Spotting the Majestic Whooping Crane: A Birding Adventure in Aransas, TX
I started birding with a senior birding group in NW Harris County a year ago, October 2022. On my 2nd trip with them, late November 2022, some of the birders remarked they were surprised they didn't see me on the earlier November trip. I explained that the trip was full when I went to register. They described these majestic birds that stood at 5 feet tall, they sounded like giants to me and the more they described the trip, the more I wished I was able to attend. However, not too long into their discussions of the trip a flock of endangered Whooping Cranes flew overhead.
That day we were on the Katy Prairie looking for Soras, who tend to hang out in rice fields. So, we were at a rice field that was being harvested when the flock flew over. I said to the gang, I didn't get a good look, they'll fly back again. And lo and behold, the flock of endangered Whooping Cranes flew over again. Though most of these endangered birds who over winter in Texas, hang out around Port Aransas on the Gulf Coast, some also like the marshes in the Katy Prairie and all of the food available to eat. The problem with that was it is hunting season and Sandhill Cranes can be hunted. I think that is totally stupid, because no one eats Sandhill Cranes, these people are just murdery (yeah, I made that word up) and kill animals for sport. Those blood lust bastards. So, hunters often mistake Whooping Cranes for Sandhill Cranes. Honestly, Texas should just ban all bird hunting and only give licenses to hunt certain species that are harvested for food. None of those species should be America's tallest birds!
Honestly, after conversations with many birders on the SE Texas birding trips, I discovered that they are not 100% animal lovers. They loved watching birds but have no qualms with killing sparrows because they aren't native; but love to look at the Peacocks and Parrots that aren't native. So, some non-native species should be murdered, but others protected. Rubbish. If you are hatched here you are native, just like people born here are natives.
So, let's get to today's blog. Because I finally did get to see some Whooping Cranes.
It was dicey though. The birding trips changed, instead of buses they use two vans, which means less people can go. Also, instead of eMailing their newsletters to people, you have to go to their website and hunt around looking for registration and by the time I found it, it was full. Mind you, I was on the waiting list, but they eMailed me while they called other people - Imma leave that alone. Needless to say, I made the trip on November 17, 2023, and actually brought my camera gear with me.
We were on a country road peering into a farm, and so the birds were quite a distance away. Farmers put corn out for their cattle and for the birds. So, the Whooping Cranes are attracted to land with the corn. I brought my camera gear with me, including my Cotton Carrier, which makes walking around with a long lens on your camera body easier. I had an 800mm lens, actually it was 400mm with a 2x extender, which I hoped would be good enough. Sadly, I discovered that my auto-focus didn't work with the 2x Extender, and I did quite a lousy job focusing on the birds and trying to keep them in focus while the birds suddenly flew away. Whew drama! But I'm still glad I was able to see and attempt to photograph these majestic statuesque birds.
The one time I would've gladly loved to spend a couple of hours watching these birds, the trip leader wanted to move away quickly. I learned from two solo birders, the ladies weren't on our trip, that the Whooping Cranes had a colt with them, that is a juvenile bird. So, I earnestly wanted to see the colt and opined about it, but the trip leader said no and moved on.
And while we got to see seven cranes, we sadly didn't get to see the colt. After we left, one of the birders on my trip learned that the parents and the colt arrived. I was annoyed, but not too much, because I plan to go back in December or January, when more of the flocks have finished migrating and the numbers are much larger.
It wasn't all bad though, because we ended up going to Corpus Christi to see a rare bird, a Cattle Tyrant. This bird has never been seen in the United States and its range only goes as far north as Panama and as far south as Brazil. I didn't get a great shot of the bird as I grabbed my lens that went up to 135mm instead of the 70-200mm (rookie mistake man!). I'll blog about that part of the trip another time. But here is a shot I took through the scope.
Back to the cranes, I am trying to find an active group of folks who have sighted the birds so I can plan a trip to go see the Sandhill Cranes around Galveston and photograph them, and perhaps rent a longer lens so I can obtain better quality shots of the Whooping Cranes in Aransas or better yet, closer to home in the Katy Prairie. But it would Ideally be great if I knew someone with a boat, so I could drive down to Galveston and then we could look for birds via boat, which gets you closer to birds in the marshes.
Also, the evening of December 6th, when I popped over to the lake to see what types of birds were on it, I couldn't tell all of the species because I didn't have my binoculars, but I did see 10 White Ibis' and one of them was a juvenile! And while I was marveling about the Ibis' a bunch of Whistling Ducks flew by and then two groups of, yeah you know where I am going with this, Whooping Cranes flew by going Southeast! It was about 10 - 20 birds. They were moving and I was wondering where they were going. I wondered if they were the flocks that feed on the Katy Prairie and wonder if they go to roost in Addicks Reservoir, because that is SE of me. Alas, I wasn't camera ready. I didn't have my camera with me, not even my camera phone as it was a last minute decision to go to the lake on my way home from getting dinner.
But I am so fired up. The week before Christmas, 2023 I went birding locally, at two small lakes in my community and saw so many species of birds. I will blog about them later and post links to images you can purchase as prints or other products in my online stores. Til then, thanks for going with me for a trip Behind the Lens.
