I took my first trip to the Texas Gulf Coast and what a birders’ paradise it is! So many birds. It’s hard to pick a favorite but if hard pressed, it would have to be the brown pelicans. The synchronized flying, lovely colors, and crazy big pouches are cool but the real draw for me was their fearless acrobatics. We walked far into the waters on the south jetty in Port Aransas—roughly a mile long—watching the crazy brown pelicans riding the waves, diving into the water, and generally wilding in the wind and sea.

Spring time love making among the raptors is at an all-time high—or so it seems The red-shouldered hawks are paired off and making babies all over the place. I spotted my first Cooper’s Hawk. So cool. This one was alone, I think, and sighted near the Peterson Regional Medical Center. Then there was the Osprey, hunting on Lake Nimitz last week and the tough little American Kestrel near G Street a few days later. Raptors galore.

I’ve been hunting for these cool birds since people started spotting them last fall. They travel in flocks and after finally getting a close-up look and listen, I realize I’ve seen (and heard) the flocks many times. But look at these super model birds. With their velvety black masks, and soft peach wings with red tips that look like wax—hence the name—they’re gorgeous.