The Aransas National Wildlife Refugee sprawls over 54,829 acres of the Blackjack Peninsula, between San Antonio Bay and Aransas Bay, tucked behind Matagorda Islands on the south Texas coast. It was established in 1937 to protect the vanishing wildlife of coastal Texas. Some of its most famous and rarest beneficiaries are the whooping cranes which spend winters from around October through March on the tidal marshes and adjacent islands. The refuge's observation tower overlooks an area often used by the cranes and by other seabirds and waders, ducks and geese and herons at different times of the year. Older dunes near the coast have been covered by oaks and redly and harbor a variety of birds. Open grasslands provide pastures for deer, javelinas and armadillos. Wild turkeys also feed in the pastures by day and rose in the oaks at night. So do vultures. Sixteen miles of roads wind through the area and there are also walking trails where many of the refugee residents can be studied. (Birds-Pelicans)
Photo measures 8 x 10.25 inches. Photo is dated 11-01-1982.
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