These are some images of whooping cranes photographed on the Intracoastal Highway on the outer banks of the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. The whooping cranes' images were captured from the deck of the "Jack Flash," a boat I chartered through Aransas Bay Birding Charters. It was a great experience as Kevin Sims, the owner/operator, was able to get me very close, relatively speaking, to the whooping cranes. The handsome whooping cranes spend their winters at Aransas NWR after flying some 2,500 miles from northern Canada. You will also find the close cousin of the whooping crane, the much more numerous Sandhill Cranes that also spend their winters throughout south Texas. Other birds in this family are the rails, grebes and coots.