The last of the migratory birds resting, eating, and let’s face it, luxuriating in Port Aransas were taking to the air and continuing north before summer when I visited the Gulf Coast town in mid-April. Although I’m familiar with Mustang Island, an 18-mile sliver of land that includes Port Aransas and separates Corpus Christi Bay from the Gulf of Mexico, it was my first trip out to the Port Aransas Nature Preserve. With the island being an important stop along the Central Flyway, a major flight path in North America for untold numbers of birds every spring and fall, the nature preserve helps protect coastal wetlands and prairie grasses, thus ensuring a welcoming biodiverse setting, especially if you’re a bird. Or a bird watcher.