A few miles off the south Texas coast, Padre Island National Seashore protects the World’s Longest undeveloped stretch of barrier island. Seventy miles of sand and shell beaches, dunes, and grasslands. Not to be confused with South Padre’s Spring break party grounds. If you want to connect with nature go to north Padre Island, many miles away.
A short walk on this beach and you will quickly see that this area is populated with many species of birds, also deer wander along the rolling sand dunes, (some of them quite large), and jack rabbits .
The nearby lagoon is called Laguna Madre. The water is shallow, less than five feet deep. The lagoon itself covers 609 square miles. This is were we saw many white pelicans, pairs of Crested Cara Cara, more small deer and many small wren-like birds.
If you take the short drive over to the camping area called Bird island Basin you will likely see a small gathering of White Pelicans and many other small bird species. We thought about relocating to this campground but after two visits here in the jeep we noticed quite a few mosquitos and other flying demons. Probably depends upon the time of year but this area is worth checking out. It is $4.00 a night at this campground with an “America the Beautiful ” Pass.
Some of the shells on this beach are so colorful. These were opened and many colors that looked like butterflies against the dark wet sand.
Below are a few of the birds I saw on the N Padre beach.
The water was not warm enough to wade in. The temperatures had dropped when we arrived and we rarely saw the sun for our entire visit. It did not stop us from enjoying each day.
We only saw short bursts of sun during our visit but we had fun, spent time with friends and enjoyed walks on this amazing seashore.
Bill and Mark went out on a charter to fish one morning. They caught quite a few fish between them but could only bring in two due to size restrictions.
Captain Len has been taking charters out in this area for 25 years. He was originally from Northern California. In fact, ten years ago Mark booked one of his charters at random and found out they both had best friends that were brothers in the little town of Biggs, California.. Small World.
In the early morning fog you never know Who or What you might see on this beach.
Pelicans, People, Shore birds, Grackles and Crabs were dotted along the seashore one foggy morning.
There are plenty of crabs looking for food and burrowing into the sand. It took some patience however, to catch a quick shot of one or two of these busy little creatures.
Although these crabs are the most common, they are just one of the 41 crustacean species in the park.
I think it was Yvonne’s idea to have an Oyster Bake. GOOD IDEA!
We went into Port Aransas and picked up some fresh Oysters and with everyones help we had a Oyster Bake right in our camp. Yvonne dressed up these slimy creatures in such a way that they looked like they belonged on the cover of Bon Appetite Magazine. Sue and Bill popped them on the BBQ and cooked them til they were just right, and the rest was history. I am Not an Oyster fan. I spent many a night at the Pelican’s Pier in Tahoe City, California bartending when I wasn’t creating metal sculptures in the gallery next door. One of my jobs, in addition to mixing up awesome cocktails was to shuck Oysters on the half shell. I swore I would not ever want to meet another oyster after I left that job. But on this occasion on N Padre Island I took a chance. Prodded by my RV peers to try one, I did and realized how much I had been missing. Well frankly, I think most everything that is BBQ’d, smothered in Butter, Parmesan cheese and special sauces tastes great.
Here we are, A Motley crew indeed, along the seashore of N padre Island, Texas
Mark, Sue, Tom, Jim, Judie, Deb, Yvonne and our trusty photographer Bill
Kemp’s ridley sea turtle is thriving today due to dedication of many volunteers and scientists along this seashore.
In the summer months you too can witness this sacred act. Once on the brink of extinction, the Kemp’s ridley had a record breaking nesting season in 2017 here on these beaches.
The species was declining dramatically in 1947 due to poaching and misuse of fisheries. A secondary nesting colony was formed at Padre Island NS. In 1978 eggs transported from Mexico were incubated and imprinted at Padre Island NS. The hatchlings were incubated in captivity for 10 months and then released giving them a better chance at survival. In 2017, 219 nests were located at Padre Island NS, the most US nesting beach for the species.
The Malaquite camping area is on pavement and they provide a picnic table, flush toilets, fresh water and a dump station. For the mere cost of $7.00 a night this is like Free camping. the Gulf of Mexico and over 50 miles of Beach area to drive or walk is amazing.
Sweet!