South Padre Island

Threatened Species

As you leave the mainland heading to South Padre Island on the Queen Isabella Causeway it is easy to think that you are headed to a typical barrier island with great beaches and high rises catering to tourists.  In reality Padre Island is one of the longest and least developed barrier islands in the world.  The area composed of  Padre Island, the Laguna Madre (one of only five large hypersaline lagoons in the world) and the Laguna Atascosa NWR contains 17 endangered or threatened species.  The most endangered sea turtle in the world (Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle) nests on the beaches here.

The Laguna Atascosa NWR lies along the shores of the Laguna Madre and is known for its work in preserving disappearing species.  It is working hard to preserve the ocelot which breeds in the refuge.  Earlier this year a female ocelot was killed on the main driving loop by a car driving too fast.  The drive now opens an hour later and closes an hour earlier in the hopes that this will minimize ocelot-vehicle tragedies during the hours the cats are moving.

This is hawk country.  The resident birds have to share space with wintering hawks from the north along with birds drifting up from Mexico.  This mixture makes raptor lovers giddy since you can't drive a mile on the area roads without spotting birds of prey.  One of the rarest is the Aplomado Falcon.  It disappeared from the Texas landscape but is now being brought back by releases of birds raised in captivity.  I was fortunate enough to watch one make a kill and even more fortunate to have it pose for some photographs.

Another handsome hawk is the White-tailed Hawk.  This species is also making a comeback.  I found this adult finishing up a rather large rabbit meal.  You can see the distended crop.  Normally hawks will fly off at your approach but they are reluctant to leave a kill and will often give you time to get off a few shots.

Rear-ended in Roma
The insurance company finally caught up to us on South Padre.  Our trusty truck had been viciously attacked from behind by a Ford Super-Duty.  The Sunday, Pearl Harbor-like impact was enough to give both Edie and me identical headaches for an hour and sore neck muscles for a couple days. Our rear bumper was toast and the truck bed had been pushed far enough ahead to tweak the back of the cab.  Nationwide came out and wrote us a check to cover all damages plus a rental for a week.  Since our truck was eager to keep on schedule and functioned fine we decided to wait until we get back to Michigan to get it fixed.

Dirty Al's  (http://www.yelp.com/biz/dirty-als-restaurant-south-padre-island)
There are a lot of seafood restaurants on the Island but within hours of arriving here we can always be found at Dirty Al's.  It is located within walking distance of the park and true to its name appears to be ready for a shut down by the health department.  The food is fantastic, however, and apparently everyone else agrees since Dirty Al has been opening other successful restaurants all over town lately. 

Weird Winter Weather
We haven't had any rain since Falcon but the pattern seem to be one in which every warming trend ends with a cold front that comes racing down once a week and we start the pattern all over again