Hey! What's That Big White Bird?

While guiding a field trip of bird photographers last weekend at Goose Pond Fish & Wildlife Area near Linton, IN, we had a special treat. We enjoyed a "Hey! What's that BIG WHITE BIRD?" moment.

Amid the thousands of migrating sandhill cranes were a few whooping cranes! During the weekend we saw 16 whooping cranes total—a significant percentage of the world population of this critically endangered bird. (There are about 600 whooping cranes total counting both wild and captive birds).

We were very careful to give the whooping cranes plenty of space. And they rewarded us with wonderful looks, if slightly distant. But that's what spotting scopes are for, right?


We watched the whoopers foraging in the wetlands.

We saw them in flight, and on Sunday, we even saw a few of them engage in some courtship dancing, which I'd never seen before in this species. To see this many whooping cranes in one place in one day, outside of their wintering areas in Texas and Florida, is really notable.

As the final field trip wound down on Sunday, we had one more BIG WHITE BIRD surprise. While watching northern harriers, rough-legged hawks, red-tailed hawks, and a young bald eagle coursing and soaring over a wet meadow, one of our group called out a flock of large white birds approaching us from the north.

It was a flock of 16 American white pelicans, newly arrived from the points farther south. The spring's first sighting at Goose Pond. And a great way to end the weekend, with the promise of spring's coming.

White Bass Time at Colorado Bend

One of my favorite places to spend the day fishing or go camping on the Colorado River is at Colorado Bend State Park.  The word is that the White Bass spawning run has kicked in and you can get in on the action.  Located just west of Lampasas, where the Colorado River forms the border between San Saba and Lampasas counties is a beautiful State park in the Colorado River valley bounded by bottom lands with tall trees and high scenic bluffs. The water runs in long winding pools and shallow, rock-strewn rapids. In places, beautiful waterfalls cascade to the river below. The park is famous for the spring white bass run. The white bass swim up river to spawn out of the depths of Lake Buchanan. Fisherman come from all over the State to fish for the white bass each year. If you catch the peak of the spawning run you can stand and catch a white bass almost every cast. Most of the time you have to work a little harder for your catch, one of my favorite methods is fly fishing with small blue scuds or freshwater shrimp flies on an ultra-light fly rod. If the bite is slow I have found slowly paddling the river while trolling with a blue or blue and silver plastic grub to be the most productive for putting enough fish in the cooler for supper. If you are real lucky you might catch a striped bass, hybrid bass or channel catfish while casting or trolling on the river.

The fishing is only one reason to visit Colorado Bend; it is also a great place to view wildlife up close. Over a hundred species of different birds, feral goats, feral hogs, raccoons, grey foxes, bobcats, skunks, ringtailed cats, deer and armadillos all call the park home. Don’t leave any food out if you are camping or you may have night visitors you did not invite in your camp. Down stream from the boat ramp is a rookery of nesting Great Blue Herons worth the trouble for the adventurous hiker or paddler. If you watch close you might even get to see a Bald Eagle soaring up the river. You can hike to Gorman Falls or explore the many other trails in the park for days.

You can find out much more about the park at


http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/colorado_bend/

Take time to take someone you care about into the wild and share the experience of making memories. Colorado Bend is a great place to start, Wild Ed

Feel free to click on Post a Comment and leave a comment or read the comments of others. Thanks, Ed