Upper Texas Coast - April 16, 2008 - The High-Lows

Our destination this day was High Island. This is a small community along the Texas coast fabled for being a migrant trap particularly in Spring. Birders from around the world make a pilgrimage to this place every April to observe the throng of migrating birds making a landfall after a long flight across the Gulf of Mexico.

Our first hour and a half yielded only a few common birds and not a single warbler. Only the loud singing of a Carolina Wren broke the doldrums that every birder was feeling that morning.

While Cynthia was chatting with some kindred folks, a birder-photographer directed my attention to a woodpecker up in a tree. At first I thought it was just a Golden-fronted, which we have already seen in the Rio Grande Valley early this year, but upon closer look through my binos, I discovered that the head was red and not golden. A Red-bellied, the photographer helpfully confirmed the ID for me. It was my 8th lifer.

The lack of bird activity becoming quite noticeable, we decided to visit Smith Woods a couple of miles away, per recommendation of the local Audubon personnel. Be sure to check out the rookery, they suggested. The rookery was quite noisy as hundreds of Egrets, Herons, Spoonbills and Cormorants competed for space to build their nests. Interestingly, alligators were lurking beneath awaiting perhaps for an opportune moment to have an avian lunch. One bright moment was when we spotted the lovely yellow Prothonotary Warbler.

Noontime we had a nice tri-tip lunch at Mama Teresa's at Crystal Beach. Afterwards we headed out to Bolivar Flats where thousands of Avocets, 8 kinds of Terns and a multitude of shorebirds were reported seen daily. Perhaps we took a wrong turn because although we ended up on a beach, there were only a handful of Elegant Terns, a few Laughing Gulls and maybe two or three Willets populating the shoreline.

Back at High Island, birding was still agonizingly slow. It was because of the prevailing south winds, the local experts explained. The tailwind pushed the migrating birds hundred of miles inland, bypassing their normal stopping point here. Except for some Summer Tanagers, there wasn't much to see. We visited the pond where we got lucky in seeing lifer #9 - a Purple Gallinule. Not too far from it was a Yellow-crowned Night Heron. Later on, when people were trickling out, we tried the photographer's blind, where finally, we got some decent shots of an Indigo Bunting (lifer # 10)

and a Northern Waterthrush (#11).

A Hooded Warbler posed obligingly as it bathed at the drip.

Soon even the drip was no longer hosting any avian visitors. Reluctantly, we left the blind only to encounter lifer #12, a Scarlet Tanager high up over Purkey's Pond.

A few minutes later the same tree yielded our 13th lifer - a Blue-headed Vireo.


At the parking lot, we were greeted by the mournful "Hoo-hoo" of a Eurasian Collared Dove.

We arrived Beaumont a little after seven. Even the delicious Vietnamese dinner that we had did not diminish the fact that we only added six lifers today. It was quite a disappointing day.

And it won't be the last.

Upper Texas Coast - April 15, 2008 - What a Way to End the Day

Spring at the Upper Texas Coast is famous world-wide because it is a stop-over of beautiful songbirds migrating north from the tropics. A month before our travel date I have already been monitoring the reports coming from High Island and vicinities. Sightings of 20-plus species of warblers in one day started coming in around the second week of April. Not only warblers but colorful tanagers, orioles and vireos were seen as well.

And so it was during the 3-hour flight to Houston that I have started listing in my mind the many lifers we expect to find on our 5-day trip. My expectations were high and my enthusiasm unbridled. As soon as we got settled at Best Western in Beaumont, we immediately drove to Sabine Woods about 35 miles southeast. We arrived at about 5:30 pm but the sun was still up and our hopes of seeing some migrants were undiminished. The first bird we saw and our first lifer was an Eastern Kingbird. As Cynthia and I traversed the boardwalk, we were surprised to see a tiny yellow and black bird hopping ahead of us. The Hooded Warbler was our second lifer.

A birder who was walking with us pointed to a brown bird a few feet away. "Wood Thrush", he said. We thanked him for showing us lifer number 3. It wasn't long when a gray bird appeared from the underbrush. Lifer number 4 was a Catbird. Close to the pond, it was my turn to tell the other birder that there was a Kentucky Warbler lurking by the water's edge. That was lifer number 5. I saw a glimpse of a Blue Jay which counted as the sixth lifer of the day.   

The boardwalk ended at the edge of a shallow, weeded pond. By a broken twig across the pond, a yellow and black bird was hunting for insects. Kentucky Warbler, I said aloud. The local birder who was beside me said that it could probably just be a Common Yellowthroat. I've seen Yellowthroats before and this was no Yellowthroat, I murmured to myself. The birder peered through his binoculars and confirmed almost hesitatingly it seemed, that it was indeed our 7th lifer.


Back near the entrance, a Blue Grosbeak gleamed in the afternoon sun, while a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker worked a nearby tree.

It was almost 7 pm when we saw our 8th and final lifer of the day - a lovely yellow Blue-winged Warbler.

Along the road on the way home, we marvelled at the many waders flying in to roost at the roadside canals. The reddish rays of the setting sun accentuated the pink feathers of the Roseate Spoonbills. White Ibises and Egrets joined the Herons as they prepare to settle for the night.

As much as possible we try to rely on our GPS to take us to places we want to go. Unfortunately our hotel address is different than what the GPS had on record. After losing our way a couple of times, we finally found the correct freeway, albeit a little too late. I made a quick turn to the clover leaf that would connect us to our intended route at a 65-mph clip. The car swerved right and as I wrestled with the steering wheel and with my foot firmly planted on the brakes, the car then swung left, turned around, and hit the railings - first with the front right bumper then with the rear right bumper. All the while, Cynthia was saying, "Lord! Lord!". And it was indeed only through God's mercy and protection that we came out unscathed from the accident and the car only sustained superficial damage. Needless to say, we were quite shaken and it affected my verve and enthusiasm for the remainder of our stay in Texas.