Visiting the White Pelicans at Padre Island National Seashore [April 4 and 6, 2017]

White Pelicans

Padre Island is 113 miles long and the longest barrier island in the world.  Padre Island National Seashore (Happy 101 B-day NPS!) protects 70 miles of the island. There are about 10 miles of roads, and if you are adventuresome and if you have a 4-wheel drive car, you can drive the length of the park.  It has pristine beaches and dunes along the Gulf of Mexico.  Laguna Madre separates the island from the Texas mainland. With only a few sources of water and high evaporation from the bright sun, Laguna Madre is hyper-saline, 1.5 to 3 times saltier than the ocean. 

Padre Island National Seashore's pristine beach along the Gulf of Mexico

Yes, you can drive on the beach - a good thing that Enterprise upgraded us to a Jeep

Padre Island is the next barrier island south of Mustang Island, so we were able to take day trips into the Seashore while we stayed at Mustang Island State Park.

Great view of Brown Pelicans

So many Brown Pelicans, to think they were once endangered due to DDT.

On our first trip, we spent time walking on the beach and exploring the different areas in the Park.  The beach here is even whiter, and the water even bluer than on neighboring Mustang Island, just 15 miles away.  The Bird Island Basin on Laguna Madre is shallow and considered one of the premier wind-surfing areas in the country.  Right near the wind-surfers was a sandbar with a group of rare White Pelicans.  Such a treat! 

White Pelicans sitting on a sand bar

Kayaking Laguna Madre - wind surfers dry camp on the shoreline in their RVs

Kayaking among the wind-surfers

It had been windy since we arrived in Texas 2 1/2 weeks before.  We finally had a day that was not as windy as the others, so we took a second trip to the Seashore to kayak on Laguna Madre and hopefully see more of the lovely White Pelicans.  The Laguna is a premier wind-surfing location, so we expected to encounter some wind, and we did.  None-the-less, we were very happy to be out on the water in our boats again. The White Pelicans were waiting for us, just where we had hoped to find them.

The tips of their wings are black - wing span 8 to 9.5 feet.  These are big birds!

Here they are up close, note the "centerboards" on their bills

The White Pelicans are much larger than the more commonly seen Brown Pelican.  The White is 62" long with an 8-9 1/2 foot wing span,  the Brown is only 50" long with a 6 1/2 foot wing span.  If you have been to a beach, you've likely seen the Brown Pelicans plunging into the water from great heights to grab a fish.  The White Pelicans scoop up their fish while they are swimming.   The Whites are magnificent to see in flight.   Breeding White Pelicans have the "centerboard" on the ridge of their bills.  Our Peterson Field Guide of Eastern Birds identifies Laguna Madre as their breeding range.

The arrow points to the location of Padre Island.