This was a completely unexpected encounter.
We stopped at a lookout point and decided to take the trail next to it. The trail said it was closed <1 mile in, but it was a lovely day so we decided to walk until we had to turn around. First we saw an alligator. Then a whole bunch of alligators. Pretty exciting stuff. I even saw a roseate spoonbill hanging out with a bunch of cormorants. Then, we saw these huge things in the distance: whooping cranes.
Its hard to explain how big they are. Usually the biggest birds I see are great blue herons and pelicans -- and they're pretty big, but they're not human-size big. It's almost like there was a disconnect between the size of the birds and the distance I was viewing them from.
There was one big male (he looked to be at least 5ft tall. And three smaller, juvenile whooping cranes. The birds were just hanging about, searching for food and preening. At one point, the male started calling which was completely amazing.
I'd read that a trio of whooping cranes was seen in Aransas National Wildlife Refuge at the beginning of November, but I didn't hold out hope that the birds would still be some in the area. The memory of seeing them still makes me feel a bit giddy.
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