12 February 2017

We left the Best Western Angelton (ahhh, a bed) and drove to Galveston Island.  This is one long island – approximately 27 miles.  We got to the Galveston Island State Park Headquarters around 10:00 am and was able to secure a camp site on the gulf side.  These sites go for $5.00 more than the inland sites, but worth it as you have the beach right outside your front door (well after you do a short hike on a trail that crosses the dunes).

What can I say.  Galveston Island was BUSY, BUSY, BUSY today – a Sunday.  Despite the fog that lifted around 1:00 pm, there were people everywhere – on the beaches, running a marathon, at the amusement park, on the roads, fishing. I guess when you live in Houston which is only about an hour away, why not spend the day at the beach?

We did a short hike in the park on the bay side.  Not much bird life – anywhere on the island actually.  We also walked the beach near our campground.  We did see about 50 or so Sanderlings both feeding and roosting, and a lone Willet.

We will be moving on tomorrow.  In fact, most of our stays over the next couple of weeks will be one-night stays since we’ve decided to go into Louisiana and Mississippi.

Bird Species Seen or Heard on Galveston Island

• Ring-billed Gull
• Herring Gull
• Laughing Gull
• Forester’s Tern
• Brown Pelican
• European Starling
• Double-crested Cormorant
• Neotropical Cormorant
• Savannah Sparrow
• Sanderling
• Willet
• Rock Pigeon
• Great-tailed Grackle
• Reddish Egret
• Great Blue Heron
• Great Egret
• Snowy Egret
• Northern Mockingbird
• Osprey
• White-tailed Kite
• Pied-billed Grebe
• Northern Shoveler
• Gadwall
• Red-winged Blackbird
• American Coot
• White Ibis
• Red-breasted Merganser
• Loggerhead Shrike
• Northern Harrier

13 February 2017

Another foggy morning so we did not linger at our campground, nor on Galveston Island.  We caught the ferry (free) that takes you from Galveston Island to Bolivar Peninsula.  Our first stop after getting off the ferry was a U.S. Army Corp of Engineer jetty off 17^th Street (right hand turn – end of the road).  When the tide is out, which it was, the area is supposed to have great shorebirds, which it did.  I estimated there were at least 500+ American Avocets.  I so love these birds, even in non-breeding plumage.  They were too far away for a decent photo however.

Also present, shorebird wise, were a single American Oystercatcher, Willets, Marbled Godwits, a single Long-billed Curlew, Lesser Yellowleg, Long-billed Dowitcher, and several Black-bellied Plover.   Fun to watch the Lesser Yellowleg stir up the mud to dislodge morsels of food by moving their bill back and forth through the mud.

Here is a swipe at Texas.  A number of years ago Texas created this great campaign pertaining to litter – Don’t Mess With Texas.  I think they forgot to tell the Texans that because I’ve never seen so much trash as along the beaches.  Bolivar Beach was littered with trash all within sight of four litter barrels and at least five do not litter signs!   Disgusting.  I wonder how people can be immune to the litter mess and the despoiling of such beautiful areas?

Bird Species Seen or Heard on Bolivar Peninsula

• European Starling
• Laughing Gull
• Brown Pelican
• Great-tailed Grackle
• American White Pelican
• Black-bellied Plover
• Green-winged Teal
• American Avocet
• Marbled Godwit
• Willet
• Lesser Yellowleg
• Long-billed Dowitcher
• Long-billed Curlew
• American Osytercatcher
• Forester’s Tern
• Eurasian Collared Dove
• Northern Mockingbird
• Great Egret
• Great Blue Heron
• Northern Harrier
• Savannah Sparrow
• Royal Tern
• Sanderling
• Herring Gull
• Ring-billed Gull
• Gadwall
• American Coot
• Pied-billed Grebe
• Loggerhead Shrike
• Snowy Egret
• American Kestrel
• Belted Kingfisher
• Turkey Vulture
• Snow Goose
• Eastern Meadowlark
• Western Meadowlark
• White-tailed Kite
• Red-tailed Hawk (Krider’s)

Next stop, albeit we took our time getting there with plenty of roadside bird distractions, was the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge.  We birded the 0.6-mile Willow Trail and took the 2.5 mile Shoveler’s Pond Auto Route.  We were hoping for the King and/or Clapper Rail – but no such luck.  Leaving the refuge, however, we did see a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher that we weren’t expecting to see.  What a delight.

The 34,000 acre Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1963.  The refuge offers 14 miles of roads in which to view wildlife.  The volunteer at the Visitor Center mentioned a fellow who visits the refuge on his motorcycle three times a week.  He loves to photograph wildlife, and the other day had a Bobcat swimming a canal and a River Otter walking across the road.  The volunteer asked how long I was going to be in the area.  I told him just another day.  He said that in April they lead “Rail” walks, as the refuge has all six rails: Sora, Virginia Rail, King Rail, Clapper Rail, Yellow Rail, and Black Rail.  Some day I would love to come back and join that bird walk  as I have yet to see a Yellow or Black Rail.

We didn’t see any mammals, but did get 57 different bird species.  So I think it was a very good day of birding.  The Scissor-tailed Flycatcher at the end was the highlight.  Oh, and we saw a leusistic (or as one person described it – Piebald) American Coot.

I wish there was camping closer to the refuge because I would definitely come back a second day.  There is a large part of the refuge we missed as we ran out of time.  Our campground for the night – Sea Rim State Park – is about 68 miles away.  This park is near McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge.  If it isn’t raining tomorrow (forecast calls for rain and thunderstorms), then we will go check out that refuge.  Who knows, we might even stay here a second night at Sea Rim (more appropriate Sea Wind – very heavy winds during our visit).

Bird Species Seen or Heard at Anahauc National Wildlife Refuge

• Greater Yellowleg
• Lesser Yellowleg
• Long-billed Dowitcher
• Gadwall
• Northern Shoveler
• Red-tailed Hawk
• Killdeer
• Northern Harrier
• White-tailed Kite
• Loggerhead Shrike
• Yellow-rumped Warbler
• Eastern Phoebe
• Northern Mockingbird
• Belted Kingfisher
• Savannah Sparrow
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Vermillion Flycatcher
• Snow Goose ( a lot of blue-morphs)
• Swamp Sparrow
• White-crowned Sparrow
• Song Sparrow
• Turkey Vulture
• American Coot
• White Ibis
• White-faced Ibis
• Orange-crowned Warbler
• Northern Cardinal
• Mallard
• American Wigeon
• Greater White-fronted Goose
• Little Blue Heron
• Common Yellowthroat
• Common Gallinule
• Caspian Tern
• Double-crested Cormorant
• Neotropical Cormorant
• Pied-billed Grebe
• Blue-winged Teal
• Green-winged Teal
• Cinnamon Teal
• Mourning Dove
• Boat-trailed Grackle
• Snowy Egret
• Tri-colored Heron
• Great Blue Heron
• Black-bellied Whistling Duck
• Roseate Spoonbill
• Mottled Duck
• Cattle Egret
• Tree Swallow
• Osprey
• Anhinga
• Black-necked Stilt
• Ring-necked Duck
• Northern Pintail
• Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

 14 February 2017

Happy Valentines Day everyone.  The weather forecast for Sea Rim State Park, which is about 10 miles (as the crow flies) from the Louisiana border, is overcast skies with rain starting around noon.  Well the National Weather Service got the overcast skies right, but the rain started around 10:30 a.m. and at times was quite heavy.  And windy too – a whipping good.  We’ve had a lot of wind on this trip.  Today is no different.

Before heading to nearby McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge we walked the park’s Gambusia Trail – a 0.75-mile boardwalk.  This boardwalk is in need of a little TLC or complete replacement works.  We did see an alligator close to the boardwalk which for some reason was a little unnerving.  I felt a little vertigo walking on the boardwalk which was an unpleasant feeling.  I was never so happy to get off a boardwalk as I did getting off that one.

The 58,000 acre McFaddin National Wildlife was established in 1980.  There are five miles of road on the refuge providing wildlife viewing opportunities.  We had a nice view of a Peregrine Falcon, and when we were stopped to look at a Belted Kingfisher I noticed a King Rail in a slough adjacent to the road – great excitement.  Oh how I wished it had stayed around long enough for a photo.  We did drive all five miles of road and headed back to the campground. Good timing as it started to rain in earnest.  But before we got back we decided to check out the Texas Point National Wildlife Refuge located 10 miles east of Sea Rim State Park.  The refuge has a road paralleling the refuge and takes you out to Texas Point.  However,  this ‘road’ has a lot to be desired.  We decided after dodging a number of holes in the road, big enough to swallow us up, that it really wasn’t worth checking out the edge of the refuge or saying we went to Texas Point.  There is also a trail you can walk, but it was closed.  Since it was still raining out we probably wouldn’t have walked the trail anyway.

We decided to stay another night at Sea Rim State Park. We were told we could not access the beach tomorrow on the east side of the park as they were having a feral hog hunt.  That should be interesting.  I guess they are a problem in this area.

Back at camp we read for an hour or so and then decided to walk the beach as the winds had died down somewhat, the rain had stopped, and the sun even shone at times.  We walked westward in to the delightful sun and as we walked we decided to pick up garbage along the way.  There are garbage barrels every 50 yards or so apart along the beach.  As we didn’t have a garbage bag with us, it was nice to unload the garbage periodically.  The beach had its share of garbage but nothing like South Padre Island, but then again I doubt they get the level of use here that they do there.

We did see a large flock of about 50 American Avocets roosting on the beach, while the Willets, Black-bellied Plovers, and Sanderlings were busy feeding.  I do love shorebirds.

As we were almost back to the campground the winds picked up again.  The winds sure makes trying to cook a Coleman stove dinner outside more difficult.  Tomorrow we are going to go back to re-explore Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge and then drive to Sam Houston State Park near Lake Charles, Louisiana for the night.

15 February 2017

Hard to believe that the month is half over already.  Wow times does fly.  We decided to return to Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge and try again for the Clapper Rail.  No rails, but we did see a Burrowing Owl, which I didn’t think I would get for this year’s list of birds.  Also, we got to see a Fulvous-bellied Whistling Duck (good spotting Jack), which is another bird I didn’t expect to see this year.  Both where great finds.

We spent about 3 hours on the refuge, once again driving the 2.5 Shoveler Pond Auto Tour Route.  Afterwards we decided to drive the Frozen Point Road, which travels along the Yellow Rail prairie.  We didn’t expect to see that rail, but thought we might see at least one of the other rail species (King, Clapper, or Virginia).  We did hear a rail, but it stayed hidden in the reedy vegetation.  About half way down this road we pulled into an area to turn around and volunteers in a USFWS vehicle stopped to let us know where to see the Burrowing Owl further down the road.  So instead of turning around we drove on to see the owl.  So cute.  We love this owl (species).  Also in the same general area where three Wilson’s Snipe.  Another great find as this is a special species too.

We also spent a short period time on SkillernTract, which has a couple of short trails and a viewing platform.  Not as many birds, but the day was nice and the trails in good condition.

Next stop – Louisiana and the Sam Houston Jones State Park.

Bird Species Seen or Heard at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge

• Northern Harrier
• American Kestrel
• Red-tailed Hawk
• Killdeer
• Boat-tailed Grackle
• Least Sandpiper
• Eastern Phoebe
• Long-billed Dowitcher
• White-crowned Sparrow
• Gadwall
• Turkey Vulture
• Eastern Meadowlark
• Red-winged Blackbird
• Mourning Dove
• European Starling
• Green-winged Teal
• American Wigeon
• Northern Shoveler
• Snow Goose
• Greater White-fronted Goose
• Northern Pintail
• Great Egret
• American Coot
• Tree Swallow
• Double-crested Cormorant
• White Ibis
• Blue-winged Teal
• Pied-billed Grebe
• Common Gallinule
• Mottled Duck
• Great Blue Heron
• Light Blue Heron
• Black-bellied Whistling Duck
• Savannah Sparrow
• Fulvous-bellied Whistling Duck
• White-faced Ibis
• Tricolore Heron
• Snowy Egret
• Roseatte Spoonbill
• Cinnamon Teal
• Ring-necked Duck
• Black-crowned Night Heron
• Peregrine Falcon
• Burrowing Owl
• Forester’s Tern
• Wilsons’ Snipe
• Lesser Yellowleg
• Northern Cardinal
• Black Vulture
• Loggerhead Shrike
• Mallard
• Ruddy Duck
• Northern Mockingbird
• Osprey
• Song Sparrow

Remember it’s always …

A GREAT DAY TO BIRD