2012 High Island & Texas Hill Country MBWeek

HIGH ISLAND - HILL COUNTRY MBWEEK SUMMARY  /  April 14 - 22, 2012

Given that this was MBW's first attempt to cover both High Island and the Hill Country in a week (even the regular tour companies don't normally do this), I'd still have to say things worked out quite well. True, much of our time on the Gore Store Road was not as productive as it used to be, the back-up sites near Jasper were too far away, we never managed to fit Sabine Woods into our itinerary, and I would have liked to spend more time at Anahuac NWR and the Bolivar Peninsula.

But our travel day from Winnie to Kerrville went even better than I had hoped, since it included a highly successful Swainson's Warbler photo-op (!), several nice additions to our list on Yacht Basin and Tuna roads, some impressive parakeet nests, and no real traffic difficulties around Houston or San Antonio. And while our visits to Lost Maples were limited, the times we spent instead with Paul & Betty Rae Davis' Zone-tailed Hawk and Golden-cheeked Warbler and with Neal's Lodge's Tropical Parula certainly made for favorable trade-offs.

All this resulted in an impressive bird list of no fewer than 238 species, and I have to think a total of 250 could easily be reached with some adjustments in the itinerary. Note that we turned up nearly 200 species on the Houston-High Island-Big Thicket portion of the MBW – besides that special warbler at Taylor's Bayou, some of the highlights included both whistling-ducks, the rookery at Smith Oaks, King Rails (and Least Bitterns) at Anahuac, nearly 30 shorebird species, 9 tern species at once at Rollover Pass, Red-cockaded Woodpeckers on our first morning, and 29 warbler species (with Tropical Parula and Golden-cheeked making a final total of 31). Especially memorable as well was the fallout of birds on Monday at Smith Oaks (especially kingbirds, tanagers, grosbeaks, buntings, and orioles), with birds seeming to appear out of nowhere in the treetops.

Although the species total in the Hill Country part of the MBW was some 100 species less than we had in the High Island region, remember that we birded there for only two days (instead of nearly five farther east), and the variety of ducks, shorebirds, gulls/terns, and other waterbirds there is quite limited. Still, along with the Zone-tailed Hawk and those two warblers mentioned earlier, these two days produced several memorable highlights: Vermilion and other flycatchers, a Bell's Vireo nest, those Black-capped Vireos (especially at Kerr WMA, of course), Olive, Rufous-crowned, and other sparrows, and Bullock's and Scott's orioles. In addition, much of the scenery along the roads we traveled was impressive, and those who did the Frio Bat Cave option will not soon forget that spectacle.          

We certainly owe Paul and Betty Rae a big thank-you for their generous hospitality (and providing an adventurous drive!) at their place. Of course, Al and Doug deserve special thanks as well for volunteering to drive during the MBW, and we thank Kimberle for bringing one of the vehicles from San Antonio to Houston. 

ITINERARY

April 14 - Early afternoon arrival in Houston and birding option to Jesse Jones County Park; night in Houston.

April 15 - Morning at W Goodrich Jones State Forest (Red-cockaded Woodpecker), then drive east to Winnie (for first of 4 nights) via Trinity River bottoms E of Dayton and Nome-area pastures/fields/rice paddies; brief evening option to Taylor's Slough.

April 16 - All day at High Island, especially Smith Oaks Bird Sanctuary.

April 17 - Rollover Pass, return to High Island/Smith Oaks, and afternoon at Anahuac NWR.

April 18 - Big Thicket Visitors Center/Kirby Trail road, Gore Store Rd, Sandy Creek Campground & vicinity, Boykin Springs area, and Tyrrell Park & Beaumont sewage treatment plant.

April 19 - Morning at Taylor's Bayou (Swainson's Warbler!), High Island, Bolivar Peninsula (incl Rollover Pass, Yacht Basin and Tuna roads), and ferry to Galveston; afternoon drive to Kerrville (for first of 3 nights) via Monk Parakeet nests in Pearland.

April 20 - All day in Hill Country, especially Kerr WMA (Black-capped Vireo) and Paul & Betty Rae Davis' (Golden-cheeked Warbler); evening option to Frio Bat Cave.

April 21 - All day in Hill Country, especially Neal's Lodge (Tropical Parula), Cook's Slough, and Lost Maples State Natural Area.

April 22 - Morning return to San Antonio for flights home.

BIRD LIST

boldfaced species = "non-Minnesota" birds (i.e., absent/accidental/casual in MN)

HI = seen only in High Island-Houston-Big Thicket-Bolivar area (April 14-19)

HC = seen only in Hill Country (April 20-22)

(species not annotated were found in both areas)

MBWeek total = 238 species

High Island area total = 198 species (including 142 not seen in HC)

Hill Country area total  = 96 species (including 40 not seen in HI)

  Fulvous Whistling-Duck     HI (especially at Anahuac NWR)

  Black-bellied Whistling-Duck

  Wood Duck     HI

  Gadwall     HI

  American Wigeon     HI

  Mallard     HI

  Mottled Duck     HI

  Blue-winged Teal     HI

  Northern Shoveler

  Green-winged Teal     HI

  Lesser Scaup     HI

  Red-breasted Merganser     HI

  Wild Turkey     HC

  Pied-billed Grebe     HI

  Neotropic Cormorant     HI (especially at the Smith Oaks rookery)

  Double-crested Cormorant

  Brown Pelican     HI

  Least Bittern     HI (entertaining at Anahuac)

  Great Blue Heron

  Great Egret

  Snowy Egret

  Little Blue Heron     HI

  Tricolored Heron     HI

  Reddish Egret     HI (only one white-morph?)

  Cattle Egret

  Green Heron

  Black-crowned Night-Heron

  Yellow-crowned Night-Heron     HI

  White Ibis     HI

  White-faced Ibis     HI

  Roseate Spoonbill     HI (the Smith Oaks rookery specialty)

  Black Vulture

  Turkey Vulture

  Osprey

  Swallow-tailed Kite     HI (Trinity River bottoms)

  Bald Eagle     HI

  Northern Harrier     HI

  Cooper's Hawk     HC

  Red-shouldered Hawk     HI (heard-only at Taylor's Bayou?)

  Broad-winged Hawk     HI

  Swainson's Hawk

  Red-tailed Hawk

  Zone-tailed Hawk     HC (picnicking with us at the Davis')

  Crested Caracara

  Merlin     HI

  Peregrine Falcon     HI

  Clapper Rail     HI (Yacht Basin Rd)

  King Rail     HI (finally cooperated at Anahuac)

  Sora     HI (heard-only)

  Purple Gallinule     HI (only at the Smith Oaks rookery)

  Common Moorhen     HI

  American Coot

  Black-bellied Plover     HI

  Wilson's Plover     HI (Rollover Pass)

  Semipalmated Plover     HI

  Killdeer     HI

  American Oystercatcher     HI (including good ol' number X3 at Rollover)

  Black-necked Stilt     HI

  American Avocet     HI

  Spotted Sandpiper     HI

  Solitary Sandpiper     HI

  Greater Yellowlegs     HI

  Willet     HI

  Lesser Yellowlegs     HI

  Upland Sandpiper     HI (Crystal Beach)

  Whimbrel     HI

  Hudsonian Godwit     HI (distant few at Anahuac)

  Marbled Godwit     HI

  Ruddy Turnstone     HI

  Red Knot     HI (Rollover Pass)

  Sanderling     HI

  Semipalmated Sandpiper     HI

  Western Sandpiper     HI

  Least Sandpiper     HI

  Pectoral Sandpiper     HI

  Dunlin     HI

  Stilt Sandpiper     HI

  Buff-breasted Sandpiper     HI (spotted by Leslie at Anahuac)

  Short-billed Dowitcher     HI

  Long-billed Dowitcher     HI

  Wilson's Phalarope     HI (= 29 shorebird species)

  Laughing Gull     HI

  Ring-billed Gull     HI

  Herring Gull     HI

  Least Tern     HI (Rollover Pass)

  Gull-billed Tern     HI (Rollover Pass & Anahuac)

  Caspian Tern     HI

  Black Tern     HI

  Common Tern     HI

  Forster's Tern     HI

  Royal Tern     HI

  Sandwich Tern     HI (Rollover Pass)

  Black Skimmer     HI (= 9 terns simultaneously at Rollover)

  Rock Pigeon

  Eurasian Collared-Dove

  White-winged Dove

  Mourning Dove

  Inca Dove     HI

Monk Parakeet     HI (thanks to a tip from Barb's Pearland friends)

  Yellow-billed Cuckoo     HI

  Greater Roadrunner     HC (only one)

  Barred Owl     HI (heard-only)

  Common Nighthawk     HI

  Chuck-will's-widow     HC (heard-only by the bat cave gate)

  Chimney Swift

  Ruby-throated Hummingbird

  Black-chinned Hummingbird     HC

  Belted Kingfisher

  Red-headed Woodpecker     HI

  Golden-fronted Woodpecker     HC

  Red-bellied Woodpecker     HI

  Yellow-bellied Sapsucker     HI

  Ladder-backed Woodpecker     HC

  Downy Woodpecker

  RED-COCKADED WOODPECKER     HI (a pair eventually cooperated at Jones Forest)

  Pileated Woodpecker     HI

  Eastern Wood-Pewee

  Acadian Flycatcher     HI

  Black Phoebe     HC (Neal's Lodge)

  Eastern Phoebe     HC

  Vermilion Flycatcher     HC

  Ash-throated Flycatcher     HC

  Great Crested Flycatcher     HI

  Brown-crested Flycatcher     HC (Neal's Lodge)

  Western Kingbird     HC

  Eastern Kingbird     HI

  Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

  Loggerhead Shrike     HI

  White-eyed Vireo

  Bell's Vireo     HC (at a Cook's Slough nest spotted by Norma)

  BLACK-CAPPED VIREO     HC (especially at Kerr WMA; also along the Davis' driveway)

  Yellow-throated Vireo

  Hutton's Vireo     HC (4 heard/seen; 0 used to be normal)

  Warbling Vireo     HI

  Red-eyed Vireo

  Blue Jay     HI

Western Scrub-Jay     HC

  American Crow     HI

  Fish Crow     HI (2 Beaumont locations)

  Common Raven     HC

  Purple Martin

  Tree Swallow     HI

  Northern Rough-winged Swallow

  Bank Swallow     HI (leader-only?)

  Cliff Swallow

  Cave Swallow

  Barn Swallow

  Carolina Chickadee

  Tufted Titmouse     HI

  Black-crested Titmouse     HC

  Brown-headed Nuthatch     HI (best at Jones Forest)

  Canyon Wren     HC

  Carolina Wren

  Bewick's Wren     HC

  House Wren     HC (Norma-only in Kerrville)

  Sedge Wren     HI (heard-only)

  Marsh Wren     HI (heard-only)

  Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

  Eastern Bluebird

  Veery     HI

  Swainson's Thrush     HI

  Wood Thrush     HI

  American Robin     HI

  Gray Catbird     HI

  Northern Mockingbird

  Brown Thrasher     HI

  European Starling

  Cedar Waxwing     HI

  Ovenbird     HI

  Worm-eating Warbler     HI (only the second time I've heard one sing)

  waterthrush, sp.     (heard-only; probably Northern at HI and Louisiana at HC)

  Golden-winged Warbler     HI

  Blue-winged Warbler     HI

  Black-and-white Warbler

  Prothonotary Warbler     HI

  SWAINSON'S WARBLER     HI (finally at Taylor's Bayou on our 6th day)

  Tennessee Warbler     HI

  Nashville Warbler

  Kentucky Warbler     HI (best along Gore Store Rd)

  Common Yellowthroat     HI

  Hooded Warbler     (incl a surprise at Lost Maples)

  American Redstart     HI

  Cerulean Warbler     HI

  Northern Parula     HI

  TROPICAL PARULA     HC (great looks at Neal's and our only write-in)

  Magnolia Warbler     HI

  Blackburnian Warbler     HI

  Yellow Warbler     HI

  Chestnut-sided Warbler     HI

  Blackpoll Warbler     HI (seen by those in Al's car on Tuna Rd)

  Palm Warbler     HI (ditto)

  Pine Warbler     HI

  Yellow-rumped Warbler     HI (Barb-only)

  Yellow-throated Warbler

  Prairie Warbler     HI (best along Gore Store Rd)

  GOLDEN-CHEEKED WARBLER     HC (thanks to Paul Davis and his vehicles)

  Black-throated Green Warbler     HI

  Canada Warbler     HI (Leslie-only)

  Yellow-breasted Chat     (= 31 warbler species)

  Olive Sparrow     HC (Cook's Slough)

  Rufous-crowned Sparrow     HC

  Canyon Towhee     HC

  Cassin's Sparrow     HC

  Bachman's Sparrow     HI (heard-only in Boykin Springs area)

  Chipping Sparrow     HC

  Clay-colored Sparrow     HC

  Field Sparrow     HC

  Lark Sparrow     HC

  Savannah Sparrow

  Grasshopper Sparrow     HC

  Nelson's Sparrow     HI (Yacht Basin Rd)

  Seaside Sparrow     HI (Tuna Rd)

  Lincoln's Sparrow     HC (leader-only?)

  White-throated Sparrow     HI

  Summer Tanager

  Scarlet Tanager     HI

  Northern Cardinal

  Rose-breasted Grosbeak     HI

  Blue Grosbeak

  Indigo Bunting

  Painted Bunting     HI (only one at Smith Oaks?)

  Dickcissel     HI (Tuna Rd)

  Bobolink     HI (Tuna Rd)

  Red-winged Blackbird

  Eastern Meadowlark     HI

  Yellow-headed Blackbird

  Common Grackle     HI

  Boat-tailed Grackle     HI

  Great-tailed Grackle

  Bronzed Cowbird     HC

  Brown-headed Cowbird

  Orchard Oriole     HI

  Bullock's Oriole     HC

  Baltimore Oriole     HI

  Scott's Oriole     HC (seen by some at Lost Maples)

  House Finch     HC

  Lesser Goldfinch     HC

  House Sparrow

PHOTO GALLERY

Fulvous Whistling-Duck

Roseate Spoonbill

King Rail

Tropical Parula

Golden-cheeked Warbler