South Padre Island - Family, Turtles, Birds and Lunar Eclipse

We spent the weekend at South Padre Island with Kurt and Agata and the kids. Soon after we got there, we heard that the shoreline of South Padre was experiencing red tide. I didn't know much about red tide but the effects were immediately obvious as there were lots of dead fish on the beach. Also, within minutes of being exposed to the wind sweeping over the waves, all of us were coughing and the coughing continued until we got out of the wind. Needless to say, we tried to stay out of the wind as much as we could. We googled red tide and found out that the coughing was a common reaction to a microscopic irritant released into the air by the red tide organisms as they are being churned up in the surf. Thank goodness, there doesn't seem to be any long term effects from an exposure.

Luca

 

Gabriel

 

Osprey

Turtle Rehab Center

 

Recognize these turtles?

 

The Sea Turtles at this facility were all recovering from injuries suffered from incidents such as being tangled up in a net or discarded rope or fishing line.

 

Family Vacation

South Padre Birding Center - Moorhen

 

SPBC - Great Blue Heron

SPBC- Tri-colored Heron

SPBC - Flock of White Ibis

 

SPBC - Great Egert

 

SPBC - Mottled Ducks

 

Family Vacation Time

 

Lunar Eclipse early

Lunar Eclipse - almost total

 

Sabal Palm Sanctuary borders the Rio Grande river - Green Jay

Sabal Palm Sanctuary - My first time to see and photograph the elusive Chachalaca.  Chachalaca is a ground bird that is larger than a pheasant but smaller than a turkey.These birds are only found in extreme south Texas in heavily forested areas.