§ An Hour's Drive Time-Couple Hours on the Beach & Park Rd.

Before the cold front moved in and before the predicted high wind warning along the coast, I drove to Padre Island National Seashore to walk the beach. I LOVE going here 'cause it's always so very quiet; without too many other people. And the beach is always much cleaner than the public beaches!! It was a beautiful morning. The drive from the little residential area once over the causeway to the federal park entrance gate was empty of traffic early in the morning, and several hawks were perched on the power lines. I didn't stop to get photos much, 'cause the sun was in BACK of the raptors giving me nothing but silhouettes.  A few miles down the road, on a road sign, perched and singing was one of my favorite birds...I stopped [as I said, no other traffic was seen for miles!], rolled down the passenger window and listened to the morning reveille of the Eastern Meadowlark!!! [photo of it singing will be seen on my bird photography blog when I get it loaded to the blog admin]  Once I showed my senior parks' card, I drove to the end of the road....where the road meets the surf!! I parked on the beach, got out, and was greeted with the warming sun and mild sea breeze....did I mention just how beautiful it was?

Come walk with me....
This is what I saw:

....the empty beach, looking south to Mexico and then looking north toward town...





...along Bird Basin Road that juts off the main park road toward an open bay, I took a distance photo of a large dune and then zoomed in...




...after my walk along the beach, I got back in the car to drive the 30 miles back home, but stopped at the duck pond and the newer constructed bird blind to see what water fowl was on the pond. The prairie grasses and sea oats are beautiful when going to seed in the winter months!! But, I got distracted by a couple of Northern Harriers on the hunt, as you can perhaps see the harrier in the last of this upcoming series of photos [top left in photo 4]....





...Yes, I was REALLY distracted. In fact, I kept watching the raptors soar silently though the air....diving behind the dunes only to reappear farther away!!





...a lone egret appeared as it took off from the duck pond basin



...oh, and views of the duck pond blind [ducks and grebes]...




Well, it was time to head back home and make lunch. The drive heading out of the parkland was uneventful, until I got to the edge of north padre island residential...off in the distance a white tailed hawk was on another wooden platform....I pulled off onto the shoulder and aimed my camera out the car window just as it was taking to flight!!!

§ History 101

You may recall the blog about the old ranch line camp that is found on the open land within the national park, Padre Island National Seashore. A while ago I took the Park Road from Mustang Island to Padre Island National Seashore to the end of the road [for two wheel drive vehicles]. I spent about an hour walking the shoreline, and then decided to get on home - yes, it was getting hot once again.

I did stop at the new signage they added along the park road to read it. There were a couple. I like local history!! And I took photos of both for my day trippin' - -

Since I resize my images, I'll add the text found on both 'cause the words lack clarity...

1- ONE OF A KIND

The grassland prairie you see in front of you once covered approximately 13 million acres of coastal Texas and Louisiana. Because of extensive cattle ranching, farming, and development, only 2% of this coastal prairie habitat remains today; Padre Island National Seashore preserves this habitat -----along with the LONGEST section of undeveloped barrier island beach in the WORLD! 

It now appears much the same as when it was populated by the Karankawa Indians hundreds of years ago. Bordered by the Gulf of Mexico behind you and the Laguna Madre [Mother's Lagoon] in front of you, Padre Island is comprised of grasslands, dunes, beaches, and scattered ephemeral marshes and ponds.

photos of the grasslands and dunes from the roadside 'exhibit':

2- THEY CAME...and LEFT

Three distinct groups of people have lived here ---Indians, explorers, and ranchers. Today, this island is mostly undeveloped, preserved by Padre Island National Seashore. Centuries ago, nomadic Coahuiltecans lived here in short term settlements. They hunted and fished along the coast of Laguna Madre using dugout canoes. In the 1600s and 1700s, Spanish explorers ventured north from Central Mexico, expanding their empire. Around 1804 Padre Jose Nicolas Balli built the first ranch on this island, 26 miles north of the southern most tip. As Texas grew in population, this island changed from an isolated wilderness to ranch lands. Water on all sides made this an ideal place for open grazing ----until the 1970s. Then, discovery of natural gas drew oil companies here. And growing tourism coming to the beach has changed the life in the area.

§ White Shifting Sands...

After I left the turtle hatchlings [link] at Malaquite Beach on North Padre Island, I took the 'back' road from the parking lot. With a sole purpose of birding. Some time ago, when Bud and I drove the area I took, we saw Bobwhite Quail. So, naturally, I take that exit instead of the parking lot exit. lol Well, in the golden light of the early morning, I didn't spot any quail - BUT...I saw two white tail deer. They looked young...one had new antlers in velvet. Naturally, they no doubt spotted my car long before I saw them. They were grazing on all the green grasses! And it IS green. Usually, by mid-July the dunes and surrounding area are parched and drying...

After stopping to photograph the pair, I headed out of the federal park land with a short detour onto another park road that traverses through the dunes to another beach access. Again, looking for birds. No special sightings; year 'round residents, gulls and pelicans. Railroad vine and sea oats dotted the landscape...

...one last pit stop back on the park highway, a duck pond with a duck blind. Looking out the peep holes, some of the turtle watchers were leaving and the white sand along the dunes lit up the backdrop...

§ Life's A Beach - aka Your Tax Dollars At Work

I really couldn't come up with an appropriate title for what I'm about to divulge here in combination of my photos and such. A Duo title [with an AKA] is the best I could do...

LIFE'S A BEACH  

I spent the good part of the morning one day this week along NORTH Padre Island.  I didn't want the crowds to contend with so I opted to drive the extra miles to Padre Island National Seashore [national park...so, there is a charge per vehicle except  for those that have the Federal Parks Pass].  Not too many pay the fee.  Other than a family of tourists, I was the only one there...nice!!  It was a blustery day. Light winds, but the sea was somewhat turbulent. I surmised it was because of the hurricane OTTO along the southern branch of Old Mexico stirring up the surf somewhat. Anyway as I walked along the shore, I was treated to a pod [the term used for a large group] of brown pelicans...

    Your Tax Dollars At Work

I parked the car at the visitor's center since the park road was under construction beyond that point. I walked the distance, instead, on the sandy beach until I came to the last access road; finding this mess. My first thought was "your tax dollars at work". And hard at work he was!!  What the heck and where is the supervisor?  Probably up the road, behind a dune, in his car playing on HIS phone!!  Then, after an hour or two, break for coffee. Yep, we're paying him to play games on his cellphone...

...then, this!



FYI -

Did you know that PEOTUS already has the materials to build the WALL along the Mexican border? The material that will be used is from all that sh!t a brick when they found out that he was elected. 😀

- - -

Now this is my idea of our tax dollars being put to the BEST use!

On Thanksgiving morning, the sunrise was perfect.

But for a family in our neighborhood, the day was tragic. No lives were lost, but their home was damaged with smoke, making it a Thanksgiving that will long be remembered. And!! The fire and rescue saved the mama and her newborn puppies!! When I returned from my long walk before the turkey and all the fixin's were done, 'my' street was barricaded with fire trucks, cop cars, and ambulances. They let me through once I showed them an ID and that I lived on the street...I saw all this to my dismay. Sad, but good to know the efficiency of the fire team extinguished the fire within 11 minutes of the 911 call!!

You Have Questions?
I Have Answers!

In a previous post I added a couple of photos that showed how camouflage works so well with nature. Did you find the spider? Or, see the moths?  Here are the 'answers'....

the spider [outlined in black]:

the moths(2) [outlined in black]:




Another Glenn Beck Book

At the beginning of this week, Bud and I drove to Goose Island in hopes of seeing the wintering Whooping Cranes. We saw three. And, several vultures, cattle egrets, hawks, grackles and Sandhill Cranes. We then, stopped in Rockport at the Booknook. And I found another Glenn Beck book on the shelf. This booknook is a small business, stocking used books. I've read a few chapters so far, and it's proving to be another good read.

While a lot will be out and about for the Black Friday Shopping today, I will remain safe at home, off the streets and away from the hectic atmosphere of the 1st holiday weekend...probably to begin decorating for Christmas and taking precautions to avoid the pumpkin pie from getting old in the refrigerator!  *hint...devouring the pie leftovers today!!  LOL Is it lunch time?