Back at Anahuac after Livingston TX

After staying in Livingston for a bit we did some sight seeing in the area and came across this Reservation.

As it turned out they have a really nice camp ground around a large lake that is just beautiful.

A turn around Shovelers Pond at Anahuac was just so cool as it was covered with all manner of Water Fowl.

And of course it has been a little to cool here and this poor Heron  just looks miserable .

This Black Belly Whistling Duck beat the cold by sunning on one of the bulk heads.

Still one of my favorites , the Red Faced Vulture.

One of the thousands of Hawks in the Refuge right now.

The spotter  Float Planes the Refuge uses to do bird counts on the area where hunting is allowed to help regulate the amount of birds in the area.

While driving to the Refuge we were side lined by one of the many cattle drives that go right down the main roads in the area.



You just have to love their faces.

An Ibis looking for some lunch.

An immature Ibis on the left, they are black for the first year and then turn white and an Egret searching for a snack.

Vicksburg MS

We managed to spend a rest day during our travel from the Outer Banks of NC to Texas visiting the Vicksburg Battle Field. Time spent there always brings back the thoughts of those who fought and died to make this Country what it is now.

On this special day for all who have served our Country it's always a sad reminder when you look out over a National Burial Ground that each stone is a reminder of a person who served and fell in service to this Nation. We should never forget the price of freedom.

The Gates to the National Burial Ground.

One of the smaller Monuments to he Texas Brigade at the Vicksburg Battle Field.

Just a great picture .

The youngest Medal of Honor winner at the age of 14.

One of my favorite stops on the Battle Field .

The last time we visited here was 5 years ago and it still amazes me at the size of this Navel Vessel and that we meet the man who found the wreck in the river. We meet ED Bearss on the Gettysburg Battlefield by accident and ended up with him giving us a tour of the portion of the field where the 20th Maine had fought. It really is a small world.

As you walk through the restored portion of the Cario you can only imagine what it must have been like to serve below decks on the Mississippi River in the summer. I am always in awe of the bent railroad track that was used as armor on the bow of the vessel.

One of the boilers. When she was steaming on the river each boiler consumed a ton of coal per hour. Imagine the heat given off from the two boilers.

One of the viewing ports from the armored Pilot House.

Some of the 10,000 artifacts found in the vessel when it was raised. When the Cario hit the mine in the river she sank in 12 minutes.

Because she went down so fast , no one had a chance to remove any of their own items. Amazing that no one died when it sank.

The Ships Bell

A better shot of the bent rail armor.

The large Texas Monument. My focus on Texas is that as I write this we are now Residents of Texas. All the vehicles and our Driver ID's are all Texas.

Some pictures of the Windsor Mansion ruins along the Natchez Trace in MS. It was and unusual building for the head pieces were all cast iron and the second floor railings were also cast iron.

What made these ruins special were the Wrought Iron head pieces and the fact that the building survived the civil war to only burn down years later when someone smoking in bed set the place on fire.

We visited the small town of Grand Gulf as here is where all the Union Supplies for the Vicksburg siege arrived by river boat. Not much to see as when the great flood of 2011 happened all the historic buildings were destroyed by the flood waters.

As we left Grand Gulf we followed the route the supply wagons used and I can say the road hasn't been improved much since the battle.

Busy Week

Lauren and I had Volunteered to drive the tour vans for an Owl  Prowl on the Alligator river Refuge the other evening and the first thing we ran into was this big old bear moving across one of the impoundments that has not been flooded yet. As it turned out this would be the high lite of the tour as it was a rocking wind all evening and with the colder temperatures of the last few days the Owls did not cooperate.





He took the whole thing in stride and didn't seem to mind us watching  .We managed to keep  the excitement down as to not make him to uncomfortable.



He could really move in the water and it just shows how quick they really are. That's why they say you can't out run one.



And out he was and a quick shake and then he gave us that are you really going to stay here or I think it's time for you to leave. so on we went to several more stops looking for the ever elusive Owl.

On one of our other stops we found this poor five foot long mud snake that some one had run over. what a shame , these are not harmful but it always the same. It's a snake so just kill it. This was the  other high lights of  our Owl tour. On the last stop of our journey we did manage to hear a little Screech Owl respond to the Team Leaders calls.

The migration has started on  Pea Island and the Geese are moving in fast. Every day several hundred birds seem to arrive on cue as the Refuges Wings Over Water week is now in full swing . During the week there are over a hundred programs sponsored by the Refuge and the Coastal Wildlife Society .

Our Sun rise the other morning. We were doing the Hospitality Table that day and we would greet the Birders with hot coffee  and donuts.

It was a little windy that morning and the blowing sand gave the feeling of a fresh snow. It was amazing this day as there was a Sunrise Photography Program and some of them laid in the blowing sand to get the perfect shot.

And of course we had a few crumbs for one of the Grackles that was working the system as we sat and greeted the visitors.

He was so smart that he would hang around and wait for some one to eat a muffin and then he would go for the bits that fell to the porch floor. He showed no fear and would walk in between our feet and gather his goods.

A mix of White Pelicans and Snow Geese crowd on the sand bars in the North Pond area of the Refuge.

Another great Sunrise over the Pea Island Refuge

These are some of the Folks that turn out every morning to bird Watch no matter what the temperature. The last few days the Sun up temps have been in the low 50's with a steady wind of 17 knots and gusts to 30 knots. When you are not shielded it makes for a real chill. We are now down to our last week here and will soon be moving down to Texas. Looking forward to the change as it will still be warm there.

Travel Channel and Such

We were watching the Travel Chanel last August and one of the clips was about and old tale of a Witch being burned at the stake in a little town on the Outer Banks.

So off we went yesterday to try once again to go to Ocracoke Island. It once again was a failure as the Ferry's are now on a limited runs and as the locals have a go to the head of the line and they are doing some kind of work on the Island so when 3 20 ton trucks get on first everyone else has to wait. To bad for the merchants on the island as not many tourists can get out their, OH Well . Shame on the NC Ferry System. On the other hand we did do some sight seeing.

This is the base of the Cora tree. Said to be over 200 years old.

It's huge and the local association built the road around the tree to preserve it.

So as the story goes the witch was tied to the tree with her baby and as the locals were going to burn her the weather went from clear to a black sky and as it darkened the baby turned into a black cat and a bolt of lightning struck the tree and the witch was gone and the only thing left was the witches name was burned into the tree. Look hard and you can see Cora still in the bark.

A little easier to see Cora.

We also went to Museum of ship wrecks of the Atlantic down in Hatteras by the ferry landing. This is one of the lighthouse lenses from one of the many old sound lighthouses.

One of the Civil War markers from the Museum grounds.

This trip was a pleasant change from our Wednesday when we helped with a school program with almost 500 2nd grade students . It was a great day but very loud and busy.

We found this marker on the site of the local town center. What was interesting was when we looked at the back of the marker we saw a Civil war first happened on this site.

How neat that where we were standing on site of the first major amphibious landing from he ocean by US troops.