Birding Texas

Sun, January 8, 2012, 3:00 pm
Rockport, TX

Trip Report

This Snowy Owl was most cooperative.

OK folks I know I am tardy with my TX bird reports. A lot has happened these past weeks and most of it has to do with birding. I figure that is a good reason. Now I will start of with a brief over view.

My Wife Emry and I arrived at our rental condo in the Rockport area on Sunday the 8th of January. We plan to travel back to PA on the 11th of March. Elyse and Tom Fuller, our Daughter and Son-in-law arrived Tuesday the 10th, and they had to return to NY on Sunday the 22nd. But for the 11 days they were here we birded with a vengeance. Elyse, Tom, and I, and occasionally Emry did something that involved birds for each of those days. We birded all around the local area, and we birded south and north of the area. Now my plan is to share with you reports on those adventures and future adventures. My first report to follow is about the location of our rental condo.

The condo we are renting is located about 6 miles outside of Rockport, TX on Cape Velero Drive. Cape Velero is a small cape that extends out into Copano Bay which is the next large bay north of Corpus Christi, TX. Our condo faces south over looking a smaller sub-bay of Copano. Now the reason I picked this condo has to do with "birds". If you "Google" birding Cape Velero you will find numerous hits on the location. The first full day we were here I parked myself infront of the windows and out on the balocony, and with my new spotting scope I got a nice collection of shore birds. American Wigeons, Northern Pintails, Northern Shovelers, American White Pelicans, Brown Pelicans, Great Blue and Little Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Roseate Spoonbills, Willets, Marbled Godwits, Caspian and Royal Terns to name a few.

Not only does Cape Velero have an abundance of shore lines, marshes and salt water ponds, but it also has large open fields, and scrub brush areas, which inturn offers a verity of habitats for birds. I can walk out the front door, and bird for 3 to 4 hours just in the local area. I will detail birding on Cape Velero in future reports.

Now just to tease you a bit future reports will not only be about Cape Velero, but on the Rockport area, locations around Corpus Christi, trips to a ranch near Beeville, a day trip south to the "Valley", sites in the Port Aransas area, the Arnasas National Wildlife Refuge, and about trips yet to happen.

Good birding,

Tom Glover