No, not talking about Angels or Devils.....but Birds and Bulls
On Wednesday, we visited the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. Here the endangered Whooping Crane, North America's tallest birds, have an winter stronghold. Pelicans, herons, egrets, spoonbills and geese feed in the brackish waters and salt marshes.
The visitor center was very informative, and we set off to find the elusive cranes. We did see 3 sand-hill cranes, but they took off before the camera was ready. From the 40 foot observation deck, in the windy sunshine, I took photos with Bernie's zoom lens, but the birds were still far away. And it turns out, these were snowy egrets, smaller and slimmer than cranes. But I also saw a golden eagle!
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| Snowy egret |
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| In Flight |
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| Golden Eagle, turned out of sunlight just as the shutter opened
On Friday we drove to the King Ranch. At 825,000 acres of protected habitat, it's one of the largest privately owned ranches, recorded in the National Register as "The Birthplace of American Ranching". Richard King acquired his first 15,500 acres @ $.02 per acre in 1853, and seeing it's potential for ranching, went to Mexico to buy longhorn cattle and find families who were provided with homes, schools, churches and all necessities in exchange for hard work and dedication.
Cowboys needed good horses and American wanted better beef cattle, so breeding programs were begun in the early 1900's under the Kleburg brother's, son-in-laws to Mr. King. The American Quarter Horse and the Santa Gertrudis cattle lines were the result. The descendants of the King's now own citrus ranches in FL, hunting and conservation areas, agricultural ventures in Australia and even a John Deere dealership.
Quarter Horses
Historic Longhorn
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