The 54,829 acres seven miles southeast on FM 2040, encompasses the tidal flats and salt marshes of a broad peninsula on the Aransas Bay. Inhabitants of the refuge include alligators, armadillos, white-tailed deer, racoons and javelinas. Among the 300 species of birds that winter at the site are Canada geese, pintail and baldpate ducks, sandhill cranes and a rare colony of endangered whooping cranes. There are walking trails and self-guiding tours along marked hard-surfaced roads.
