Woke up pretty early and drove NE to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, home to whooping cranes in the winter. In summer, the cranes go frolic in Canada’s Northwest Territories but return here each year. Surprisingly, the first wild critters we got to see were 3 alligators, right across the street from the park visitor center. They looked like they always get left alone. They are big lizards.
Peg and I got to see some cranes but they were tiny white specks to the naked eye and slightly clearer and larger specks with our binoculars. We also saw our first armadillo grazing calmly right next to the park road. This one was a cute little guy. They are very strange creatures which share with humans the ability to be infected with leprosy.
Other than 3 alligators, some hawks, regular cranes, some whooping cranes and an armadillo, the rest of the 16 mile loop through the refuge was devoid of wildlife but still pretty scenic for a salt marsh. Peg and I took a ¾ mile loop trail through a section of the brush and found they also have very aggressive mosquitoes that bite even when you are moving and hang on like lampreys. Fortunately, once they are on you and have buried their little bloodsucker in your flesh, they can be easily killed with baseball bats.
We took a side trip through a town called Lamar on the trip back to the Invader. Some European woman we encountered in ANWR alleged there were numerous whooping cranes visible right on the waterfront. Of course when we arrived some 4 or 5 hours later there were two white specks at the far extent of our vision. They are pretty good sized specks since the birds stand about 5′ tall but there were none close enough to measure.