April 27: Jon Feenstra reports from the Upper Texas Coast
If there’s a place to be birding in North America in late April, it’s the Upper Texas Coast. We were there, and we just got back. Migration was in full swing, and the forests, fields, swamps, and shore were peppered with northbound birds.
One of our favorites seen on multiple days was Prothonotary Warbler.
And Cerulean Warbler!
The Smith Oaks reserve at High Island now has a raised boardwalk putting us right up in the canopy where we could get right up and personal with the birds....
like this Tennessee Warbler.
We could also look down on some things, like Tricolored Herons in various stages of nesting.
Since we had a couple days of wind that were unfavorable for finding songbird migrants, we were also close to much coastal marsh where we could concentrate on resident birds, like Seaside Sparrow.
…or shorebird spectacles, like this phalanx of American Avocets bearing down on some unsuspecting swarm of aquatic invertebrates.
And, after tough day of birding, the group sits down to another Gulf Coast dinner complete with local oysters.
Posted: April 27, 2023