Goose Island Camping

DAY ONE

Had my friend Kim J. in mind when we chose the pink bait shop.  Guess we can blame her for no fish.

This one is for you Kim J.

Hannah found this lizard.

Lexi in the Bluebonnets.

 

Micah fishing. 

Lauren set her pole down and the fish jerked it into the water.  Daddy to the rescue, he reeled in her pole and a Flounder. 

Oystercatcher

Gulls

DAY TWO

Turkey vulture

I learned how to tell the difference between a Turkey vulture and a Black vulture.  The Turkey vultures have white along the entire under wingspan of their wings, where Black vultures have white only on the tips.

Daddy and Lauren playing in the sand.

My feet are getting dirty.

Micah and Mommy playing tag,

An Inca Dove

The Brown Thrasher

DAY THREE

The Gray Catbird

The rump of the Gray Catbird is a rust color.

The female Hooded Warbler

The White-eyed Vireo

Carolina Wren

American Goldfinch

I'm hoping Lexi will have a love for birds.  She watched the birds with me for hours at a time.  She loved their songs. 

Hannah hanging out on the tree.

Lexi climbing a tree.

Red-winged Blackbird

Daddy and Micah chasing each other with buckets of water.

Daddy pulling the kids while they sat in the inner tube.

DAY FOUR

From the left: Dennis, myself, Judy and Larry

Dennis, Judy and Larry were the Bird Hosts.  I really enjoyed birding with them.  They had such a wealth of information and were wonderful educators.  Their love for birding was contagious. 

 

These squirrels were a hoot to watch.  I am not sure if they were mating or wrestling.


We camped a week earlier this year than we did last year because of this I didn't get to see nearly the variety as last year.  However, I had the blessing of meeting some wonderful people and begin new friendships.

My bird list for this year
Turkey Vulture
Black Vulture
Inca Dove
Eurasian Dove
Mourning Dove
Northern Cardinal
Northern Mockingbird
Carolina Wren
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Brown-headed Cowbird
Red-winged Blackbird
White-eyed Vireo
Orange-crowned Warbler
Lincoln's Sparrow
Gray Catbird
Black-crested Titmouse
Northern Parula
Brown Thrasher

Buff-bellied Hummingbird

Rufous Hummingbird

Hermit Thrush

Hooded Warbler

Indigo Bunting

House Sparrow

American Goldfinch
American Oystercatcher

Interesting Facts

• The Cowbird lay their eggs in other peching birds (passerines) nest for them to care for their young.  They do this so they can follow grazing animals.  The cowbirds eat the insects that follow these larger animals.
• The ovenbird build their nest on the ground.  They have a side entrance like an oven. 

Fairfield State Park - Camping

Our family wanted to take a trip to visit my brother at Coffield Unit in Tennessee Colony. It is about a three hour drive so we decided to do some camping. A little crazy one might think, since it was in the 30's at night. We chose to stay at Fairfield State Park, a great choice, the scenery was absolutely breathtaking.

The visit with my brother went well. The kids told him knock knock jokes, Lexi gave generously of laughs and smiles. He said that our visit and letters meant a lot and that they help keep him going. It really is nice to have my brother back in our lives.

We took a two mile nature walk around the lake. We saw armadillos, wild hogs, woodpeckers, white-tailed deer, crows, vultures, spiders, squirrels, rabbits, and ducks. At night we heard the coyotes howling.


There was an abundance of trees: Oaks, Hickory, Cedar, Pines.

There were a large quantity of armadillos.

Here are some wild hogs and their young ones.

Lexi thought the grill was a chair.

Daddy is teaching the kids how to skip rocks. This was where they did some fishing. Lauren caught the most perch.

Micah loved sliding down the ravines.

We found several forts for the kids to play in.

The Daddy longlegs were everywhere.

Friday evening we took a drive to Palestine, TX for the Polar Express train ride. The kids watched the movie on our drive up to Fairfield.

Micah had his face to the window, as you see below, the entire ride. He removed his nose from the window only to drink his hot cocoa. He was looking for Santa Claus.

The end of the ride was quite dramatic. When the train arrived at the "North Pole" Micah's facial expressions communicated much disappointment as he cried in daddy's arms. When we asked him why he was crying he tearfully replied, "This is fake. This isn't the North Pole and that isn't Santa." He continued on explaining that the North Pole has ice.

The girls enjoyed the ride, the story, the hot cocoa and treat.

In all honesty, I would probably say it is not worth the costs. I think maybe the day trip, where you can admire the surrounding beauty would be more worth the expense.