Port Aransas area and Whooping Cranes

[labmansid]

In early January, I took a few days to head down the coast to the Port Aransas area. Paid a visit to some of the usual spots in the area, like the birding center behind the water treatment plant, Goose Island SP, and a boat tour for Whooping Cranes. I found a pretty good assortment of subjects, including several species I had never seen or photographed before.

First a few from the water treatment plant.

The usually shy Cinnamon Teal.







An elusive Least Bittern.






Northern Pintail.





Eared Grebe.






We chartered a boat early one morning from Kevin Sims for a tour of the Whooping Cranes. I highly recommend Kevin for any of the common tours in the area. He understands what photographers are looking for in regards to lighting, angles, etc. He can get very close to the cranes, and I mean VERY close, as you will see.

As we were pulling up to our first spot that had some cranes in the distance, we noticed a White-Tailed Kite working it's way down the shoreline, hovering occasionally searching for breakfast in the vegetation below. We were hoping it would come our way, and it did not disappoint us. It managed to find itself almost right in front of us. Unfortunately, this was just before the sun came up, and it was still fairly dim out, but we still got some good looks at it and some decent shots by upping the ISO to 1000 to 1600.

White-Tailed Kite, ISO 1000, 1/500SS, f5.6, 700mm.











Northern Harrier flushed from it's perch.






We watched this Whooper feeding briefly before it took off for other parts.










It's partner initially looked like it would follow in the other's "wingsteps", and we braced for more flight shots. To our surprise, she(?) abruptly turned towards us at the water's edge and began foraging in our direction.






Gradually and methodically, she inched ever closer to us......





.......And closer.........






........And closer.......







At one point, this huge bird we estimated was maybe 20 feet away from us, and we were joking that she might just jump in the boat with us!! The last few shots were only minimally cropped, only to remove a small part of the empty background on one edge. We were of course grinning from ear to ear after it was over.

Finally the crane walked away from us before departing. By this time I switched to the 70-200 zoom.








Afterwards we found a couple of American Oystercatchers.






A Long-Billed Curlew.






After lunch we went out to Goose Island State Park for an assortment of Pelicans and ducks.



Goldeneye






Brown Pelican landing.





White Pelican landing.







All in all, I felt like it was a very rewarding trip. We saw some fairly rare or uncommon species, and besides, my motto is " A bad day of photography beats a good day at work any day!". I don't think any of the days on this trip were bad, by any means.

As always, Thanks for looking!

[sandboa]

Very nice series. I love the Goldeneye drake. That's a tough photo to get in Texas.

That Eared Grebe shot is excellent as well.

[Patti Edens]

Nice series, Sid. I love seeing all of the duck photos in their alternate plumage. So pretty!

[lhdvies]

Hey Sid-long time no see or hear. Excellent series!! Looks like you hit the birding jackpot!!

Leon

[Shadow]

Terrific variety and light, Sid! I had a blast down there at Thanksgiving. You went on the Skimmer, right?

[preames]

Fantastic series Sid. That crane experience had to be exciting. You got some great shots.

[dtran]

Very nice series, Sid! Thanks for sharing!

[David Alaniz]

Fantastic set Sid! Got some great shots.

[MichaelW]

Great set of shots. Looks like you had a great trip.

[labmansid]

Thanks Chris, Patti, Patrick, Duc, David, and Michael.

Originally Posted by lhdvies

Hey Sid-long time no see or hear. Excellent series!! Looks like you hit the birding jackpot!!

Leon

Yeah, that four letter word "work" has been interfering with my outings way too much! Thanks, Leon.

Originally Posted by Shadow

Terrific variety and light, Sid! I had a blast down there at Thanksgiving. You went on the Skimmer, right?

Not on the Skimmer this time, Bruce. Kevin Sims has his own boat and business. His boat is smaller, and can navigate in shallower waters than the Skimmer. His web site is www.texasbirdingphotos.net . Real nice guy, too. We went with him last Spring on an island rookery tour as well, would like to do that again.

[houtex01]

Excellent series of photos Sid...looks like you had a great trip...nice closeups of the cranes...love the pelican landing photos...plus excellent narrative...

Ron

[Patti Edens]

Originally Posted by labmansid

Not on the Skimmer this time, Bruce. Kevin Sims has his own boat and business. His boat is smaller, and can navigate in shallower waters than the Skimmer. His web site is Whooping Crane Birding Boat Photography Tours . Real nice guy, too. We went with him last Spring on an island rookery tour as well, would like to do that again.

We went out on that boat (Jack Flash) too. It was great. He drifted us within 15 feet of a feeding family of Whoopers and they didn't seem bothered at all. They just kept on eating and barely even looked up at us. He knows a lot about photography, so he knew where to put the sun and how to maneuver the boat for the best shots. And there were only four of us on the boat, so easy to move around and change up for different shots.

I'll have to check into the rookery tour - never done that.

[gll]

Wow Sid! great set! the whoopers with reflection are great

[labmansid]

Thanks Ron, Patti, and Gary, I had a blast.

Originally Posted by Patti Edens

We went out on that boat (Jack Flash) too. It was great. He drifted us within 15 feet of a feeding family of Whoopers and they didn't seem bothered at all. They just kept on eating and barely even looked up at us. He knows a lot about photography, so he knew where to put the sun and how to maneuver the boat for the best shots. And there were only four of us on the boat, so easy to move around and change up for different shots.

I'll have to check into the rookery tour - never done that.

Yeah, quite a different experience (for the better) than a boat like the Skimmer, although the Skimmer isn't bad, just geared for a different clientele. Some photos from my rookery tour last spring are in this thread.

[iCe]

Dang Sid, every one of those deserves it's own thread. Nice series