Rather appropriately named, Column Stinkhorn (Clathrus columnatus), uses a foul-smelling slime to attract flies. The flies then help the fungus spread by carrying away spores. Though this advanced stage of the fungus is considered too putrid to eat, the underground “egg” is considered edible. Um, yeah, I’ll take your word for it.
Oysters are one of the seafood crops harvested in the nearby bays. In efforts to protect the long-term health of the oyster fishery, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has closed six of the minor bays along the coast and is actively rebuilding oyster reefs. That time-consuming and expensive process will get a boost from the recently enacted law that requires seafood distributors to either return oyster shells equal to 30% of the amount purchased or pay $1.36 per sack (a sack can weigh no more than 110 pounds). So far, many of the distributors are opting to pay the fee, since oyster shells command a good price for use in the vitamin supplement market.
I know bird guides use those words to describe Sanderlings (their body and bill respectively) but I happen to find them adorable. If you haven’t watched it yet, check out Piper, the Pixar video about peeps that won an Oscar in 2017 for Best Animation.
I spent an hour at Rockport Beach mesmerized by Black Skimmers bathing. Their name derives from their unique feeding method. They hunt by feel; flying low, skimming their mandibles in the water. When they touch a fish their bills snap closed. As a strategy, the percentage of success is low but hunting by feel means they can hunt at night while most other birds can’t. Read more about their distinctive qualities in this lighthearted article by Nicholas Lund.
I found the first of what I am assured will be many Hermit Crabs here at Rockport Beach. Most likely this is one of the several Pagurus species that move into shallow water during their winter breeding season. It was the only one I saw, hopefully a mate is out there somewhere. Good luck little crustacean!
A lonely palapa at Rockport Beach this morning. Two blocks from my cottage, the park is slowly rebuilding infrastructure damaged by Hurricane Harvey in late 2017. The birds didn’t seem to mind. Next time I’ll take my big camera. Without a lot of effort I spotted these cool species today: Black Skimmer, American and Brown Pelicans, Great Egret, Cattle Egret, Great Blue Heron, Ruddy Turnstone, Long-billed Curlew, Black Vulture, and even a few Bottlenose Dolphins. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon!
Though temperatures have been on the warm side, the dense sea fog rolling in has blocked out the sun the past couple days. The visibility index for the Coastal Bend was at zero this morning (meaning the average driver can only see about 330 feet ahead). On the plus side, it stopped raining!
Rockport ended last year way ahead of average in rainfall and started the new one the same way. The driveway to my little cottage has transmogrified into a swamp which my little car was no match for. It was reminiscent of the car stuck in the mud scene from My Cousin Vinny. (Though I don’t do Marissa Tomei’s character’s accent nearly as well as she does. Funny movie by the way!)
Thankfully, my new neighbors were nice enough to push me out of the mud. After which I imagine they went home for a good laugh while drinking sweet tea to cool off. As my intuitive friend Jeff said, “It would figure that a desert girl would get stuck in the mud.”
Hurricane Harvey wasn’t the most damaging tropical storm to blow through Rockport (the 1919 hurricane almost wiped the town off the map) but it certainly caused significant damage here. Residents have done a remarkable job rebuilding their community in the days since landfall (August 25, 2017), though about a quarter of the population hasn’t returned due to the housing shortage. Learning that fact, I feel especially fortunate to have found a cute little cottage to rent here.
For a variety of reasons, I have moved from the rugged, scenic Central Oregon Coast to the balmy, flat (but no less beautiful) Coastal Bend region of the Texas Gulf Coast. I first visited this area eleven years ago and I thoroughly enjoyed my stay. I’m looking forward to new adventures involving sea turtles, dolphins, a wide variety of birds, alligators, excellent food, and yes, even sweet tea.
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