The State Park Experience

We have completed our first full week on the road for 2024 and enjoyed a week-long stay at Lake Corpus Christi State Park in Mathis, Texas. This is one of our go-to parks in Texas. We have been visiting here for many years to enjoy the birds and the trails. Mostly, however, we come to enjoy the state park experience. State Park camping is generally cheaper and geared to vacationers and travelers rather than full-timers. Reservations are harder to come by, and most states limit a stay to 14 days or less. They also tend to have older facilities maintained by limited state budgets. However, they usually have larger campsites and are more amenable to spending the day lounging around the Park, which is what we did for most of the week. We walked the two main trails and took photographs at the large bird blind. This was the perfect way for us to start our year-long journey.

On Sunday, we walked the Longhorn Trail, which runs through the Park. We did not see much wildlife, but I did not carry my camera. It was a simple "walk in the park." We enjoyed the aroma of spring blooms and the carpets of yellow and green as flowers began to fill the landscape. The picture is of an old CCC pavilion built many years ago. Mostly empty, it sits high on the edge of one of several ridges that run east to west through the state. These ridges, or wolds, mark various levels of the ancient shallow ocean that covered the area during the four glacial ages. The area is called Brush Country because the gravel does not support extensive forests. Instead, it harbors lowland brush like honey mesquite, yucca, anacua, and blackbrush. I have spent the last 70 years driving through Texas and never thought much about the geology of the land below the Balcones Escarpment. I look forward to exploring this area further.

Spanish Dagger

Texas Blackbrush Acacia

 

Boardwalk at Bazemore-Calallen

On Tuesday, we left the Park and did some birding on the West side of Corpus. Our first stop was Hazel Bazemore-Calallen Park. This area was the first place we learned of the Green Jay's love for peanuts. Sadly, the birds were not out and about today. Our second stop was Pollywog Pond. This is a cute name for an active wastewater treatment plant. The trails were not plainly marked, so we decided to move on. A third stop was at Tule Lake, part of the Nueces River Delta, which sits between chemical plants. The water was covered with algae and slime, but the birds enjoyed it. I took a few pics before heading to one of our favorite spots on the Southside of Corpus Christi on Oso Bay, the Hans and Pat Suter Wildlife Refuge. Most of the following shots are from Suter.

Mockingbird

Juvenile Red Shouldered Hawk

Tule Lake

Killdeer

Least Sandpipers

Least Sandpipers

Clever Killdeer

Can you spot the Great Blue Herons?

Pied-billed Grebe

Black Skimmer

Pelicans protecting a Heron?

Willet

Black-necked Stilt

Marbled Godwit

Oso Bay

Skimmer in flight

Green Wing Teal

White Ibis

Bubbly Green Winged Teal

Black Bee

 

On Wednesday, we walked Catfish Point Trail sans camera. This trail follows a point in the lake and is an excellent habitat for birding. We heard a lot more birds than we saw. But, like the Longhorn, this trail offered its own delights for the senses. When taking pictures on a trail, I am entirely focused on seeing. But these non-camera excursions remind me that there is so much more to our wandering lives. The other five senses have their own charms and need to be fed. To enjoy a state park fully, I need to be present with all my natural senses and a sense of history and place. Most state parks offer ample opportunities to those with ears to hear, eyes to see, nose to smell, and fingers to touch! (I could do some tasting, but I chose to avoid the possibility of being poisoned.) For example, did you know that the Anacua leaf feels like sandpaper! Yep, there is much to enjoy when we show up and engage our world.

The Park has a volunteer Bird Host who helps the visitors enjoy the birds. Marlene learned that the staff would be placing food in the feeders at the birding blind. On Thursday, we loaded up the camera equipment and headed out. I spent a couple of hours watching, listening to, and photographing the birds that stopped by for a quick bite. Here are a few of the pictures. This was a very nice way to end our stay at the State Park.

Northern Cardinal

Orange Crowned Warbler - Can you see the crown??

An in-your-face Cardinal

Female Cardinal

Posing Pretty

Female Red Wing Blackbird

Red Wing Blackbird

Green Jay

Golden Fronted Woodpecker

Female Red Wing Blackbird

Female Golden Fronted Woodpecker

Male Golden Fronted Woodpecker

Woodpecker licking the tree.

 

Friday was Move Day. We spent a leisurely morning preparing for the one-hour drive to Reel Chill RV Resort in Rockport, TX. We stayed here on the way down last year and booked a return to see many of our bird friends before they head north. This is a resort, which is RV language for lots of activities and narrow spaces. We spend the bulk of our year in RV Parks and Resorts because they are easier to book and offer locations close to the sites we want to see. They are perfect for our local wandering. While here, we hope to revisit a few of our favorite birding sites and restaurants in and around Rockport-Fulton, Port Aransas, Mustang Island, Padre Island, and the Eastside of Corpus Christi. 

 

1973-74, Watching "Paint Your Wagon"

Saturday was our 50^th anniversary. We married over spring break from SWT and started wandering on a trip to DFW for our honeymoon. Our planned stop at Six Flags was replaced with a trip to Lion Country Safari when we discovered that the Theme park opened the following weekend. (Yep, some things have been incredibly consistent over the years in our wander.) For 50 years, we have wandered from Central Texas to Northern Texas, Missouri, Canada, the Deep South, and then back to the Houston Area. There have been many challenges and delights, including two children, eight grandchildren, the loss of family and friends, lost jobs, new friends, good fortune, and plain old bad luck. We have been through it all together, and I could not imagine doing it with Marlene by my side. Happy 50^th, my love. We may not get another 50, but we still have a lifetime of living to enjoy and celebrate!

Travel well, my friends.

Bob