 8-)