Another early morning start. We birded Finnessey Ranch today located near Refugio Texas. We were on the coach bus for 6 am and we took the Port Aransas Ferry over to Aransas Pass and drove on to the ranch.
For the ferry to take a Greyhound type bus on, counterweight of other vehicles was needed to balance the weight for the ferry and the 6 am ferry is not really a busy ferry time. We had to wait a few 5 minutes for the minimum 5 or 6 cars or trucks needed as counterbalance. The ferry ride is less than a 1/4 mile and takes only 5 minutes of actual sailing time. It must be the most boring job in the world for a ferry captain. Really just back and forth all day long. The 6 ferries here run 24 hours a day.
We arrived at dawn at the ranch and we were met by the ranch manager, Sally. She has managed this ranch for 24 years. The Finnessey Ranch which comprises 3300 acres has been in the same family for 160 years and the fellow who owns it now inherited it from his great aunt. No one lives on the property. There are a lot of grazing cattle and this land is leased by the cattle farmers. The ranch has great water sources and some oil pumping stations on it and it has the 26 mile Mission River bordering some of its property. The ranch manager also has a nature and photography club and a conservation area that is part of a agreement with the A&M University. The ranch manager says it is a lot of work to manage this ranch. She never thought she would be at it this long. The ranch manager does not live on the property. There does not appear to be an old homestead or anything.
There are a lot of huisache and mesquite trees and bushes. The ranch is rich with good water sources such as artesian wells and the river and in this area there are big trees. The ranch was hit hard by the hurricane last year and some washrooms, pavilion and a boardwalk need replacement. There are a lot of overturned trees and brush has to be cleared. out. There are blinds also that need to be rebuild.
It was a fun morning as we got to sit on the hay wagon trailer and we were really out in the outdoors today. Thankfully it was overcast but not cold and not too windy. We saw the regular suspects and took photos of some of them. There was Red-tailed Hawk and Kestrel flying about. Cattle were in the pastures and separated into different grazing areas by electric fences. In some places we went right by calves and full grown cattle and they were looking at us looking at them! We went from the dry mesquite environment to the riparian and then the marshlands. The marshlands were particularly vast but the bull rushes were thick. This invasive species eventually chokes out and dries out the marsh. So we had an enjoyable morning. There were no bird species but we still enjoyed seeing the birds.
Sometimes there are funny moments that one remembers. One of the fellows on the hay wagon was from Paris and he was an older gent who was wearing a bright bright red sweater. I am talking cardinal red. So went we went by some bulls young ones who looked aggressive as we drove by, They were skittish and wanted to charge or play at charging the wagon. We were not in any danger, they wanted to play. Others backed away. I thought we should send this fellow in red out ahead of us, like a matador. When we were at one of our stops off the wagon, one of the calves went right up to him. I was walking with the gent and joked with him, maybe the young bull wanted to him to be the matador. This elderly gent then broke out sang the matador song from the opera (and he did it very well). He was very good and said he had not thought about the colour of his sweater until then.
We returned the way we came and were back at the Civic Center parking lot shortly after noon. We went home for lunch, it was hot and sunny at Port Aransas. We changed into shorts and t-shirts and decided this was the day we would rent a beach buggy and drive the beach. To rent one of these one needs to show a driver's license, proof of vehicular insurance and be 21 one years of age. One can pretty well drive all over town in one of these on the regular streets like a car. I had everything and signed the rental documents.
Once on the beach with the beach or dune buggy, guess who drove???...... Barbr loved it (no driver's license on her, and no insurance ..... but what the heck!).
We went further than we were supposed to go down on the beach. They don't have a mile marker for each mile and we were not supposed to go past 40 and we didn't see the marker until 41 showed up. So Barbr turned around and it was not until there were lots of cars driving on the beach near town that we switched drivers. We cruised around the streets also and at the end returned the dune buggy back to the rental office. We had a fun time and Barbr said she had a great day! She is fine driving and I am pretty sure she really enjoyed herself. We came back all sandy, in our hair, ears and sunglasses were so sandy, it was hard to see.
By now it was past 5 pm and we had a quick supper at home and then we both just got busy with stuff. Thankfully tomorrow we have an island birding tour with the festival and it starts at 10 am, so we are both grateful for a lovely day of Birding and Beach today and a chance to sleep longer tomorrow...
For the ferry to take a Greyhound type bus on, counterweight of other vehicles was needed to balance the weight for the ferry and the 6 am ferry is not really a busy ferry time. We had to wait a few 5 minutes for the minimum 5 or 6 cars or trucks needed as counterbalance. The ferry ride is less than a 1/4 mile and takes only 5 minutes of actual sailing time. It must be the most boring job in the world for a ferry captain. Really just back and forth all day long. The 6 ferries here run 24 hours a day.
We arrived at dawn at the ranch and we were met by the ranch manager, Sally. She has managed this ranch for 24 years. The Finnessey Ranch which comprises 3300 acres has been in the same family for 160 years and the fellow who owns it now inherited it from his great aunt. No one lives on the property. There are a lot of grazing cattle and this land is leased by the cattle farmers. The ranch has great water sources and some oil pumping stations on it and it has the 26 mile Mission River bordering some of its property. The ranch manager also has a nature and photography club and a conservation area that is part of a agreement with the A&M University. The ranch manager says it is a lot of work to manage this ranch. She never thought she would be at it this long. The ranch manager does not live on the property. There does not appear to be an old homestead or anything.
There are a lot of huisache and mesquite trees and bushes. The ranch is rich with good water sources such as artesian wells and the river and in this area there are big trees. The ranch was hit hard by the hurricane last year and some washrooms, pavilion and a boardwalk need replacement. There are a lot of overturned trees and brush has to be cleared. out. There are blinds also that need to be rebuild.
It was a fun morning as we got to sit on the hay wagon trailer and we were really out in the outdoors today. Thankfully it was overcast but not cold and not too windy. We saw the regular suspects and took photos of some of them. There was Red-tailed Hawk and Kestrel flying about. Cattle were in the pastures and separated into different grazing areas by electric fences. In some places we went right by calves and full grown cattle and they were looking at us looking at them! We went from the dry mesquite environment to the riparian and then the marshlands. The marshlands were particularly vast but the bull rushes were thick. This invasive species eventually chokes out and dries out the marsh. So we had an enjoyable morning. There were no bird species but we still enjoyed seeing the birds.
Sometimes there are funny moments that one remembers. One of the fellows on the hay wagon was from Paris and he was an older gent who was wearing a bright bright red sweater. I am talking cardinal red. So went we went by some bulls young ones who looked aggressive as we drove by, They were skittish and wanted to charge or play at charging the wagon. We were not in any danger, they wanted to play. Others backed away. I thought we should send this fellow in red out ahead of us, like a matador. When we were at one of our stops off the wagon, one of the calves went right up to him. I was walking with the gent and joked with him, maybe the young bull wanted to him to be the matador. This elderly gent then broke out sang the matador song from the opera (and he did it very well). He was very good and said he had not thought about the colour of his sweater until then.
We returned the way we came and were back at the Civic Center parking lot shortly after noon. We went home for lunch, it was hot and sunny at Port Aransas. We changed into shorts and t-shirts and decided this was the day we would rent a beach buggy and drive the beach. To rent one of these one needs to show a driver's license, proof of vehicular insurance and be 21 one years of age. One can pretty well drive all over town in one of these on the regular streets like a car. I had everything and signed the rental documents.
Once on the beach with the beach or dune buggy, guess who drove???...... Barbr loved it (no driver's license on her, and no insurance ..... but what the heck!).
We went further than we were supposed to go down on the beach. They don't have a mile marker for each mile and we were not supposed to go past 40 and we didn't see the marker until 41 showed up. So Barbr turned around and it was not until there were lots of cars driving on the beach near town that we switched drivers. We cruised around the streets also and at the end returned the dune buggy back to the rental office. We had a fun time and Barbr said she had a great day! She is fine driving and I am pretty sure she really enjoyed herself. We came back all sandy, in our hair, ears and sunglasses were so sandy, it was hard to see.
By now it was past 5 pm and we had a quick supper at home and then we both just got busy with stuff. Thankfully tomorrow we have an island birding tour with the festival and it starts at 10 am, so we are both grateful for a lovely day of Birding and Beach today and a chance to sleep longer tomorrow...
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