We missed the whooping cranes but did see more spoonbills, herons, egrets, hawk, deer, ducks, and small wading birds.
Here’s a red-shouldered hawk.
We got a great look at roseate spoonbills. We saw them at the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center in Port Aransas, but only from a great distance or through trees.
An immature white ibis.
A killdeer.
A great blue heron and a green heron (bottom right). The second photo was taken through our scope.
A snowy egret flying.
There are viewing platforms scattered throughout the refuge.
Vultures.
We’re used to seeing these at the seashore.
Besides lots of birds, we also saw deer and an alligator.
As we were leaving the refuge we saw what we thought were whooping cranes and turned around to check them out. Alas, they were sandhill cranes. Cool birds, but we can see those in our backyard!
