One day recently I drove to the islands, and ended up at one of my favorite areas along the Coastal Bend...Port Aransas. I didn't stay too long tho, but was amazed at the "white" seen [scene?] on the pond at Leonabelle's Birding Refuge! The water was half covered with the great American White Pelicans. When I see them arriving in our area, I know Winter is nearing. The whole lake was quite active, and so was the walkway just before the boardwalk and the observation tower!! At one point I even took some video of the pelicans. It was, for the most part, the most activity I've seen of that species in a long time. I also sighted in on a couple of rare birds. The LEAST grebe [comparing the pied billed grebe with black eyes---the least grebe has yellow!] and the Palm Warbler. In fact the Palm Warbler is shown commonly to be a bit north and east of where I was at the time. I've seen them years ago, but didn't have my camera at the time, so this is the first photo proof of the warbler for me...
LEAST GREBE
Habitat map: Grebe
PIED BILLED GREBE
Habitat map: Grebe
PALM WARBLER
Habitat map: Warbler
AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN
Habitat map: Pelican
BLACK NECKED STILT
Habitat map: Stilt
AMERICAN AVOCET
Habitat map: Avocet
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