We followed the birds south to the Gulf Coast in early November 2010, first to Corpus Christi and then to South Padre Island. This page show images from our week based in Corpus Christi. We spent time on North Padre Island, especially Port Aransas. We also spent a day touring the King Ranch.

Although a pair of whooping cranes had already returned to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, we did not see them. Shorebirds were plentiful. Our tour of the King Ranch scored both black-bellied and fulvous whistling-ducks and a golden-fronted woodpecker. We also saw peccary, white-tailed deer and American alligators on the ranch. Oh, yes — and Texas longhorns.

Some of the waterfowl males were in breeding plumage, but many of the gulls were transitioning and made identification even more of a challenge than usual. However, as you'll see from the images, it's not all about birds. Mammals, butterflies, flowers and turtles captured our attention as well. But not the longhorns!

Video and other still images from this trip can be found at our Flickr site, flickr.com/photos/lmligocki/collections/72157626452973801/.

Click on each image for a larger view plus caption.

Black-necked stilt flock in flight Select		American white pelican in flight Select		Brown pelican cruising for fish Select
Collared peccary Select		Mexican ground squirrel Select		Black-tailed jacktabbit Select
Cloudless sulphur Select		Queen butterflies Select		Queen butterfly Select
Black swallowtail Select		Rounded metalmark Select		Red-eared slider Select
Female northern shoveler Select		Blue-winged teal showing off his blue Select		Green-winged teal in new breeding plumage Select
Black-bellied whistling-duck flock Select		Water lily Select		Morning glory Select
Great-tailed grackle struts his stuff Select		Great-tailed grackle portrait Select