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Texas, April

Connor Cochrane

By Connor Cochrane
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Connor Cochrane

Connor Cochrane

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I still strongly believe that California is the best US state for birding, but I have to make a Texas trip at some point for the rio grande specialties. Going the week of April 15th. I really only have 5 days of birding. It's going to be tight, but the plan right now is to drive to high island the afternoon we land and start grinding to get all the eastern migrants. Stay at a motel in the town of Winnie. Wake up early and go back down to high island and bird till noon, where I'll turn straight around and bomb down to the rio grande. Planning on spending 3 1/2 days birding the Rio Grande, High Island etc. to get all the rio grande specialties and hopefully turn up something Mexican. I'll spend the last day before the fishing part of the trip (meeting up with family) heading back north along the coast trying to pick up the eastern shorebirds I still need. (American Golden-Plover, Buff-bellied Sandpiper etc.)

I know a lot of people are from or have been to this part of Texas, and I would appreciate any suggestions you may have. 

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Liam

Liam

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If you go to High Island, definitely check out Bolivar Flats if you have time for it. I got my lifer Buff-bellied Sandpiper there and there's always tons of shorebirds at the end of the peninsula. It is all the way down the peninsula though, about 30 minutes from Boy Scout Woods, so that adds an hour of drive time to your bustling day.

Hopefully you have favorable weather for neos. It can be hit or miss (and by "miss" I mean still like 10+ species of eastern warblers) on lazy days, but you really can't have a bad day on High Island in the spring.

In Winnie, look for the Whooping Cranes. They're usually still there in April and early May. Or you could get the ones in the Rockport area on your way down to the RGV, if you get there during daylight hours.

Personally, I wouldn't leave for the valley at noon. I'd bird High Island, Bolivar Flats, get the Whoopings in Winnie, maybe try for Attwater's Chickens in Colorado County, and then drive down when it's dark. Daylight is precious when you've got a limited time for birding. It's probably >6hrs from High Island to the RGV.

14 hours ago, Connor Cochrane said:

Planning on spending 3 1/2 days birding the Rio Grande, High Island etc. to get all the rio grande specialties

You say you're spending 3 1/2 days in the RGV? Or 3 1/2 days birding High Island and the RGV? 3 days is ample to get most of the RGV specialties. Estero Llano Grande SP is probably my favorite hotspot in the lower RGV and my top suggestion for someone birding the LRGV for the first time. You get great looks at all the specialties and there's a boardwalk around wetlands where you can see waterfowl and shorebirds up close. There's a well-known Pauraque roost too. I can send you coordinates to that. If you're able to, walk around there at dusk with a flashlight for the ultimate Pauraque experience. They like to stand on the ground with their lil chicken feet and then erratically fly to another spot.

Santa Ana NWR is also really great. Some of the best trails are closed now, but they may open again by April. You can still take the main paved road over the levee to the hawk towers and even down to Bobcat trail. One of my favorite birding experiences was birding Santa Ana NWR for the first time and getting so many LRGV lifers, like Ringed Kingfisher, plus regular neos like YBFL and Mourning Warbler. We even found a Texas Indigo Snake.

Bentsen-Rio is lame unless you have a bike or take the shuttle. It's really only good for the La Familia feeder stations for photos of specialties, and the hawkwatch tower for Hook-billed Kite. If you go for Hook-billed, go early. You can be up there for hours and not see a Hook-billed Kite. That's the typical experience. They're a beech and a half to get eyes on and usually it's just for 10 seconds. 

Definitely plan to do some birding in the Tamaulipan mezquital. Laguna Atascosa is a great place for this, but I personally recommend Old Port Isabel Rd close to Brownsville. There's Botteri's and Cassin's Sparrow and Aplomado Falcon at close range. Further north, there's some good spots for FEPO. If you're in the eastern LRGV, the best spot is along Texas 186 going towards Port Mansfield. In the western LRGV, Brush Line Rd. is the best spot. You won't see em without playback though, so keep that in mind. Bird responsibly. I can provide coordinates in a DM, but you can't share them.

Make sure you plan a morning birding Salineño. Get there just before dawn. Muscovy Duck and Red-billed Pigeon are possible, but don't expect them, probably less than 1% of visitors get lucky enough to see those. Morelet's Seedeater and Audubon's Oriole (and now Mexican Duck) are like the main draw to Salineño, but it's such a cool place that it's definitely worth it to spend a few hours there. Salineño is one of my most favorite places in the world. Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Pyrrhuloxia, and Black-throated Sparrow are easy on the dump road too.

Red-billed Pigeons are easiest (allegedly) at the Max A. Mandel Golf Course northwest of Laredo. Sometimes they let you in for free if you say you're birding. Sometimes they charge you like $17.

Let me know if you have questions about specific target birds or locations.

Also...

Texas is the best state for birding. You'll see. ?

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Connor Cochrane

Connor Cochrane

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3 hours ago, Liam said:

I've been to S. Texas many times, but here's a few of my favorite trips to get you excited:

 

https://ebird.org/tripreport/1264

https://ebird.org/tripreport/1698

https://ebird.org/tripreport/30769

Nice, I really wish I could bring my NFC equipment down. If you were able to hear that many with just your ears, who knows how much I would pick up with the equipment.

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Connor Cochrane

Connor Cochrane

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12 hours ago, Liam said:

If you go to High Island, definitely check out Bolivar Flats if you have time for it. I got my lifer Buff-bellied Sandpiper there and there's always tons of shorebirds at the end of the peninsula. It is all the way down the peninsula though, about 30 minutes from Boy Scout Woods, so that adds an hour of drive time to your bustling day.

Hopefully you have favorable weather for neos. It can be hit or miss (and by "miss" I mean still like 10+ species of eastern warblers) on lazy days, but you really can't have a bad day on High Island in the spring.

In Winnie, look for the Whooping Cranes. They're usually still there in April and early May. Or you could get the ones in the Rockport area on your way down to the RGV, if you get there during daylight hours.

Personally, I wouldn't leave for the valley at noon. I'd bird High Island, Bolivar Flats, get the Whoopings in Winnie, maybe try for Attwater's Chickens in Colorado County, and then drive down when it's dark. Daylight is precious when you've got a limited time for birding. It's probably >6hrs from High Island to the RGV.

You say you're spending 3 1/2 days in the RGV? Or 3 1/2 days birding High Island and the RGV? 3 days is ample to get most of the RGV specialties. Estero Llano Grande SP is probably my favorite hotspot in the lower RGV and my top suggestion for someone birding the LRGV for the first time. You get great looks at all the specialties and there's a boardwalk around wetlands where you can see waterfowl and shorebirds up close. There's a well-known Pauraque roost too. I can send you coordinates to that. If you're able to, walk around there at dusk with a flashlight for the ultimate Pauraque experience. They like to stand on the ground with their lil chicken feet and then erratically fly to another spot.

Santa Ana NWR is also really great. Some of the best trails are closed now, but they may open again by April. You can still take the main paved road over the levee to the hawk towers and even down to Bobcat trail. One of my favorite birding experiences was birding Santa Ana NWR for the first time and getting so many LRGV lifers, like Ringed Kingfisher, plus regular neos like YBFL and Mourning Warbler. We even found a Texas Indigo Snake.

Bentsen-Rio is lame unless you have a bike or take the shuttle. It's really only good for the La Familia feeder stations for photos of specialties, and the hawkwatch tower for Hook-billed Kite. If you go for Hook-billed, go early. You can be up there for hours and not see a Hook-billed Kite. That's the typical experience. They're a beech and a half to get eyes on and usually it's just for 10 seconds. 

Definitely plan to do some birding in the Tamaulipan mezquital. Laguna Atascosa is a great place for this, but I personally recommend Old Port Isabel Rd close to Brownsville. There's Botteri's and Cassin's Sparrow and Aplomado Falcon at close range. Further north, there's some good spots for FEPO. If you're in the eastern LRGV, the best spot is along Texas 186 going towards Port Mansfield. In the western LRGV, Brush Line Rd. is the best spot. You won't see em without playback though, so keep that in mind. Bird responsibly. I can provide coordinates in a DM, but you can't share them.

Make sure you plan a morning birding Salineño. Get there just before dawn. Muscovy Duck and Red-billed Pigeon are possible, but don't expect them, probably less than 1% of visitors get lucky enough to see those. Morelet's Seedeater and Audubon's Oriole (and now Mexican Duck) are like the main draw to Salineño, but it's such a cool place that it's definitely worth it to spend a few hours there. Salineño is one of my most favorite places in the world. Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Pyrrhuloxia, and Black-throated Sparrow are easy on the dump road too.

Red-billed Pigeons are easiest (allegedly) at the Max A. Mandel Golf Course northwest of Laredo. Sometimes they let you in for free if you say you're birding. Sometimes they charge you like $17.

Let me know if you have questions about specific target birds or locations.

Also...

Texas is the best state for birding. You'll see. ?

Thanks for all that info. It's definitely helpful. I wrote my plan out wrong above, I actually have 5 days total to bird Maybe I'll try to spend most of the first day doing high island and Bolivar. The only problem is I only have my learners permit and I can't use it out of state, so I effectively can't drive, which slightly limits how late we can stay out with only one driver. 

My main goal of the trip is to get as many ABA birds as I need, and I think I could get into the 35-45 range if I plan effectively and get lucky with some of the neos. Because of my limited timeframe, I don't think I'm going to focus too much on some of the hard birds like Thick-billed Kite. I'd probably rather kick around Santa Ana and try to pull something Mexican.

As of now I don't really have an itinerary for the Rio Grande part of the trip, but I have thought of a basic plan for at least the first day and a half after I land in Houston.

My plan as of now:

I land at Houston around 1:40, who knows how long it'll take to get out of the airport, but hopefully I could get to high island by four. I'd check in and probably just stay in the Boy Scout woods area till sundown (I need Eastern Whip-por-will and that theoretically is possible).

I would get back to high island before sunrise the next day. From my research, I think I'm going to spend the first 4 hours or so at Smith Oaks. I would think the larger size of the sanctuary would attract more migrants, and you would be able to get away from other birders for a little. After that I think I'd start heading down the Bolivar peninsula and make some stops at some salt marsh (I need Sedge Wren, LeContes Sparrow) and Bolivar Flats (Wilsons Plover, Hudsonian Godwits and maybe WRSA). Around three I'd take the ferry and start driving down to the rio grande, but make some stops at some sod fields to get BBSA and AMGP. If I was able to get all of those shorebirds that would mean I'm only missing three regularly occurring shorebirds for the ABA (Woodcock, Purple Sand, and Bristle-thighed Curlew).

@Liam Do you think its smart to spend most of my time at Smith Oaks, or would it be better to move around between there and Boy Scout woods. Obviously it depends on the conditions and how the days is going, but it just seems to me that staying at Smiths Oaks might be more productive. 

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Charlie Spencer

Charlie Spencer

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5 hours ago, Connor Cochrane said:

get away from other birders for a little

I'm not sure why you'd consider this a good thing.  I'd think you'd have more luck working with local birders familiar with the area than going solo.

Have you considered checking the web for coastal TX birding groups to see if any have trips or activities while you're there?

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Connor Cochrane

Connor Cochrane

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2 hours ago, Charlie Spencer said:

I'm not sure why you'd consider this a good thing.  I'd think you'd have more luck working with local birders familiar with the area than going solo.

Have you considered checking the web for coastal TX birding groups to see if any have trips or activities while you're there?

I enjoy birding with other birders, if you look at most of my eBird checklists, I'm usually out with one or two other people. However, there's going to be so many people at some of the popular spots I feel that its going to be annoying to actually find anything. 

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Liam

Liam

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21 hours ago, Connor Cochrane said:

@Liam Do you think its smart to spend most of my time at Smith Oaks, or would it be better to move around between there and Boy Scout woods. Obviously it depends on the conditions and how the days is going, but it just seems to me that staying at Smiths Oaks might be more productive. 

Honestly, they're like <1 min drive, 5 minute walk from each other. Smith Oaks is bigger so it's got more habitat. I'd bird there until I get bored and then move to BSW. If it's not productive, you can always go back to Smith Oaks.

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blackburnian

blackburnian

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I agree with everything Liam said. A morning at Estero Llano will yield almost all the common specialties. Paired with going up river towards Salineño and getting Audubon’s Oriole, Seedeater, etc you should be in good shape. And Liam is right, you won’t make it to the valley with any real time to bird if you leave Galveston at noon. It’s longer than you may think to the RGV. 
 

PS, Arizona is the best state. 

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Connor Cochrane

Connor Cochrane

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It's now April which means my trip to Texas is coming up. I've got most of the trip planned out at this point, really just focusing on getting as many ABA birds as possible. I'm hoping for at least 30, it really is just going to depend on how good migration is when I visit High and South Padre island. Right now the plan is to bird High Island the first evening and the next day up to around one. Then we'll head south to Bolivar flats, quickly check it out, and hopefully make it to some sod fields (for BBSA and AMGP) part way down to the valley before sunset.

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