§ Part VII - The River Shannon...

In my previous post, the Cliffs of Moher, in order to get there, we had to cross the River Shannon. Note: In Ireland, they place "river" first---River Shannon, River Liffey, etc., unlike America where we use the name first...Colorado River, Mississippi River. Also a note with difference is Ireland, county comes first...County Cavan, County Donegal as opposed to America, again, name comes first...Lamar county, Nueces county. There is one other nifty piece of trivia I will show you later on. Anyway, we had to cross the River Shannon. The River Shannon is the longest, deepest river in Ireland. We crossed by ferry. It was about a 20 minute ride from one bank to the other. As we sailed, there was a lighthouse, Tarbert Island Lighthouse. The area surrounding this section of the river is an estuary, and it's called the Wild Atlantic Way, where the river joins the Atlantic Ocean [I left the map original size -huge! so you can peruse it if you wish -the red "x" I placed is where we made use of the ferry. Just another tidbit, the coach driver was very skilled! Being that the bus [ours is the red one in the picture] was just two passengers short of full capacity and luggage, it was heavy and the driver had to manipulate the bus, zigzagging at the dock so it wouldn't drag bottom on the ferry's deck. At about mid-point, I saw a sea bird as the ones that were nesting on the Cliffs of Moher - a true pelagic seabird, spending virtually their entire lives on the open ocean and only touching land during the nesting season... the black legged kittiwake...

§ Part of Charlie's Pasture is open again.

After the flooding in town and along the other coastal areas from last week, I decided to drive to the islands and check things out. A couple of my favorite areas to walk the boardwalks and trails didn't have much birding action, so I headed to the ship channel and Charlie's Pasture. Hooray!! The park road that follows the channel was open!! Partially. And there were warning signs all along the banks "Heavy Hurricane Damage, Proceed With Caution". The main gate to the pasture and boardwalk was locked tight...I got out of the car once I parked, and walked in. In all areas, I felt good getting out and about again! It seems like ages since I've actually totaled my step goal!!

This is some of what I saw...

Two Eurasian Collared Doves and Dragon Fly



Eurasian Collared Dove and Brown Pelican



Black Bellied Whistling Ducks and Many White Caps  on the Gulf



Fisherman on the South Jetty and look closely...a dolphin surfacing



Lydia Ann Lighthouse in Aransas Pass and my favorite trail at Charlie's Pasture..still out.



Part of Charlie's Pasture still inaccessible and a washed out trail.


Once home, I got creative and made cinnamon rolls!!  Fresh, hot cinnamon rolls.

§ Oh Oh! An Accident, Waiting to Happen?

On a beautiful, but windy, morning I left early to drive to the island to check out the hurricane Harvey clean-up progress in the 'hard hit' area of Port Aransas. My special birding spots are still in disarray, but I see some improvements here and there. The park road into the Charlie's Pasture, along the ship channel, is still closed to traffic. The mountain of debris outside the village is now just a mole-hill and soon will no longer be there - soon, just a memory of days gone by.

I drove to the beach and walked some even tho the wind was nippy coming off the frigid Gulf. As I neared the ship channel and jetty I watched for the cargo ships anchored out on the water, waiting for the pilot boats to reach them to allow a channel pilot to guide them through. The air was very clear and as I looked across the channel toward Aransas Pass [another little town across from Port Aransas] and could see the damage to the Lydia Ann Lighthouse roofing,. Nearby, a brown pelican was warming in the early sunshine...

Paying closer attention now, I heard a strange sound...a gurgling sound from what I figured was water...and it seemed to be coming from just under my feet...Off to my right I found the sound source. The ship channel water was washing UNDER the jetty, on to the beach area! That's not good!!!!!

So, after the startled reaction, I sat on a large boulder and recorded the sound and water rushing through....

§ ...And So Goes My Morning

It was overcast early Monday morning, with a promise of sunshine by mid morning. I left in the dark, just before sunrise and headed to the islands. By the time I arrived at Magee Beach via the beach access road 1 by the golf course, the sun had already made its appearance, the clouds were breaking, but a fine misty fog lingered here and there in patches helping to keep the vivid colors in the sky. I stopped and took photos before going into town for some walking and birding. I also had in mind to just linger along the jetty to people watch, walk, and perhaps see a ship or two come in and hopefully some playful dolphins at the ships' bows....

Magee Beach

After making a couple of stops at my favorite birding refuges....


Common Gallinule [Moorhen] & White Ibis with juvenile to its right


White Faced Ibis & Little Green Heron

...I drove to South Jetty. It was still just a bit foggy which made the ships' leaving and arrival a bit of mystery. But the dolphins didn't care about the weather, they were having a grand ol' time of it.

LEAVING the Port to open waters, dolphins bid them adieu ...




ARRIVING in the mist, the dolphins meet and greet...





After spending a little over an hour watching and snapping photos, the mist turned to some hard raindrops, I got up from my perch and rushed to the car to seek shelter, as I opened the door, I took one last look to find Lydia Ann Lighthouse, expecting to NOT see it through the heavy air, but there she was...