Texas – The Pineywoods and Spring on the Upper Texas Coast
17 – 26 April 2010
Price per person: £1050- Deposit per person: £300
- Suggested Flights: British Airways run a daily service from London Heathrow to Houston with 2 different time slots. Our tour is based around those arriving at 14.35 on Day 1 and departing at 19.55 on Day 10 (at the time of writing).
This mouth-watering tour is the perfect introduction to US and Texas birding. It provides participants with not only the chance to witness the phenomenon of spring passerine migration on the coast but combines that with the chance of seeing some of the speciality breeding birds of East Texas. Add to this the unparalleled views of shorebirds, herons, pelicans etc and you have a tour that will linger long in the memory.
Centered on Houston the tour will take us north to the Pineywoods and then south eastwards towards the coast. We will linger for a while at migrant hotspots on and near the coast before making our way back to Houston via other sites to the south and west of the city.
Our tour is a genuine opportunity to see a large variety of species and for the first time visitor to the US it can be a case of ‘what do I look at first?!’ The possible list is endless but as a sample:
- 20+ warbler species (such as Blackburnian, Myrtle, Magnolia, Hooded, Kentucky, Black-throated Green, Black and White, Yellow, Bay-breasted, Tennessee and Chestnut-sided)
- Red-eyed, White-eyed, Philadelphia and Yellow-throated Vireos
- Scarlet and Summer Tanagers
- Several sparrows including the specialised Bachman’s, Savannah and White-throated
- Thrushes (with Veery, Swainsons, Grey-cheeked, Hermit and Wood all very possible)
- Flycatchers (such as Willow, Acadian, Alder and Eastern Phoebe)
- Raptors including Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Swainson’s Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, White-winged Kite and Swallow-tailed Kite
- Waders such as Piping Plover, Snowy Plover, Wilson’s Plover, Long-billed Curlew, Marbled Godwit, Hudsonian Godwit, Willet, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Short-billed Dowitcher, Upland Sandpiper, American Oystercatcher, Wilson’s Phalarope and Semi-palmated Sandpiper
- Royal, Forsters, Caspian and Least Terns
Brown and American White Pelicans- Roseate Spoonbill, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Yellow and Black-crowned Night Herons, Great Blue Heron, Little Blue Heron, Green Heron, Least Bittern, White Ibis, White-faced Ibis, Anhinga, Reddish Egret and Tri-colored Heron
- Red-cockaded, Pileated, Red-headed, Red-bellied and Downy Woodpeckers
Whilst following a pre-planned itinerary we will be flexible enough to deviate should the birds dictate we need to!
Day 1
BA flights arrive in Houston mid afternoon. We’ll quickly quit the hustle and bustle of the city before rush hour and head to the nearby Jesse H Jones County Park. This will give us our first taster of American woodland birding with the added bonus that Swainson’s Warblers nest in these thick cyprus swamps. Next we head northwards to the W G Jones State Forest. Daylight hours should allow a little birding time here before we find our overnight accommodation (see day 2 for details).
Night in Conroe
Day 2
Early morning will see us in the W G Jones State Forest and we'll be straight into good birds including our main target – the critically endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker plus also good chances of other woodland breeding birds such as Pine Warbler, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Pileated Woodpecker and White-eyed Vireo.
We’ll then make the cross country drive east to Big Thicket National Preserve deep in the pineywoods of eastern Texas. In this famous area we'll visit several spots that are all within a short drive of each other. Although this is the area where Ivory-billed Woodpecker was reliably last seen in the US in the 1960s this species can't be promised! Alas the large woodpeckers here are likely to be Pileated Woodpeckers. What we do stand a good chance of seeing however are the 4 specialities of the area - Bachman's Sparrow, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Prairie Warbler plus another chance to see Red-cockaded Woodpecker if we failed at W G Jones. Other breeding birds of the area include Wood Thrush, Great Crested Flycatcher, Acadian Flycatcher, Swainson's Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Prothonotary Warbler, Northern Parula and Louisiana Waterthrush.
Night in Beaumont
Days 3 & 4
We have these 2 days to explore the area in the far southeastern corner of the state and right next to the Louisiana border. The sites we visit will include the picturesque Beaumont Sanitary Landfill to look for Fish Crow at one of its most reliable spots. We’ll then move swiftly on to the nicer surroundings of a nearby park where we will try to mop up any of the woodland breeding birds we may have missed. Depending on the time of day we will also look for Barred and Eastern Screech Owls.
Turning our attention to migrants we’ll also spend a good deal of time at Texas Point, Sabine Woods and Sea Rim State Park. This is where we first meet the Gulf Coast and for the next few days we will be predominantly in migrant mode.
Texas Point should provide a good opportunity for rails, Seaside Sparrow, the localised Boat-tailed Grackle and maybe even some surprises.
Sabine Woods is an excellent migrant trap that rivals High Island but is much quieter in terms of visitors. Here we'll search the trees and bushes in this compact wood for migrants that have just made the Gulf crossing from South America. These should include warblers, vireos, tanagers, flycatchers and thrushes depending on weather conditions.
Sea Rim State Park is close by and a walk through the coastal cottontail marshes here should get us Least Bittern, terns and the chance of Cave Swallow, a rare breeder which has nested here in recent years.
Nights in Winnie
Days 5, 6, 7 & 8
These should be exciting days with extended visits to High Island, Anahuac and various hot spots along the Bolivar Peninsular.
High Island is justifiably famous as a migrant hotspot and attracts huge numbers of birds during the spring as they pass north to their breeding grounds. We'll spend some time here working the woodlands and should amass a pretty impressive list. With luck we may even strike it lucky and coincide our visit with a 'fallout' brought about by northerly winds and rain when birds can literally fall out of the sky following their Gulf crossing. In any event the migrants we will see will include many species of warbler plus vireos, flycatchers, orioles, tanagers and thrushes. The sight of a large heronry will be one not to be missed.
Anahuac National Nature Reserve is only 20 minutes drive from High Island and provides a completely different birding experience. It consists of a huge area of lagoons and marshland where we should see a variety of shorebirds, wildfowl etc including American Purple Gallinule, Fulvous Whistling Duck, Mottled Duck and Willet. Luckily the whole area is well serviced by wide tracks so getting around this extensive reserve is easy.
We will also visit other places close to Anahuac which attract migrant shorebirds, raptors and give us another opportunity to see Cave Swallow.
The Bolivar Peninsular runs southwest along the coast from High Island and provides some excellent and memorable birding. The 2 main sites we'll visit are Rollover Pass, about halfway along the peninsular which should yield pelicans, herons, shorebirds, Neotropic Cormorant and hopefully the magnificent Black Skimmer. Next we'll spend some time at Bolivar Flats which is a site that will have the shorebird enthusiast in raptures. The close views we'll get here of a variety of species are unparalleled. Seaside Sparrow should also be found.
If time permits we'll detour to a site close to the town of Liberty to track down the much sought after Swallow-tailed Kite. This wonderful species could prove to be the bird of the trip for many people so we'll make every effort to see it. Other raptors are also likely here and could include Red-shouldered Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk and Mississippi Kite.
Nights in Winnie
Day 9
We’ll reluctantly bid farewell to High Island and Bolivar this morning and head west along the coast onto Galveston Island. A ferry will take us from Bolivar to the historic old town of Galveston. Although we have an option to visit a park in town for Inca Dove and White-winged Dove of they have eluded us so far our first scheduled birding stop will be at Galveston Island State Park. This park can have breeding Northern Caracaras and Northern Harriers and we’ll be hoping that 2010 is a good year for them. This is also a great site for a variety of waders and waterbirds that could include Black Skimmer, Mottled Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Royal Tern, Forster’s Tern, Brown Pelican and White Ibis.
There are numerous other good birding spots all along Galveston Island and we’ll explore a number of these for rails, waders and passerine migrants.
Our day will then finish at San Luis Pass where countless waterbirds pack the sand flats that extend into the bay. Staggering numbers of shorebirds may feed on the flats and for a spectacle it rivals the delights of Bolivar Flats we’ll have already enjoyed. Horned Lark and Wilson’s Plover nest in the dunes where Least Terns and Black Skimmers are also on our agenda. The much hoped for bird here is Magnificent Frigatebird and the late afternoon is prime time for any birds roosting in the West Bay.
Night in Freeport
Day 10
Moving away from the coast we'll visit Brazos Bend State Park sat in the valley of the Brazos River south west of Houston. This beautiful reserve of woodland, marshes and lagoons is renowned for providing point blank views of a variety of herons such as Great Blue, Little Blue, Green and Yellow-crowned Night which will delight the photographers. Add to this the reserve speciality of Anhinga together with breeding American Purple Gallinule, Prothonotary Warbler, White-eyed Vireo, Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Red-shouldered Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk and the numerous White Ibis and we'll have a visit to remember.
The flat area due west of Houston known as Katy Farmlands is an ideal place to conclude the tour. Depending on water levels the rice fields in the area can produce a plethora of passage shorebirds and wildfowl which can include Hudsonian Godwit, Upland Sandpiper, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, American Golden Plover, Wilson's Phalarope, Killdeer, Blue-winged Teal, Mottled Duck and Black-bellied Whistling Duck. Other probabilities are the amazing Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Western Kingbird, Eastern Meadowlark and many Dickcissels.
We will drive the tracks and lanes searching for concentrations of birds that change location from year to year.
We’ll then sadly have to make our way back to Houston Airport for evening flights back to London.
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