Chasing Ducks in Rockport

Rockport is a small town located on the Texas Gulf Coast. It has it's share of beach cottages, shrimp boats and bait stands. It also has its own wildlife sanctuary. The Connie Hagar Wildlife Sanctuary is located in Little Bay and it is a great place to spot hundreds of different local and migratory birds. 

 Richard and I happened upon the sanctuary as we drove down the road that skirts the bay from one end of Rockport to the other. We were just exploring, not knowing what we would find, so when I spotted the sign for the sanctuary, several yards out into the bay, I started looking for birds and waterfowl.

We travelled quite a ways down the beachfront when I spotted these birds getting ready to settle in for the evening. For whatever reason, they seemed to prefer this particular guard rail, for it was the only one where they were congregating.

 Of course, I asked Richard to pull over, and he did. Of course, I had to get out of the truck and start taking pictures. You can see that all the ducks had their near-side eyes trained on me, and they went into their "alert" mode.

 And, I moved slowly closer and closer to them. This is the point at which I must have crossed the invisible line of danger, for they started taking off. They didn't fly far, not wanting to leave their roosting spot, but they didn't want to be too close to me, either.

Then, there were the stragglers. They weren't quite as alarmed by my presence. So, I kept moving closer. After several steps, more of the ducks headed for the water.

By now, there were only a few ducks left on shore. One by one, as I inched closer with my camera, they waddled slowly off the rocks and into the water.

Redhead Duck (Aythya americana)

Finally, there was only one duck out of that whole crowd left on the shore. He watched me. I moved a few steps closer.

He let me get within ten feet of him, and then he, like all his comrades, had enough of me. With a total lack of urgency, he turned his back on me and took a step off the concrete...

 And he slipped into the water.

You would think that was the end of my encounters with the Rockport ducks. I turned to walk back to the truck, and look what I spotted...two of the ducks had sneaked around behind me and were already back on shore.

Mottled Duck (Anas fulvigula)

 Once again, I started my approach, and once again, they turned so their near-eye could follow my progress.

 Whoops. I crossed that line, again.

Into the water they went.
And so ended my duck-chasing for the day.