Goose Island--3 Parks in one!

Note: We're including some blogs from the month of April that were interrupted when we had to make a speedy trip to Oklahoma to help after Denisa's Mother's house burned. So we are catching up with "old blogs" while we are still helping out in Oklahoma.

We left Harlingen, Texas, and headed 175 miles north along the Gulf coast. That took us through Corpus Christi, with the USS Lexington World War II aircraft carrier in the harbor. We've stopped at Corpus many times, so today we stayed on the highway and continued north.

While we have driven through ranch land for miles, our views turn to water now. We crossed long bridges on the way to our next destination.

We always enjoy a stay at a Texas State Park, and today we are returning to Goose Island State Park for the third time. That is a record for us! Goose Island is like getting three parks in one because it covers such diverse areas within only a few miles. For example, there are two different campgrounds. The Bayfront Campground has RVs parked right on the water's edge. We watched as campers pulled in sting rays and salt water fish right from their sites.

This section also has paved roads that make for a nice bike ride right along the Gulf coast. But it also "enjoys" the winds that blow off the ocean. Riding bikes here was like pedaling uphill both ways (and we know that Denisa is not good at that).

The long wooden pier was wiped out by Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Those RV spots on the bay were also under salt water and all the hook-ups had to be replaced. So everything is newly opened since our last visit.

This boardwalk continues into the Gulf for a quarter-mile, and allowed us to watch the marine life that normally would take a boat ride to see.

The white pelicans have migrated north by now, but the native brown pelicans stay year round.

We found that we were lucky to snag a camping spot at Goose Island. All the bay sites were full, but we prefer to stay in the wooded section anyway. We got the last one open for the weekend. Our site 105 was tucked into the Bayberry loop with trees on three sides, so we don't even feel the wind that is buffeting the RVs on the water.

Even though we are less than a mile from the water, it's like this second section is a whole different park. We were greeted by deer standing by the road when we checked in, and we would continue to see them throughout our stay.

Unlike those huge pelicans, the birds here in the woods are tiny. We visited three different bird blinds, and saw the tiny hummingbirds at each.

It is another of God's wonders to see these tiny hummers, with their jewel-like markings.

Denisa kept taking pictures of the different types of hummingbirds that were visiting the feeders.

She even caught one taking off from the trees surrounding the feeders.

She also spotted juvenile indigo buntings at another feeder. According to last year's calendar, the more colorful adults are due to arrive in the park within the next week. 

These young birds haven't grown their bright indigo blue feathers yet. The park's birding experts told us that it looks like a blue blanket on the grass around the feeders when the flocks of mature indigo buntings arrive.

The ranger also taught Denisa about the red-winged black birds that we have seen so many times before. Denisa thinks that is a well-named bird, because it so accurately describes these black birds with a touch of red (and yellow) on their shoulders. She found out today that all those were males, that spend the winter together in large flocks. 

The females also flock together and they don't fit that red-winged-black-bird description at all! Instead they should be called "brown and white mottled bird that is well camouflaged on a nest and looks more like a sparrow" bird. These total differences between males, females, and adolescent and mature birds, can really confuse a new birder!

We found other tiny birds at the feeders, like this black crested titmouse with a sunflower seed in his beak.

We were also entertained by the even smaller butterflies in our wooded section of Goose Island State Park.

A mile down the road is the third section of this interesting state park. That brings us to the old live oak tree that we have visited three times before.

Simply named "The Big Tree" they estimate it is somewhere between 1,100-2,000 years old. We don't remember seeing so much trimmed wood around this old tree before.

This is a favorite foraging area for the whooping cranes that spend their winters here. In our three visits to this park, we have always managed to find these crimson-capped birds.

They shouldn't be hard to find, because they are North America's largest birds. These birds are amazing to us. They stand five feet tall, with a wingspan of more than seven feet. It's interesting to compare them to the tiny hummingbirds in the wooded section of this park (with a wingspan of 4 inches).

The other interesting thing about these whoopers is that have come back from the brink of extinction. In 1941 there were only 18 whooping cranes left in the world. Now they estimate there are more than 800 whooping cranes. Even at this larger number they are endangered, and it still thrills us to find a pair so close.

They obviously like the same habitat as deer, and many of our pictures include both animals in them.

We plan to stay a couple days here at Goose Island State Park. With our state park pass, we get free admission, and a half-price second night of camping. Besides that, it's a bargain, as we feel like we get three parks for the price of one here at Goose Island