Took a quick trip over to the coast to play and camp and take some photos yesterday. Checked out Sea Rim State Park and McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge, both on the northern Texas Coast. I had spent some time at McFaddin before, but not the state park. Only bad thing was driving through Port Arthur. Please.
Don’t ever do that. I’ve lived in Corpus Christie and been around Houston many times and thought those refineries were bad. Port Arthur is on a whole other level. But I don’t really want to talk about gross stuff. Sea Rim was cool because it wasn’t your typical state park- really no thrills and there hadn’t been much attempt to fix anything up since it got annihilated by (hurricane) Ike in 2008.
Other than some fences to encourage dunes to form, there wasn’t much being done. Which I appreciate since well, coastal development is a bit ridiculous to begin with (whole other story…)
So! Saw some good birds – 5 plover species in a matter of minutes – awesome! (Piping, Semipalmated, Snowy, Golden, and Killdeer). Got some decent photos and the weather was perfect for beach camping.
Killdeer are all over the place here (and there) but I don’t remember ever seeing one actually in the water and bird baths are always freaking cute. I also saw some piping plovers bathing but they were too far away for decent photos. Enjoy the killdeer bath…
Jill Wussow
Jill Wussow, 31, is a seasonal field biologist, nature photographer and nomad. She has worked with several federally endangered bird species (including the Golden-cheeked Warbler, Black-capped Vireo and Piping Plover), sea turtles, and bats all over the United States. She is rarely in one place for more than a few months at a time and her whereabouts are often confusing. Field work has given her great opportunity to travel often and meshes with her passion for wildlife and nature photography perfectly. Through her photography, Jill hopes to convey her love and respect of the natural world.
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