The drive to the museum was also well worth the time to stop and enjoy. It was beautiful and filled with Saguaro cacti!
We had a wonderful time at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum! Their exhibits showcase different habitats and include large cats, wolves, coyotes, bears, birds, otters, beavers, reptiles, tortoises, plants, geology, and much more! Most of the exhibits have unobstructed views of the animals (no glass or fencing), so it's a good opportunity to get some great pictures. In addition to the exhibits, there was plenty of other wildlife. Be sure to keep your eyes open, as we walked the paths from exhibit to exhibit we saw lizards, a snake, and several species of birds, including woodpeckers and Hooded Orioles. We visited in early July and it was hot. Be sure to drink plenty of water and use sunscreen. There was so much to see that we had to skip all but the bottom edge of the Desert Loop Trail, so plan to spend the day here if you want to see everything. We learned that bobcats have the white spots on the back of their ears so that their young can follow them on dark nights (pictured below). Ocelot (below). Beautiful! Mountain Lion (below). Mexican Wolf (below). Common Chuckwalla (below) (identified by Wendy McCrady - thanks, Wendy!). These guys were all over the place! Tortoise (below). I had a lot of fun at the bird exhibits. There was lots to see including a Kestrel, Stellar's Jays, a Greater Roadrunner (first picture below), and one that I never thought I would get to see, an Elf Owl! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a really good picture of the owl, but you can see it pretty well in the picture below the roadrunner. The Elf Owl is our smallest owl (about 6" tall) and had surprisingly heavily feathered feet! My favorite exhibit was the hummingbirds. I have never seen anything like it! As you enter, but sure not to let any of the hummingbirds out. Once you are inside, you are surrounded by several species. You can watch them fly about, preen, and chatter away. I had never heard a hummingbird before and was surprised when I did hear them sing and call. It is not like a normal bird's song, and for me, was very distinctive. Instead, it was kind of a raspy chatter. Not all species of hummingbirds may sound like this, but the ones' we heard here did. This was all new for me! I have never been this close to a hummingbird before and was amazed at all that I learned. It was a wonderful opportunity to watch them up close. Likely a female Costa's Hummingbird (below). Females are more difficult to tell apart than the males. Male Costa's Hummingbird (below). Male Anna's Hummingbird (below). Male Broad-tailed Hummingbird (below). I will definitely be back to see everything again and finish the Desert Loop Trail. To plan your trip and learn more about the museum: http://www.desertmuseum.org/
The drive to the museum was also well worth the time to stop and enjoy. It was beautiful and filled with Saguaro cacti!
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We've been to many national wildlife refuges (NWR), but Aransas National Wildlife Refuge has very special visitors during the winter months...Whooping Cranes (pictured above)! At 5 ft tall and with a wingspan of 7-8 ft, Whooping Cranes are the tallest birds in North America. They comprise two separate migratory populations and one stationary population. Each migratory population has different areas where they spend their time during the year. Sources vary, but there are 3-6 places in the U.S. and 1 in Canada where these birds can be seen, depending on the season. They are an endangered species and in the 1940's, there were only 15 individuals left. Since then, they have been slowly recovering. The 2011-2012 population estimate for the wild, migratory population that resides at Aransas NWR is around 250 individuals. Current total population estimates are around 600 individuals and includes both migratory populations, the stationary population, and captive raised individuals. Aransas NWR is the winter home of one of the migratory populations from about mid-October to mid-March. The birds do not arrive or leave all at once, so the refuge posts updates throughout the season to report the number of birds on the refuge. This is helpful to determine when to visit to have the best chance to see these incredible birds. We visited in January and saw several family groups. We took the Whooping Crane & Coastal Birding Tour offered by Rockport Birding and Kayak Adventures: http://www.whoopingcranetours.com/Birding.html. The staff on the boat were nice and very knowledgeable. The captain even took requests in case you were looking for a specific species (I really wanted to see Roseate Spoonbills!). Their boat can go into shallower waters than most so we were able to get close to the birds for good views. Dress warm, it's always cooler on the water than it is on land! As we traveled from port to the refuge and back, we saw 35+ species of birds. Many of the birds were gathered on islands made of oyster beds that ran along the waterways. The picture below shows American White Pelicans, Brown Pelicans, and Cormorants on one of the islands. Of the birds we saw, a few of my favorites included Long-billed Curlews (pictured below), Reddish Egrets (pictured below), Roseate Spoonbills (pictured below), Caspian Terns, Dunlins, American Oystercatchers, Little Blue Herons, Tri-colored Herons, Willets, Dowitchers, White Ibis, Forster's Terns, Royal Terns, Avocets, Crested Caracaras, Belted Kingfishers, Osprey, Marbled Godwits, and an Eared Grebe. Dolphins even joined the tour as we headed back to port! We visited several other birding areas along this stretch of the gulf coast including Goose Island State Park, Aransas Pass, and Padre Island National Seashore, and Mustang Island State Park. I will cover these in another post since they were well worth visiting, too! Additional information about the refuge or Whooping Cranes:
Aransas National Wildlife Refuge: http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Aransas/ http://www.fws.gov/refuge/Aransas/wildlife/whooping_cranes.html Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD): http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/whooper/ International Crane Foundation: https://www.savingcranes.org/whooping-crane.html Cornell Lab of Ornithology: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Whooping_Crane/id We have visited Bitter Lake NWR in New Mexico twice and while both trips saw the area in a drought and without many areas filled with water, we still saw a variety of birds and wildlife each time. The first time we visited was in October 2011 and the second time was during the Dragonfly Festival in September 2012. During the first visit, the most plentiful birds were American Coots. While this species can be found throughout the United States, I have rarely seen this many together (a few hundred). Since they were grouped together, we had a lot of fun watching their behavior. These birds are too heavy for a quick take off when they are startled, so instead of flying to another area, they end up just getting their feet high enough to make it look like they are running across the surface of the water, splashing the whole way! On this trip, we also saw White-faced Ibis, a Least Sandpiper, a Northern Harrier, ducks, and shorebirds. Although the birds were a little scarce during this visit, one of the highlights was watching two foxes on the refuge. One, reddish in color, spent most of the time splashing along the grass at the edge of the water and the other, gray in color, was running through the fields. I love seeing foxes and it was fantastic to see two species in the same area! Usually I see one crossing a road every few years, so two in one day was a record for me. During the second visit, we saw one of my favorite birds...the Long-billed Curlew! While I saw a few of these along the Texas Gulf Coast, there were over 100 gathered at the refuge during our trip. This picture shows a small portion of the group and the different bill lengths. We were able to identify them by their bills and the reddish color under their wings when they flew, but since some of the bills were shorter than others, it looks as though both juveniles and adults were present. There are some small shorebirds in the middle that are most likely Sanderlings. We also saw a Norther Harrier, White-faced Ibis, American Coots, a Pied-billed Grebe, American White Pelicans, American Avocets, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Great Blue Herons, ducks, and a few unidentified shorebirds. No foxes this time, but the Pecos Sunflower, which is endangered, was in bloom throughout the refuge and made the already breathtaking views even more beautiful. In the second picture you can see them winding their way through the landscape. There were also plenty of dragonflies and damselflies, after all, it was the Dragonfly Festival! For more information and to plan your trip, here's Bitter Lake's website:
http://www.fws.gov/refuge/bitter_lake/ Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge just hosted their 12th annual Dragonfly Festival. During this event, they offered birding, dragonfly, and wildlife tours as well as other activities. The majority of the activities took place on Saturday, and we arrived on Sunday, but we were still able to participate in one of the dragonfly tours (please call ahead for tour reservations). Our guides were very knowledgeable and did a great job of answering questions. Bitter Lake is located just northeast of Roswell, NM. The refuge protects a special area because it contains fresh, spring, and salt water areas. Due to this, the refuge attracts both dragonflies and birds that you would usually only see in other saltwater environments, typically along coastlines. Over 100 species of dragonflies and damselflies can be found at the refuge. and during our tour we saw several species including Seaside Dragonlets, Bleach Skimmers, Desert Forktails, and Familiar Bluets. Twelve-spotted skimmers were also around, but we didn't see one up close. The picture at the top is an Eastern Pondhawk that we saw at Gators and Friends Alligator Park and Exotic Zoo in Louisiana, but can also be found at Bitter Lake NWR. We learned that one way to tell dragonflies and damselflies apart is by their eye structure. Dragonflies have eyes on the top of their head while damselflies have eyes on either side of their head, giving them a "hammerhead" look. Below is a picture of Familiar Bluets and you can see that their eyes are on either side of their head: This year's Dragonfly Festival was held at the beginning of September, but Bitter Lake has lots of other wildlife to see year-round and we saw several interesting birds that I will cover in another post. The refuge is well worth visiting if you are in the area. http://www.fws.gov/refuge/bitter_lake/
To learn more about dragonflies and for some really nice pictures, "A Dazzle of Dragonflies" by Forrest Mitchell and James Lasswell was recommended to me. I also own this book and bought it because I loved the images. If you are interested in identifying dragonflies and damselflies yourself, there are some great guides coming out. I had a chance to look at "Damselflies of Texas: A Field Guide" (Texas Natural History Guides) by John Abbott and I really liked it. If you would like a quick reference, I found the following websites helpful: Dragonflies: http://www.rt66.com/~kjherman/odonata/NMdrgnfly.html Damselflies: http://www.rt66.com/~kjherman/odonata/NMdmslfly.html Some of the links in the above sites no longer work and these are for New Mexico, but websites exist for many states. I always look for alligators anytime I am around good habitat in the southern states, but I've never been able to spot one. If you are like me and can't seem to find one in the wild (probably for the best), then visiting an alligator park is the next best thing! On our trip from Texas to the Florida panhandle, we stopped at several places that featured alligators. They were all lots of fun and had friendly, knowledgeable staff, but were surprisingly different! Bayou Pierre Alligator Park The first one was the Bayou Pierre Alligator Park in Natchitoches, Louisiana. They had a range of alligator ages from 2-3 ft juveniles to very large adults. You can feed the alligators and take a picture with a small alligator for an extra fee (which of course, we did!). Their bellies are surprisingly soft! The alligators were spread over several ponds and a swamp, which also had Common Gallinules (formerly Moorhens) and a Least Bittern. They offered a feeding show and we got to see just how high the alligators will jump to get their food! In addition to the alligators, they have other animals that you can see, pet, and feed (depending on the animal) including deer, goats, emus, raccoons, and snakes. The staff were all very nice and we had a great time! http://www.alligatorpark.net/ Gators and Friends Alligator Park and Exotic Zoo The next place we stopped was Gators and Friends Alligator Park and Exotic Zoo, west of Shreveport in Greenwood, Louisiana. They also had several areas with alligators and a surprisingly large petting zoo that included goats, horses, camels, exotic deer, lemurs, ostriches, capybara, and more. The alligators were all medium to large in size and we were told that the largest was 12 ft! They had two feedings, one for each alligator area, and offered the chance to hold and have your picture taken with a small alligator at no extra cost. A boardwalk led us across several areas of the larger alligator pond. We got all the way around the park before we realized that there were ducks to feed at the far left end of the back porch of the gift shop. With all the other animals to see, ducks may seem a bit common, but I love feeding ducks so I wished I had saved some food! There was also an area where children could ride small ponies and a zipline that went over the larger alligator pond and around the park! I would have loved to try it, but we were short on time. The staff was very friendly and answered all of our questions. They even let me hold the little alligator twice :) Adorable (the sleeping lemur was my favorite)! http://www.gatorsandfriends.com/index.php Gulf Coast Gator Ranch Once we were in Mississippi, we stopped at the Gulf Coast Gator Ranch, which was the temporary home for the Gator Boys show on Animal Planet. This ranch had a smaller walking area than the above two parks, but was very pretty and had plenty of alligators to see and feed. There were eggs incubating in the front office and various areas with baby, medium, and large alligators. We also saw Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, and a Green Heron. The staff we talked to were nice and friendly and also gave us the chance to hold a baby alligator and have our picture taken with him. This was the smallest alligator we were allowed to hold of the four places we stopped. He had been born at the ranch and was used to being handled. He was 2 years old, docile, and very cute! They also offer airboat tours, but we didn't have enough time to try one. http://www.airboatswamptoursofmississippi.com/ Fudpucker's Gator Island The last gator stop was at Gator Island in Destin, Florida at Fudpucker's Restaurant. We ate lunch here and had a great time. Just like the other places, the staff was friendly and knowledgeable. There were several decks from which to view the 100 alligators in the pond! All of these alligators are under 5 ft since they are social when young, but can become territorial and attack other alligators once they reach 6 ft. When the alligators here get too large, they find homes for them in zoos and other educational programs. They also have a rare albino alligator named Pearl. She is in an enclosure by herself so that she can receive special care, and construction is underway to build her a larger habitat. They were not sure how many years she was going to stay at Fudpucker's, but they are also getting a rare yellow alligator in 2014. There is no admission fee but, for a fee, they do offer the opportunity to feed the alligators and have your picture taken holding one. This was the largest of the four alligators that we held, but no worries, he was fairly docile as well. We learned lots about the alligators from the staff here. We were lucky enough to stop by before the place filled up and they had time to answer all of our questions. Feeding was with a "fishing pole" that you hung over the walls into the pond and was a lot of fun!
http://www.fudpucker.com/locations/destin-florida While I highly recommend holding at least one little gator at any of these places (don't pick one up in the wild!), all of them, except for at Gulf Coast Gator Ranch, squirmed a little and even though they are small, they are strong. Their mouths are taped (don't worry, they can breath!), but it can be startling if they start to try to get away. Be sure to hold them like you are instructed, that was usually my mistake, and don't worry, the staff will quickly step in if they start to move too much. Most importantly, have fun! They are amazing animals. |
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September 2022
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