Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center

This is a great place to look at all kinds of amazing birds. Some birds even follow you. You walk on this old wood bridge almost the whole way around and you’re over the water. It’s really cool because their are some alligators that are pets of the tour guide and they follow you in the water!

Great little area where you can walk on a pier and look at the nature around you. And it’s different at different times of the day. We went before dinner one day and in the morning after breakfast on a foggy day and really enjoyed seeing how different everything looked. There will definitely be some serious birdwatchers around you here!
Heads up: it’s very easy to pass — the entrance is next to some kind of water treatment plant (I know — gross), but you park there, so don’t get lost!
Really peaceful break from the rest of Port A — check it out!

Great wildlife viewing! The public boardwalk and observation decks are really nice. My wife and I went around 10:00 am. There were so many active birds; plus we saw an alligator and a couple of nutrias (a.k.a. river rats). We probably stayed for about 90 minutes enjoying all the wildlife activity.

Great place. I love taking photos here and walking here with my daughter.
Not just for tourists this is a very well visited place for locals.

A nicely done modest wetlands bird sanctuary. You walk past a little path lined with carefully planted local flora, and then out onto a boardwalk viewing area. I recommend going to the top of the lookout for a great view of the overall park and a good photo op. We spied heron, other bird species diving for fish, pelicans, and coypu (a cute name for aquatic rats). Yes, an unpleasant odor permeates the air, but you probably won’t be here for more than 20 minutes.
Fun fact learned at the park: coypu have nipples on their back so they can feed their young while swimming.

A great little place to see shore birds up close. And Nutria, which are cute, even if they are invasive. Saw a nice variety of ducks (the Ruddy Ducks, Northern Shovelers, and Green-​winged Teal were my favorites), Ibises, a Green Heron (very close!), Pelicans, Cormorants, Terns, Roseate Spoonbill, lots of Coots, Galanule, and more. Worth the visit for sure. It was too cool for the gators while I was there, but there are two residents. The smell from the waste treatment facility was most noticeable in the parking lot, but shouldn’t stop you from visiting.

You will drive past this place the first time, it looks like where the dumpsters should go. But follow the chain-​link fence through the little park to the boardwalk. Alligators are only out in warm weather, but the rodents and birds are out quite often. They have plaques to describe what you are looking at as well, which is nice.

This was a nice enough birding spot, where we saw American White Pelicans, Neotropic Cormorants, an American Avocet, a Yellow Warbler, and a pair of American Coots. The problem with it was the smell. it is located next to a waste treatment plant and the place is rank like a gas station bathroom.

After a fun ride on the free vehicle carrying ferry which brought us into Port Aransas, we made our way to Leonabelle Birding Center before continuing south to the Mustang Island State Park area. It was a worthwhile thirty minute stop as the boardwalk was well maintained and allows nice opportunities to observe the birds and other Texas wildlife in a comfortable environment. You’ll encounter a variety of interesting vegetation on the right side of the boardwalk which is along the shore. Making your way up to the observation tower about halfway down the boardwalk presents some even more premium bird watching opportunities. We didn’t see any alligators the day we went in late October, but I’m sure those would be a treat to see during the appropriate gator sighting times of the year.
There are free weekly Wednesday morning birding tours led by a guide at 9am; this would have been nice if we were able to fit into our schedule but our availability only allowed us to stop by on a weekend.