Pleasure Island is an 18.5 mile long man-made island on the Texas coast. It was constructed by the U. S.
Corps of Engineers, using deposits that were dredged during the construction of the Port Arthur Canal, and the Sabine Neches
Intracoastal Waterway. Port Arthur Canal was completed in 1899, and the Sabine Neches Intracoastal Waterway in 1908. The island is connected to
Port Arthur, Texas by the Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge and to Louisiana by the Sabine Causeway. According to
Pleasure Island Website , there are about 14,000 acres of which only about 2,200 acres are usable. This leaves about 11,800 acres of natural area.
There are several areas of interest for naturalist that I will cover in future post. The North and South Levees, the south end of the island around the causeway , and the shoreline on the channel side.
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| Sabine Causeway Bridge between Pleasure Island and Louisiana |
The above photo shows Causeway bridge and fishing pier on the south end of the island. Birds can usually be found around the pilings, boat ramp and the pier. The pier is part of Walter Umphrey State Park.
Here are a few photos I took last week in this area.
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| Brown Pelicans lined up along boat ramp rail. |
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| Brown Pelicans |
The juvenile
Brown Pelicans in the photo below remind me of the pushmi-pullyu from Dr. Doolittle.
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| Juvenile Brown Pelicans |
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| Laughing Gulls on boat ramp. |
In the photo below, from front to back are an
Royal Tern,
Laughing Gull ,
Herring Gull, and a Brown Pelican.
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| All lined up on the fishing pier. |
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| Herring Gull |
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| Laughing Gulls, Royal Tern, and a juvenile Herring Gull |
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| Two Brown Pelicans feeding near the fishing pier. |
