Texas: The Upper Coast

Day 1: The tour begins this evening with a 6 pm meeting at our hotel near George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston.  Night in Houston.

Day 2 – Leaving Houston we’ll stop in a small woodlot that has a few breeding pairs of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers and their fellow North American endemic Brown-headed Nuthatch. We’ll continue toward Jasper, Texas, and the Angelina National Forest for a night stopping along the way at some parks for breeding birds that we may not find on the coast such as Red-headed Woodpecker, Yellow-throated and White-eyed Vireos, Northern Parula, and Yellow-throated, Prothonotary, Swainson’s, Worm-eating and Kentucky Warblers among others.  Once in the Jasper area, we may stop at Boykin Springs for Louisiana Waterthrush and along the forest edge for breeding Prairie Warblers (a local breeder in east Texas). While at the parks and along the drive we’ll watch the skies for Red-shouldered and Broad-winged Hawks and Mississippi Kites. We sometimes see a Swallow-tailed Kite, too. Night in Jasper.

Days 3-6:  After searching for Bachman’s Sparrows in Angelina National Forest early this morning when their lovely song makes them easier to find, and perhaps do a bit more searching for warblers, we’ll leave the Jasper area for Winnie, our base for explorations of the Upper Texas and Louisiana coasts. These days will be varied and, we hope, spectacular. The central focus will be Sabine Woods and High Island, celebrated land bird migrant traps but ones that require special weather to produce a major fall-out of birds. If we’re lucky, cuckoos, thrushes, vireos, warblers of 25 or more species, tanagers, buntings, and orioles will fill these small woods and provide a memorable birdwatching experience.

As High Island and Sabine Woods tend to have more migrants in the afternoon, we’ll spend several mornings looking at water birds. The heronry at nearby Smith Oaks offers intimate looks at nesting Roseate Spoonbill, Snowy and Great Egrets; mudflats and beaches can hold thousands of herons, gulls, terns, and shorebirds of up to 20 species including Piping and Wilson’s Plovers, often American Oystercatcher, and sometimes thousands of brilliant American Avocets. Flooded rice fields near Winnie can host large numbers of shorebirds, including American Golden-Plover and Pectoral Sandpiper, often joined by Buff-breasted Sandpipers and sometimes White-rumped Sandpiper and Hudsonian Godwit. The wonderful marshes at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge are recovering from the hurricanes in 2017, and are home to both Fulvous and Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks, Least Bittern, White-faced Ibis, Clapper and King Rails, and Purple Gallinule. There are a few small woodland patches around the marsh that can be good for migrant landbirds. 

On one day we’ll visit Cameron Parish in southwestern Louisiana to Johnson’s Bayou and a normally uncrowded Baton Rouge Audubon Society woodlot that captures migrants in the same way as High Island and Sabine Woods. On another day we will drive the coast of the Bolivar Peninsula, stopping in marshes and at beaches to sift through gulls, terns, and shorebirds, as well as look for coastal specialties like Nelson’s and Seaside Sparrows and scan the skies for hunting White-tailed Kites.  Nights in Winnie.

Day 7:  After a final full day in the field on the Upper Texas Coast, we’ll return to Houston via the Trinity River bottoms where we sometimes find a Swallow-tailed Kite. Night in Houston.

Day 8:  The tour concludes this morning in Houston.

2024 Narrative

There is always good, easy birding in eastern Texas. We started in the interior forests where we found Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Brown-headed Nuthatch, and Bachman’s Sparrows at the western limit of their ranges. Then we went to the coast. The fly-way is there, and the coastal forests can catch those birds migrating north from their wintering haunts in Central and South America… when the wind blows in the right direction. And, on a couple of our days, the wind was blowing just the way we wanted it to: from the north. The forests were alive with birds, a lot of warblers, including Kentucky, Golden-winged, Prothonotary, Cerulean, Bay-breasted, Blackpoll, and others adding up to a nice twenty-four species. We also had flocks of Indigo and Painted Buntings, lots of Scarlet and Summer Tanagers, and a steady stream of Yellow-billed Cuckoos. The grasslands had Upland Sandpipers, the marshes had Purple Gallinules, and everywhere was just plain, good birding fun.

To kick it off, our first day out we left Houston but didn’t leave Houston immediately. In the northern suburbs, surrounded by houses and highways, lies a woodlot in which we got the first of the major specialties of the region. We saw a pair of Red-cockaded Woodpeckers moving between their excavated holes in living pine trees – sap running down keeping ants and whatever away. We also had very accommodating Brown-headed Nuthatches, one posing in the scope for minutes. From there we continued north and east toward the piney woods with an emergency stop for a flock of Mississippi Kites over the highway, grabbing insects on the wing. We also enjoyed a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher on a power line over a busy intersection – we watched it while the light was red. Once we got into bigger woods we encountered some of the classic breeding birds. Northern Parulas were singing away and we had a scope view of one doing its thing. A bright male Summer Tanager worked some branches right over our heads while we had our picnic lunch. And, a spectacular Prothonotary Warbler appeared to be taking a break from its typical marshy thickets to poke around in some branches right in front of us. The breeding birds of east Texas were in good form and a nice start to the trip.

The day began in the recently burned (actually, still burning) piney woods of Angelina National Forest. This managed forest is the western range of Bachman’s Sparrow and we were treated to a long solo of a bird perched up on a bush. Meanwhile, two male Indigo Buntings were singing and trying to distract us from this special bird. We were distracted. From this morning in the piney woods, we undertook the drive to the coast almost taking out a Greater Roadrunner that blasted across the highway right in front of us. Fortunately, it was a good flyer, too, and made it safely to the other side. Mid-day we birded a wetland complex full of Purple Gallinules among Common Gallinules, White-faced Ibis, and American Alligators. Once on the coast, we walked some wetlands and mudflats, though the highlights were less the shorebirds (though, the Wilson’s and Snowy Plovers were nice) and instead the Common Nighthawk asleep next to the parking lot and the bright Dickcissel perched atop a small tree. The drive to our base in Winnie was interrupted by just another alligator in the road.

In the middle of the night when the wind changed from south (from which it has been blowing for a week) to north, birders far and wide got goosebumps and knew that it was time for the coast. The southerly winds had been moving birds right over the gulf and up inland, but fighting those northerlies was going to make the coastal woodlands look like a very nice place to stop. That said, we started in High Island at dawn. There were pewees and Indigo Buntings around, many of each. Then we saw our first warbler a Worm-eating Warbler, then a Bay-breasted, and then, the tap was open and we saw more and more. There were thrushes and vireos and gaudy Painted Buntings and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo or two. We barely moved in about two hours. But, eventually, we tore ourselves away and took a quick break to check on some things on the Bolivar Peninsula. Shorebirds and terns were pretty good, and a lingering Chestnut-collared Longspur was even better, but for shear charisma, the award went to a pair of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers hunting and having their streaming tails blown around in the wind. In the afternoon we went east to Sabine Pass and the woodlot there. There were easily hundreds of birders present, and for good reason, because the woods were hot with birds. The warbler list was formidable but included some sweet birds like Golden-winged Warbler up high, Hooded Warbler down low, and Cerulean Warbler in the middle. We knew we had to have dinner sooner rather than later, but it was hard to pull away.

The next day we picked up where we left off, watching birds bubble in the trees at Sabine Woods. A lot of the same birds were still around, but a lot of new ones had arrived or were in the process of arriving. That morning, but over the whole day, we saw dozens of Yellow-billed Cuckoos. Some were on the move, like all the ones we saw flying across the roads. Others were settling into the forest and resting. We saw them on the ground, in the trees, on fence wires, and even eating huge juicy caterpillars. Warblers were still the stars of the show, with abundant Blackpoll Warblers, generally a scarce migrant along the upper Texas coast. We also saw our first Blue-winged Warblers and finally got good looks at Kentucky Warblers. After Sabine Woods, we returned to High Island and visited the Smith Oak Sanctuary and its spectacular heron rookery. The bubbling sounds of hundreds of nesting Snowy Egrets were bizarre and amazing. Great Egrets had gawky chicks and the Neotropic Cormorants chicks were just getting past their gawkiest. The Yellow-billed Cuckoo show continued here, too, but we were also treated to a very cooperative and generally rare Black-billed Cuckoo. Walking through the woods was to be with the thrushes, but an American Redstart hopping around in some low sticks fanning its fancy tail was a highlight. It was a busy birding day and was bountifully rewarded at its end by a mountain of Cajun food.

South winds all night blew the migrants out of the coastal woodlands, so our foray to the cheniers of Louisiana wasn’t as productive as the previous two days, but there were still birds to look at. We got some looks at a Chuck-wills-widow when one flushed, and a Painted Bunting was singing from a treetop. At lunch, we found our first Philadelphia Vireo of the trip, something of a surprise given how few birds were around today relative to yesterday. The big haul of birds today, though, was out on the Bolivar Peninsula. We started with Seaside Sparrows in the salt grass, watching them sing from the marsh. We then moved out onto the legendary Bolivar Flats that held thousands of shorebirds and terns. Reddish Egrets were dancing around madly in the shallows. Piping Plovers were poking around in the wrack. A Yellow-crowned Night-Heron nailed a frog while its blond plume blew in the breeze. Meanwhile, over a thousand American Avocets waded off the flats, and hundreds of Black, Least, Royal, Common, and Forster’s Terns rested on the sand or foraged along the shore. It was system overload and a great end to the day.

Wrapping up the trip is a slow event, that starts with birding, continues with birding, and works a drive into Houston in there somewhere. We began with Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, actually the road to the refuge where we were treated to lots of Upland Sandpipers, lots of singing Dickcissels, and a pair of Northern Bobwhite right along the road. When we finally got to Anahuac, among other things, we drove the famous loop road through the marsh. It was bubbling with birds and the air was full of the roars of displaying American Alligators. Shorebirds were showing well with plenty of birds in their breeding plumage including dozens of Stilt Sandpipers. At one point, a Least Bittern flew right in front of the van, landed in some reeds, and sat in the open for several minutes while we watched. After that, we made a lot of farm field drives and short little stops to check interesting whatnots and see the spider lilies. A tree full of Crested Caracaras was pretty cool. There were Scissor-tailed Flycatchers here and there along the road, and our last stop had more Upland Sandpipers. Our final push was through traffic back into Houston for a final dinner and the recap of fun stories from the road.

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