Supertanker? No...

It was raining and drizzly Monday, and the chances of seeing the scheduled supertanker come into the Port A's ship channel was highly unlikely. But, we drove there anyway. Our first stop upon arriving was the jetty at the channel; on the beach. Looking out to the Gulf waters, we couldn't see much of anything. The air was thick, the visibility was nearly nil beyond the end of the jetty. I got my binoculars and scouted out the horizon. While I saw very few ships anchored out there, there was NO supertanker!

The 1st high tide had passed in the wee hours of the morning, and according to Bud, they just don't bring ships into a channel in the dark! Too dangerous... so, they remain anchored out to sea, until daylight. I know I didn't miss the tanker come in at 1 a.m. [high tide]. We stayed in the small town, birding, while the tide was receding and then coming into high tide for the 2nd time in the day; around 12:30PM. We drove to a couple of birding areas in hopes of finding the elusive Bay Breasted Warbler that has been reported in Port A. I actually got a picture of the female!! I didn't know it until I got home and uploaded the photos from the camera card. That is a lifer [a new species] for me!!

Anyway, while there at the same area, I witnessed something that was very disturbing! This trait of the American Coot is now one that I will never forget. It's called tousling. 

From wikipedia:

Chick mortality occurs mainly due to starvation rather than predation as coots have difficulty feeding a large family of hatchlings on the tiny shrimp and insects that they collect. Most chicks die in the first 10 days after hatching, when they are most dependent on adults for food.   Coots can be very brutal to their own young under pressure such as the lack of food, and after about three days they start attacking their own chicks when they beg for food. After a short while, these attacks concentrate on the weaker chicks, who eventually give up begging and die. The coot may eventually raise only two or three out of nine hatchlings. In this attacking behavior, the parents are said to "tousle" their young. This can result in the death of the chick.

I have uploaded the photos I took of the cruel act, but won't add it here on my blog. I know some may be curious, so if you'd prefer to see what I'm talking about, click here.  Be forewarned, it'll bring tears to your eyes.  Personally, I never cared much for Coots....they're EVERYWHERE.  I know, I know...it's nature. And nature can be heartbreaking and lots of trauma. I just don't need to have something like this etched in my memory.

After stopping for our two birding areas, we then returned to the jetty and waited for the tide...still scanning the horizon, I saw no supertanker. The sea was getting rougher, the winds kicked up. I walked the beach a bit, returned to the jetty where Bud remained, and sat down to watch a ship leave port to say a final farewell to us, as the dolphins led the way out... At one point, I got sidetracked and watched a brown pelican surf the waves while catching fish. We were getting hungry by 12:30PM so left and stopped at a Mexican restaurant, then, returned home.

Again, reading the news and the media online, yep...again, they lied to us.  They reported it [the ship] to be docked on May 22nd.  Once home again, I emailed the petroleum company in Ingleside, Texas and the PR informed me that it wasn't in port yet. I guess there is still some working out of planning and such...not the media's fault after all.   Maybe I'll get to see it ...who knows.

 Until We Meet Again...