Lapping water and Gulf breezes: We must be on the coast! Goose Island offers camping, fishing, and birding along St. Charles and Aransas bays, north of Corpus Christi.

Notice the live oaks within the esplanade as you approach the park. During a spring cold front, these trees may be congested with migrant landbirds, and the groundings or "fallouts" that have occurred here on the southern tip of the Lamar Peninsula are legendary. Travel straight to Lamar Beach Blvd. at St. Charles Bay. Turn left (north), and proceed along the bayfront, halting periodically to view the rafts of waterfowl that crowd these waters (loons, grebes, Common Goldeneye, Red-breasted Merganser, Redhead). The road will veer left (west) on 12th Street, and you will soon approach Big Tree, the national champion Live Oak estimated to be around 2000 years old. Continue straight to Palmetto Street, and turn left to return to Park Road 13 and the entrance to Goose Island State Park.

As you pass through the park (be sure to ask for a bird checklist at the entrance) look for migrants in the live-oak thickets, and search the marshes for rails, gallinules, Common Yellowthroat, and Marsh Wren. Walk the nature trail within the park if you wish to escape your auto, or simply enjoy the scenic beauty of the bay and the wind-sculpted oaks that fringe the shore.