Rockport Whooping Crane Boat Tours

[wburychka]

I'm surprised my search turned up nothing here, but has anyone taken any of the whooping crane or general birding boat tours in Rockport? We're heading down there Thursday night hoping for at least one good day between Friday and Sunday.

I see several tours that claim "for serious birders" and "get you closer for viewing and photographing birds". Of course, as we all know, the desires of "serious birders" and bird photographers tend to diverge once a bird has been spotted--the birders want to move on, while the photographers want to settle in and try for a better shot.

Anyone tried these tours?

Many thanks.
Bill

[Slight Clutter]

I did one of the boat tours back in the mid-1990s when I was without camera. I do remember seeing a number of Whoopers "up close," and recall the boat giving ample time for all to take in the grand birds.

Funny enough, Jeff and I were contemplating doing the Whooper tours sometime soon ourselves!

Have a great time, and please post the shots once you have time to do so. I'd love to see them.

[wburychka]

Thanks, Katya. That's quite a while back, but do you recall anything about the tour operator, name of the boat, etc? There are several to choose from now. One shallow draft boat is the MV Skimmer.

Seems like, if you shoot birds and live in Texas, you have to get whoopers sooner or later, eh?

[edpouso]

I live in Rockport.
I go on the "Skimmer" out of fulton harbor.http://www.rockportadventures.com/rpa/birding.asp
Great boat great people.
tell me when you go.
Ed Pousohttp://www.pousophoto.com

[DragBoatPhoto]

I remember going when I was younger my dad is a bird watcher http://www.texaswhoopers.com/ is the website for the Wharf Cat which we rode on several times, it was fun.

[wburychka]

Thanks, guys. After reading the two firms' online materials, it looks like rockportadventures may be the better of the two for photography. The Texaswhoopers tours run from 10am to 2pm--the worst part of the day for photography.

Rockportadventures offers a 7:30am trip, which could have better light, early morning clouds permitting. They also offer a guided 1/2 day coastal + 1/2 day inland trip for $85. If their guides are knowledgeable and photography oriented, that might be worth a shot. Nothing like having someone who knows the territory along. They also have a 1/2 day coastal + full day inland for $110. A friend of mine just returned from shooting on a ranch in the area last week, and he sent me a most spectacular whooping crane shot. Very close up crane taking off. He shoots with a Canon 1DMkII. He had been using a 500mm F4L with extender, but I think he may have moved up to the 600mm F4L.

Thanks again. I'll report back on our experience.

[edpouso]

suggested side trip:
just south of the fulton harbor is little bay.
there is a long dock that attracks many birds
great spot at the end of the day

[wburychka]

Thanks again to Ed and the rest. After intermittent rain Friday and Saturday, we took the 7:30am Skimmer trip on Sunday. Not surprisingly, the light was good early on and not as good toward the end. Bottom line is that this trip got us close to two family units, as well as within shooting range of others.

The closest we got was within about 50 feet of a group of three--two adults and a juvenile--foraging along the shore, including in a small pond. We were close enough at one point that my wife's 500 was just too long to fit a whole bird in the viewfinder. The captain is clearly photographer friendly, as he wedged the boat along the bank and shut off the motors, which by the way were not very noticeable even before that. This boat has twin Honda outboards, and they must be mounted with some kind of vibration isolation.

Suggestion. If you take this boat, be sure and bring a tripod. Before starting out, the captain calls for tripods to be brought to the top viewing platform where they can be lashed in place along the left side with velcro strips. This is important, because it assures you a good shooting spot later, as the boat always has that side toward the shore when stopped for viewing.

Other observations. Should you get a boat full of determined photographers, I can see a potential conflict. The top deck (which cannot be occupied except during the viewing phase of the trip) can accomodate maybe six tripods. There is additional space on the foredeck but not for tripods. The windows in the cabin below open but offer only limited shooting space. We had only a few hard core shooters, and some of the others on the trip were most helpful in moving to give space to people like me shooting from the cabin.

Rockport. Ed, you live in a nice town. Coming from Houston, it was a real joy to be in a town where you can be anyplace in 10 minutes or less driving time (even the refuge is only 25 minutes away, Port Aransas even closer). What I guess is the old downtown, with its many individual small buildings, rather resembles the model towns one could once buy for an electric train layout. We stayed at the Laguna Reef, which has been host to Houston Camera Club trips as recently as last year. Helpful staff and a pond and ocean pier right outside for convenient sunrise or night shots. This is apparently a good time of year for photographers who don't want to be in the middle of summer madness. The hotel is right now home to many "winter Texans".

Many restaurants in the area. Latitude's was OK. Charlotte Plummer's in Fulton was really good. The HEB supermarket is as good as anywhere for those who prefer to fix their own or just want to take some bread and wine back to the hotel for a relaxing evening of wine and downloading images.

Besides the boat trip, we visited the Aransas NWR three times. Generally disappointing all three times, although that is typical of refuges in our experience. A week earlier or later would probably have been very different. We encountered a flock of wild turkeys--most of which seemed not too wild--just outside the refuge the first day. My wife took a few shots from the car window with the 100-400 and then got out and continued shooting with her 500 while she made some kind of shh-shh-shh sound, which seemed to attract the plump and surprisingly colorful birds. At one point, some of the birds were too close for the 500's minimum focus. They quickly bored of our presence, though, and moved on. I suspect that visitors have fed these birds, which would account for their initial fascination and then loss of interest when we offered no food.

The Port Aransas birding center, adjacent to the water treatment plant, is a very good location for waders, ducks, pelicans, etc. We spotted some Cinnamon Teal as well as a juvenile nutria, which swam by a couple times. As the sun started dropping, wave after wave of white pelicans came in to the pond. Great for practicing your flying bird shooting. I think this location probably has better light in the morning, though, as the larger portion of the pond and the greatest activity is on the west side of the boardwalk--which is wheelchair-friendly, by the way. The trees along the sidewalk leading to the boardwalk had lots of small birds also. Several Yellow-rumped warblers were in constant conflict with a Mockingbird. Another spot at Port Aransas was called Paradise Pond. An area resident gave us directions, although it is conveniently located between the ferry landing and the birding center--behind a fast food restaurant. This tiny space was the day roost for dozens of black-crowned night herons and the night roost for numbers of Great Blue Herons. With the help of some birders, we also spotted a yellow-bellied sapsucker and downy woodpecker. Many others, although we were rapidly losing light by the time we got there, so we missed out on some opportunities. When you get off the ferry, take the first right and look for a sign on the right side. The entrance doesn't even look like a street, but clearly many local birders know the place.

Oh yes, Ed, you were right about Little Bay. We spent some time there shooting brown and white pelicans, cormorants, great and snowy egrets, great blue herons, and even a couple of black skimmers. There is a skimmer nesting area in the Rockport Beach Park (not active now, of course). Night or sunrise harbor shots are another opportunity, as well.

All things considered Rockport is a great photo destination. At least in December/January. I can't speak for summer. Ed?

[JbVenable]

I love Rockport year-round, especially because i can stay at my sister's house for free. There's an area just before the port aransas ferry that you ca go off to the right (i wouldnt go without a truck, preferrably 4x4) that is nothing but a place for great photos. theres a cliff that overlooks the island of port A and you can see all the boats thru there. Theres also a small shell beach at the end of this peninsula and the sunsets are awesome there. This is also a great place to photo fireworks at 4th of july and new years. Plus, when the lightings bad mid day, its one of the best places to surf and fish in texas.

[CavalierLady]

I am so glad I found this forum! I just booked a trip for the Rockport birding tour for next week. Thanks so much for all this information!

[CavalierLady]

Thank you again for that info. I got tons of great shots that will take many days to go through. I have begun to upload a few images to the gallery here and have a couple taken in Rockport so far. A great place... I plan to go again in late April to see the rookeries. The boat tour was great.