2007 Tour Narrative
Our tour began at dawn with a visit to W. Goodrich Jones State Forest north of Houston, and near Conroe. Despite the growth of north Houston and the accompanying congestion and noise, there are still a few Red-cockaded Woodpeckers in the area which we were fortunate to see and see well. No to be out done, several Red-headed Woodpeckers also showed well as did other species that are typical of these pine woods such as Eastern Bluebird, Carolina Chickadee, Brown-headed Nuthatch and Pine Warbler.
After checking into our hotel we headed for the coast and Sabine Woods, where we saw our finest variety of migrants. Our first Neotropical migrant was a male Blue-winged Warbler, which we would see many times as the week progressed. In the willows at Sea Rim State Park we experienced breathtakingly close views of a male Cerulean Warbler, a male Blackburnian Warbler, and on numerous occasions, we had good comparisons of both Scarlet and Summer Tanagers. To me there is nothing more stunning than a male Scarlet Tanager with his bold contrasting plumage of deep scarlet and black. The female is also lovely with her shades of olive, recalling that her scientific name is Piranga olivacea. In Louisiana we saw a red morph female Scarlet Tanager which can look like a normal female Scarlet, but has dull patches of red in her plumage. Previously I have only seen this morph a couple of times, though it is more routine in the Summer Tanager, at least in the nominate eastern race, P. r. rubra. It was here we experienced the thrill of numerous Ruby-throated Hummingbirds flying only inches away from us and just above ground level a close encounter not often experienced by the casual visitor.
Despite the lack of a major fallout on the Upper Texas Coast, we had plenty to see and do and I believe everyone would agree our trip to Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge was most rewarding. It is especially noteworthy that not only did we have fine views of a single Yellow Rail on our rail walk, but everyone was able to “get on it” when we flushed it again. It was on our drive around Shoveler Pond that we eventually saw a Purple Gallinule, and had fine views of Fulvous Whistling-Ducks, Le Conte’s and Seaside Sparrows and both species of Bitterns. It was another good day.
Driving into the piney woods north of Beaumont, we had superb looks of a pair of Bachman’s Sparrows, which is a local and decreasing species in eastern North America. It is the only Aimophila species that is regularly found in the east and here in east Texas that we see the brightest subspecies, A. a. illinoensis. Driving in to Jasper we managed to locate a territorial male Kentucky Warbler, and just west of Kirbyville we were treated to seeing a pair of Swallow-tailed Kites. Sadly, the Swainson’s Warbler still remained elusive for us, although we did have fine audios of two singing in the distance.
Our time in Louisiana produced a whopping 129 species along with an unusual sighting of a single Surf Scoter (immature male flying east), a Franklin’s Gull, and a Western Kingbird. I particularly enjoyed the comparisons of all the various peeps at the “Secret Spot”, where we had six or more White-rumped Sandpipers, within a few feet of the group, along with four similarly shaped Baird’s and other smaller species. Needless to say I was surprised and not prepared for the locked gate on the way out, and it appears from now on the “Secret Spot” will indeed remain secret! Our total of 129 was most impressive given how few migrant land bird there were and if indeed we had experienced a “fall out” we probably would have had over 150 species.
As we crossed back in to Texas we experienced exceptional views of King Rails along with a variety of other water birds, including White-rumped Sandpipers, Wilson’s Phalaropes, and a single male Hudsonian Godwit. Also present was an adult Glossy Ibis (rare but regular in Texas) and a hybrid (with a White-faced Ibis) along with other White-faced Ibis which gave us good opportunities for comparisons.
Our walk at Bolivar Flats was, as always, enjoyable with good views and good comparisons of Snowy, Wilson’s, Semipalmated, and Piping Plovers. It was here, we hoped we would to see Red Knots, but alas, our count was only two. To counter our disappointment we rallied and spent the evening at a nearby seafood restaurant which we all agreed was superb and concluded another good day of birding in Texas.
Our final day of the tour brought us back to Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, where spent our morning comparing the various species of shorebirds on a flooded field. We then traveled on to High Island and the Smith Oaks rookery where we saw several species of herons, which included Roseate Spoonbills nesting only a few feet from the base of the observation platform and at Rollover Pass a male Hudsonian Godwit, a most unlikely location for one as they usually avoid salt water. This was our last day out and after a rewarding week we found it a struggle to call it a day…so on our return to Houston we stopped at Liberty Municipal Park where we were able to concluse with several Mississippi Kites.
Jon L. Dunn
Updated: June 2007