761 March 28, 2022 Bird Island Basin

I took one last walk at Isla Blanca this morning.  It was 10:30 before we got on the road.  If you look at a map, it looks like a short distance from South Padre Island to Padre Island National Seashore.  We drove 200 miles and it took a little more than 4 hours to get here.  We traveled first on highway and then onto farm roads.

We went through Corpus Christi and then we entered the park.

After we were settled at Bird Island Bay, we drove to the visitor center.  Our first order of business was to get a tide chart.  You can camp on the beach and you can drive for 60 miles to the end of the island.  It is very useful and important to be aware of the rising water!  We also did some shopping for the grandchildren.  The national parks always have great nature related books and things for kids.  We also picked up some trash bags so that we could do our part out on the beach.  I was happy to see that the park has switched to biodegradable bags in lieu of plastic.

We drove onto the beach.

We stopped to gather debris…so much plastic!

This caracara sat on the dune supervising our work effort.

Oh buoy…this doesn’t belong here!

We decided on a vegetarian meal; squash with basil pesto, baked grape tomatoes, garlic, and feta.  Cooking at the water’s edge with mild temperatures and a gentle breeze while the fish jump…it’s a pretty sweet gig!

I watched this heron feeding in the shallow water of the bay or Laguna Madre.  It carried off a long thing, an eel or maybe a snake.