Reddish egret

We got up early this morning to get to the National Seashore for an 8 am bird walk - it actually turned out to be a drive and walk. The 'walk' was led by a retired couple from Michigan who spend the winter months on the National Seashore and lead these tours every day except Monday. Next week is their last week before returning to Michigan. It ended up just being the four of us for most of it, although another couple joined us part way through. Unfortunately it was a rather grey day today, and our leaders reckoned it wasnt one of their better mornings, but we found it enjoyable and informative nonetheless. We started at the shore, then headed over to a couple of spots on the Laguna Madre side, which is a mecca for windsurfers as the water is relatively shallow and there are nearly always good winds. We also stopped off at the water treatment plant, which is also a good place for spotting birds, though not so much this morning. This reddish egret was probably the highlight of the morning for me, as I had never seen one before.

We then headed back to the Visitor Center area and got something to eat from the store. There was a group of young school children having their lunch at the picnic tables there, trying to fend off the laughing gulls, who were also hoping for an easy lunch!

A few miles past the visitor center, the road stops and then you drive on the beach. The first five miles is supposed to be OK for any vehicle, so we drove for a couple of miles, but we didnt want to tempt fate, since it was a rental car! We spent a couple of hours on the beach - Roger went in the sea, but I stayed on the beach and did some reading. Late afternoon we headed back to our hotel, and I went in the pool and hot tub for a while, but not for long, as being a Friday, it was quite crowded.

Philip was driving down from San Antonio to join us until Sunday morning, so we met him later in the evening at the same restaurant as last night.