By 1941, only 15 wild whooping cranes remained in North America. Since that time, thanks to habitat protection, pollution control, public education and a captive breeding program, the wild flock has grown to more than 230 birds, which summer and breed at Wood Buffalo National Park, in Canada's Northwest Territories. Migrating 2500 miles across the Great Plains, almost all of these majestic birds winter at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Established in 1937, this Refuge consists of six units, totalling more than 115,000 acres. The main section lies along San Antonio Bay, northeast of Rockport, and is a mosaic of tidal marshes, grasslands, sloughs, redbay thickets and woodlands; stands of live oak dominate the latter. In addition to the whooping cranes, winter visitors have a chance to see American alligators, armadillos, javelina, ringtails, swamp rabbits and bobcats. Birding can be spectacular at Aransas; highlights include American white pelicans, snow geese, ospreys, roseate spoonbills, wood storks, sandhill cranes, white-tailed kites, crested caracaras, white-tailed hawks, black-bellied whistling ducks, ladder-backed woodpeckers and brown-crested flycatchers. Of course, a wide variety of waterfowl, rails, wading birds, gulls and terns will also be found.
Aransas National Wildlife Refuge is open from dawn to dusk every day of the year; its Visitor Center is open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas. A 16-mile auto tour road loops through the major portion of the Refuge and provides access to a number of trails, boardwalks, blinds and observation towers. To reach Aransas from Rockport, head north on Highway 35, proceed about 20 miles and turn east on FM 774; drive another 6 miles and turn south on FM 2040, which will take you to the Refuge.
