I drove 30km off the main road to get there.
I climbed a tall observation tower.
In the distance, at least four football fields away, were, or at least seemed to be, two white dots in the waving reeds.
"Whooping cranes," a man announced to his wife.
He lifted his camera to shoot a photograph in which, no doubt, the birds would appear the size of two dots of lint.
It was then that I could not help but brag.
"I already saw three whooping cranes, down in Lamar, in somebody's backyard," I piped up.
They looked sceptical.
"No, really," I said.
"They were right there, by the Big Tree."
At this time of year, the western Louisiana and Texas Gulf coast is teeming with winter Texans, mainly the retired escaping from the cold northern states.
The region also attracts migratory waterfowl that spend winters much like humans do - lounging around and gobbling seafood.
This year, 268 whoopers are bunking in or near the wildlife refuge, including 45 chicks.
That is a good number for the only wild flock in existence.
It is an incredible comeback for a bird that in 1941 numbered just 16.
The hard part is that most cranes feed far from the refuge's observation tower, making them hard to spot.
Luckily, someone at the Rockport Chamber of Commerce earlier that day mentioned that whoopers were also sighted in a residential neighbourhood in Lamar.
Let us back up a moment.
This region of Texas is called the coastal bend, with strings of barrier islands creating a tidal marsh feast for birds - and scenic splendour for humans.
Rockport and its neighbour Fulton are cute artists' towns.
Just south is Port Aransas and Padre Island National Seashore, in my opinion the nicest part of the Texas coast.
To the north lie Galveston and Crystal beaches, of Texas, and Holly beach, Louisiana.
Except for South Padre Island, Texas beaches are not as white or tropical as Florida's.
"As a whole, many people don't even realise Texas has a coast," says RoShelle Gaskins, of the Galveston Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Many tourists also believe the Gulf of Mexico is one big oil slick.
But western Louisiana and Texas were untouched by last year's gulf oil spill.
"People were calling every day," said Rockport tourism director Krystal White, who had to reassure callers that her area was not affected - and in fact, was where many of oil-rescued birds from Louisiana were temporarily relocated.
In January, it is too cold to swim in the area; water temperature was 12degC in Galveston and 14degC on South Padre Island (by comparison, St Petersburg, in Florida, was 15degC) Water temperatures warm to the 20s by April.
Anyway, the Rockport Chamber of Commerce gave me a map to the mysterious Big Tree.
Soon, the road was lined with live oaks, bent over with their gnarled bark and gray-green leaves.
Near Goose Island State Park, I kept driving until St Charles Bay appeared.
No sign of birds.
But here was the Big Tree.
With a trunk the width of a station wagon, it is the biggest tree in Texas.
It is at least 1000 years old, the survivor of countless hurricanes, floods, droughts and humans.
I stood near its comforting bulk for a moment, then turned back to the road.
That is when I saw the cranes.
Across a big field, three of them stood.
Two were white, more than 1.5m tall, with black legs as narrow as piping and flashes of black frills on their wings.
The third was a youngster, still a blotchy tan and white.
They nibbled in a pond.
They fluffed their feathers.
Not far behind them, a man worked on his lawnmower in his garage.
Later, I found out the true best way to see whooping cranes is by boat tour from Rockport or Fulton.
They will get you up close before the flock flies home to the Northwest Territories, in Canada, in spring.
And it is worth visiting the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge for its excellent visitors centre and chance to see more whoopers.
And if you are down in this part of Texas already (about four hours south of Houston), you might as well visit Corpus Christi, with its famed Texas State Aquarium and USS Lexington battleship museum.
And if you like pure nature, try Padre Island, the 180km national seashore.
It will be just you and the dunes.
Of all the places in the world, this Texas Gulf Coast is the choice spot for one of the world's rarest birds.
The Big Tree said it has got room for you, too
If you go:
Rockport, Texas, is on Aransas Bay. It is known for art galleries and its boat trips to view whooping cranes.
To its south are Corpus Christi and Padre Island. A few kilometres north are the Lamar Peninsula and the Big Tree. (www.rockport-fulton.org)
The Aransas National Wildlife Refuge is 40km north of Rockport. Entry fee is $US5 per car ($NZ6.45)or $3 per person.
