Today we are visiting The Port Aransas Nature Preserve which encompasses 1,217 acres in an area formerly known as Charlie’s Pasture. The area was named after early resident Charlie Bujan who allowed the locals to graze their cattle on his property. The Port Aransas Nature Preserve includes nearly 3 miles of crushed granite hike and bike trails and boardwalks over the algal flats. Amenities include the pavilion, sheltered overlooks, picnic tables and restrooms.

Birders look for waterfowl (Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Cinnamon Teal), grebes (Least included), heron and egrets, cormorants, shorebirds (such as Black-necked Stilt), and flaming pink Roseate Spoonbills.

So here is a view of Charlie’s Pasture. Hope you like it.

The entrance.

A long view of the pavilion.

Information about the preserve is on the post.

A view looking back from the information post. Notice the Farley boat and retired oil derricks.

Closer view of the pavilion with water behind.

Swallow nest…

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Elizabeth Bishop (1911 – 1979) was an American poet and short-story writer who was born in Massachusetts, raised in Nova Scotia, and lived for many years in Brazil with her partner Lota de Macedo Soares. Bishop was Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1949 to 1950, the Pulitzer Prize winner for Poetry in 1956, the National Book Award winner in 1970, and the recipient of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in 1976. Although not as widely known as many of the male poets of her generation, such as Theodore Roethke and John Berryman, Bishop’s restrained style and impeccable craft have had a strong influence on many American poets, most notably Robert Lowell, Kathleen Spivack, Dana Gioia, and Louise Glück. Like many of Bishop’s poems, “The Fish” is widely admired for its precise detailed description that evokes a struggle to discover a sense of belonging in…