APRIL 2006 - Page 3        | previous page | home | next page |

Monday, April 16

The wind was fierce at Goose Island State Park, with salt water splashing close to the truck camper.  It was already hot as well (about 85°) and quite humid.  We drove south and took the ferry to Port Aransas on Mustang Island.

Parked near the jetty, we saw lots of things:

- Skimmers

- Sea gulls

- Pelicans

Of course!

But also colorful seaweed, porpoises and sea going vessels.

Later in the day, we went to the bird sanctuary, and were surprised at the number of birds there.

If you look closely, the last picture is of roseate spoonbills.

The first picture is of a "black bellied whistling duck" (honest name).  The last is a shadow of an osprey that just caught a fish!

Ed is exited about his new camera. Last year, he was using a Fuji S7000 (8X zoom, 6 MP camera).  In the fall, he exchanged it for a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ30 with 12X zoom with image stabilization and 8 MP.  Beside the better resolution, the image stabilization allows for great telephoto shots without picture blur.  He has already taken about 200 pictures with it. He put his old camera (which had taken over 11,000 pictures) for sale as a used camera on eBay, and sold it for nearly what he paid for it!

A few more shots taken today:

The first is of a fishing boat returning to shore.  One of the crew was cleaning fish, and the birds were going crazy!

The second is of skimmers.  These birds skim along the surface of the water at high speeds with their mouths open and long beaks in the water to snag small fish. 

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