Hootin' Anni's Day Trippin' : Port A

Showing posts with label Port A. Show all posts

§ Coming In....Going Out...

Even tho we have an Arctic front supposedly moving into our area over the Christmas weekend, with sub-freezing temps for a couple of days, I thought I'd go back a week or two, back to my regular day-trippin', when the day was balmy and the sun was shining. I went to Port Aransas to do my CBC [Christmas Bird Count] for the year. After I left the birding center, I drove to the ship channel jetty in hopes of seeing some ships come and perhaps, if lucky, seeing dolphins...

The first one I saw was a pilot boat heading out. Which means that one of the ships anchored out to sea was awaiting coming thru the channel as the now pilot aboard will guide them thru, safely.

Just minutes behind the pilot boat a tanker was leaving, and the pilot boat first seen was returning after dropping off the pilot onboard the tanker coming in...

My anticipating some dolphin action at the ship's bow, I didn't have too long-a-wait to see some once the tanker edged its way closer to where I stood...

When observers [I'm not the only one watching!] await the ship nearing them, it seems painfully slow. That, of course, is a safety measure! Most commercial vessels must maintain a speed of 6 to 8 knots to maintain steerage and they must remain near the center of a narrow channel. And to convert knots to MPH that would equal approximately 9 mph!! Slow as molasses comes to mind.

BACKGROUND: The Corpus Christi Ship Channel (CCSC) is a 45-ft deep channel that extends from the Gulf of Mexico 34 miles into the Port of Corpus Christi.

From where I stand on the jetty to watch the ships enter and exit, it's about one mile if that much.

§ Views Around the Jetty...

Granted, my purpose of driving to Port Aransas was a morning outing, enjoying the beautiful weather!!! Finally, a bit of relief from the inferno we've been experiencing since April 2022. The air was dry, the temp in the low to mid 70s. And a comfortable breeze blowing softly. Again, the construction goes on at my birding sanctuary. That was my first stop. And, again...very few birds. I don't think they like the loud machinery and disturbances on their waterfront. I hopped back in the car and drove to the jetty. There were ships galore on the channel. Along with pilot boats, tug boats, and all the action on the channel distracted me from birding. Of course all I saw of birds was the usual, terns, gulls, and pelicans. While I walked the beach, I watched the kiteboarding activities. But, I kept going back to watching the ships instead...

Flagship: Bermuda --Gaslog's Itinerary

Shrimp boat

...As I was following this ship thru the channel, I happened to notice a guy on the ship's exterior ladder!! First time ever! My first thought was "This is crazy! Who in their right mind would climb a ladder?" Then, after thinking and after my initial fright, I realized it was the ship's pilot, readying to be picked up by the pilot boat. Right? I hope so...or else I'll have nightmares!!!

Cyan Nova -tanker Flagship Liberia

It was coming up on midmorning, I still had a 40 minute drive back home, so I left as the other ships bid me adieu going out to sea...

§ Early Mornin' Scenes...

Driving to Port Aransas early this week just before sunrise, I stopped at my usual birding area, and to my surprise, there were NO birds seen on the lake! Usually it's busy with all kinds of birds at this hour. It was eerily quiet out there on the water. Perhaps, I'm thinking, that the new boardwalk being built on one side of the lake has something to do with the lack of bird population...just a guess. I stopped and searched through my camera lens [I use it as a scope with the zoom lens] and spotted one lone brown, juvenile, pelican in search of its breakfast and an egret in the construction zone. After a while when nothing showed up for me with feathers, I continued to walk the boardwalk, climbed the observation tower and then dropped down and walked the path on the backside thru the Texas Silverleaf Sunflowers...

Sun -- flower -- sunflower!!

§ From Port A to Aransas Pass...

Seems lately everywhere I go around town, or even on the island highways or the small fishing village of Port Aransas, there is construction going on. I had planned on climbing the tower along the channel near the ferry boats that take vehicles over the channel to watch all the activity. Well, when I got to the tower, everything was cordoned off...it looks to me that they are building a new pier. Okie Dokie. That nixed my climbing, so I just walked along the trail around the park, through the marina, and just observed. Again, with nesting season for most local birds, not much going on in that venue...

When I got to the marina boardwalk, I looked to the Eastern horizon and took a picture of the one and only lighthouse. Lydia Ann Lighthouse. Then, I zoomed in as far as my camera allows without a tripod, and snapped again. In the first photo of the lighthouse [some 4+ miles across the channel, near the town of Aransas Pass *not the same as Port Aransas* as the crow flies], there is a very faint spot just above the 'keeper's' roof...by using the enlargement feature, look closely. Then, when I got home and uploaded the photos, the zoomed in photo revealed it was a patriotic parasailer!!!

Read more history of the Lighthouse HERE.

Lydia Ann Lighthouse which originally opened in 1856. Protecting a natural pass from the Gulf of Mexico to Aransas and Corpus Christi, the Lydia Ann Lighthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and it's the second-oldest lighthouse along the Texas Coast.

The lighthouse was deactivated in 1952, with just shy of 100 years of service along the Texas Gulf Coast. Today, the lighthouse serves as an iconic spot to visit [privately owned, see by boat tour only] as it's the oldest surviving structure in the Port Aransas/Corpus Christi area.

§ Over the Rainbow...

On the day I photographed the "new" ship, I also took other pictures as I walked in some of the areas where I stopped. Wild flowers, fisherman, the beautiful stormy cumulus cloud formations and reflections on the lake at Leonabelle Birding Center. The lake was very clear near the observation tower where I could look down from the platform and see fish below the surface...clear as a bell. As I left, I noticed the wild poinsettias in "bloom" and the magnolia tree had the formation of the seed pods after blossoming. I was also hoping for some dolphin activity along the channel, but that was a 'nada'. And, as I thought, no special birds seen except for the usual ones that reside here year 'round, like the brown pelican in front of the ship's bow wake. But there were still beautiful spots to enjoy the morning including a very faint, barely seen full rainbow above the channel....