THE SHUFFLEBOARD TOURNEY WAS IN FULL SWING at Ancient Oaks when we arrived. Like many of the RV parks, it is filled with year-long and seasonal residents who have put down roots over the years. But we don’t have time for old folks games — we are off birding.
Shuffle-BORED!
There are dozens of places in Nebraska and Colorado and Arizona with crane festivals where birders come to see thousands upon thousands of migrating sandhill cranes. But there are few places where one can see the magnificent whooping crane. There are only about 600 wild “whoopers” left in the world. About 100 migrate annually from Minnesota to Florida and the rest travel from Canada’s Northwest Territories to winter at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge here in Texas.
Aransas Whoopers
Not only are whoopers the rarest American bird, they are the tallest at five feet. So they are pretty unmistakable, even at a distance of half-a-mile or more. We were fortunate to get within a few hundred yards of a pair and later saw six more feeding in the shallow waters of the Refuge. They are not “lifers” for us — we have seen them here before — but they are worth seeking out any time you can. Sadly, we didn't do as well with our other targets.
