Snow Geese

23 February 10 – 1 March 10

RERUN - It seems my 'Buffalo Soldiers' question has been misinterpreted. So let me clear up all the controversy I have stated - 'Buffalo Soldiers were black – were given the name by the Indians ---NO not the Cleveland Indians. The question is WHY were they called 'Buffalo Soldiers'?

They were given the name because the Indians thought the soldiers hair looked like the hair/fur on the head of a buffalo, hence 'Buffalo Soldier'. This came from reading the different picture verbiage at Fort Huachuca. So much for history. I'll try not to put any more questions in, but if I do they will be spelled out very precisely. I did NOT hear from anyone with an answer, let alone a correct one. My son-in-law, Tom did have Ann tell me the Indians gave them the name.

We traveled to a number of places to see wildlife as well as revisited Aransas NWR to see Whooping Cranes. We could see them with a spotting scope but it was still hard to tell what they were. Hopefully our trip to Matagorda Island this coming weekend will put us much closer to them. The person taking us out said: “You should have been here last year. You could get within 40 – 50 feet of them as there was not a lot of feeding places.” We saw more Armadillos as well as a begging Raccoon while we were eating lunch.

Another of our trips took use on a wild goose chase. We ended up almost a hundred miles from home with another sixty to go when we called a halt. We did see a pretty town that was the county seat with a beautiful old Courthouse built in 1890. On another day we went to a small town to see an old mission that was interesting. I even let Miriam walk through the center of town, but kept her out of the touristy places.

Any time you are out on the back roads you see a number of different hawks. We have taken to counting hawks on our trips to or from Port Lavaca across one twelve mile stretch of road. The count can be from six to a dozen or more. It is a challenge at times to make progress down the road, yet there comes a time to put the camera down and just look. Coming back from Aransas on one of our trips we saw a great number of American Kestrels, commonly know as Sparrow Hawk because of their diet. They migrate and we have seen them in Ohio in a limited number. Just so I do NOT start a question session – the Turkey Vultures aka buzzards return to Hinckley, Ohio on the 15 of March. Beware the Ides of March – et tu Brute for you Shakespeare fans. That was also Miriam's father's birthday. If the Vultures are still in Port O'Connor will they make it to Ohio? NO, it's not follow the Blue car either. There are two types of Vultures here, Black and Turkey, and only the Turkey Vultures migrate.

The picture of the Snow Geese in flight was taken on the road from Port Lavaca. What an awesome sight to see that many birds in the air and also hear the calling going on back and forth between different small bunches within the big group.

We have made our reservations for the next move and will be going to League City outside of Houston. We will stay there a month as the start of migration will be in full swing and there are number of places to go. One trip, if we can get there will be to see the Prairie Chickens on their mating grounds.

Pictures:
Red Shouldered Hawk
Snow Geese
Black Vultures - it took a while to get used to two kinds
Black Skimmers – they lower their bill and fish
Forster Terns – they dive to fish – fun to watch – there was 20 – 30 diving