I made a quick stop at the Sarita rest area. A group of around 30 Brewer's Blackbirds, 11 Great-tailed Grackles, 3 Eurasian Collared-Doves, and 4 Mourning Doves suddenly dove for cover when a young Peregrine Falcon zipped overhead and continued off to the east.
I continued on to Goose Island State Park, arriving a little past 10:30. I had seen Whooping Cranes before, but they were always at a great distance. Just south of the entrance gate, I stopped at the observation deck. From there, I was able to see and get a photo of a banded adult.
Nearby, an armada of American White Pelicans flew over the campground section of the park.
I then headed north about a mile to the cow pasture bordered by 8th Street, 12th Street, and Lamar Beach Road. There, I saw 4 Roseate Spoonbills and 3 Sandhill Cranes among 24 Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, 2 Anhingas, and Great and Snowy Egrets, but the stars of the show were the four Whooping Cranes. Good photos were tough to get due to the distance and the heat waves.
Birds seen in St. Charles Bay from Lamar Beach Road included a Common Loon, Laughing Gulls, and Brown and American White Pelicans.
Storms were moving in and, soon after I decided to leave the park, I drove into one where I had to drop down to 30 miles per hour in order to see the road through the downpour. A few hours later, I checked into my motel in the mid-afternoon and then headed for the Houston Heights Bird Sanctuary. It was here that I saw the resident group of Red-vented Bulbuls. I had seen these birds in Hawaii, but these were the first ones that I had seen in the 'Lower 48'.
Other birds seen there included White-winged Doves, Northern Mockingbirds, and an Orange-crowned Warbler.
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