Our April trip to Texas took us to South Padre Island one day where we were looking for shorebirds and incoming migrants. Our first stop was at the South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center which extended boardwalks out into the marshes. It was a beautiful day and we got there at opening time so we had the place to ourselves (for a little while). Take a look at some of the birds we saw there that morning.
This pair of Green Heron had a nest in the bushes right across from the boardwalk. If you look carefully you can see a young heron looking up for food.
The boardwalk kept us above the water in the marsh and allowed me to look down on this Coot which was foraging for food. Kind of a weird shot but I like it.
This Great-tailed Grackle perched at eye-level on the bushes lining the boardwalk. Fanning its tail, it showed just how large the great tail is.
The largest bird we saw at the Birding and Nature Center wasn’t a bird at all – it was a rocket ship! As we pulled off of the bridge leading onto the island people were lined up along the roadside and they told us a large SpaceX rocket was due to go off that morning. Sure enough at about 8:30 AM we saw, then heard, the rocket lifting off from just south of the island. It was very impressive!
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Wow! Many years ago, I took George (he was 10) in the plane and we watched a shuttle launch from Titusville airport right across from Cape Kennedy. It’s an impressive sight.