Four Migrant Passerine Statebirds, Galveston, TX, April 2016

My typical routine of late in preparing for my monthly business trips to Houston is to set up a Needs Alert in eBird to see if there might be a statebird or two I could try for locally.  And with my next trip coinciding with migration season in late April, the Needs Alert listed quite a number of passerines seen near Houston that I still needed for my TX list.  Usually I can squeeze in a little birding time in the early morning or evening to check out a local hotspot or two, so I was optimistic that I might add at least one or two new birds to my list on this upcoming trip. 

But then as this trip neared several of my meetings were cancelled, freeing up an entire morning.  That would give me enough time to head a bit farther afield.  So now I started thinking about whether I had time to head to the coast to visit some of the key TX migrant traps – something I’ve never done before.  With some eBird research I found a couple places on Galveston Island where quite a number of my targets were being seen on an almost daily basis.  Perhaps the best spot was Lafitte’s Cove, which was just over an hour’s drive from Houston.  I could take the morning off, leave Houston pre-dawn to arrive at Lafitte’s Cove at first light, bird the island throughout the morning, and still get back to Houston by just after lunch.  And although migration is always variable, I thought that even an average day could net a few new statebirds. 

Lafitte’s Cove is a veritable oasis of thick natural vegetation surrounded by a suburban neighborhood of upscale homes.  Thankfully a local preservation group had protected this area, built some trails running through the park, and maintained two water drips.  I arrived at the park about 15 minutes before dawn on a cloudy morning, and began the short walk into the park.  Along the way I first came to wetlands with calling Marsh Wrens, Yellowthroats, and Gallinules, but quickly passed through the area - I headed right to the woods to start my search for my target migrant passerines.

The first thing I noticed when I got to the woodlands was the total lack of sound – no songs and not even any call notes.  This didn’t bode well when searching for migrants.  It was still pretty dark in the dense vegetation, and since I wouldn’t be able to identify much yet anyway I decided to wander around the park a bit to get my bearings before the lighting, and hopefully the birding, improved.  I found the two drips, and walked about half the trails, but still didn’t see or hear any birds.  This was not starting well.

As I neared the intersection of two trails I finally spotted some movement – an Ovenbird – not a target but finally a bird.  Then I noticed some movement on the trail up ahead.  Although light was limited, I got brief views of the bird which I thought was a Hooded Warbler.  That’s one I needed for my TX list, so I moved in a bit closer and eventually got good views of the female warbler foraging low in the brush – the yellow face and white in the tail clinched it as a Hooded.  I’ve tried for this species several times in Houston where it is near the western edge of its breeding range, so I was happy to finally fill this gap in my TX list, which was the 31st state where I’ve seen this species.

Then a few seconds later I noticed another bird right on the trail near the Hooded.  It was a dark Catharus thrush, but lighting was still very limimted.  I finally got a good look at its face and it was a Gray-cheeked – another target bird.  My statebird map for this skulking migrant is very spotty, so I was happy to be able to tick it off in TX.

I walked a bit further ahead and was now nearing the edge of the park.  A Cardinal flew by, and then I heard the song of a White-eyed Vireo.  And then I noticed a bit of movement high in a tree - it was one of those confusing female warblers.  Although I recognized the plumage I struggled a bit to remember what species it was until I finally realized it was a Cerulean Warbler – a plumage I haven’t seen in many years.  And another bird I needed for my TX list.  My statebird map for this species is somewhat like my Gray-cheeked map – very spotty although this is a widespread eastern breeder and migrant, though a declining species throughout its range.

So although I had seen or heard just 6 individual birds, 3 of them were new statebirds.  Amazing!

I continued to walk slowly through the park and birding was very slow, though I would occasionally spot a bird either on the trail or low in the brush.  I would eventually end up seeing another Gray-cheeked, a couple Swainson’s, a Veery, and a Wood Thrush.  And at one point I spotted a skulking warbler that finally popped into the open – a Worm-eating Warbler – another target bird, and my third new "southeastern" warbler for my TX list.  

I spent about 3 hours in the park and only heard two singing warblers - a Blackpoll and a Canada.  During that time I saw a female Hooded Warbler five different times feeding low in the brush – was this just the 1 bird or multiple individuals?  I ended up with 11 species of warblers and 4 Catharus thrushes – nice diversity in a morning with very few birds.  I ran into several other birders in the park who saw almost nothing by comparison, so I felt very lucky to have been so successful.

With my available time rapidly coming to an end, I decided to try another migrant spot to see if there might be more birds.  I headed toward the eastern end of the island to a spot called Corps Woods that had had some pretty good sightings of late.  But I was most disappointed in this spot – despite a large patch of natural woodlands there were almost no trails, and I found almost nothing.  Though I was able to get this picture of a most cooperative Yellow-crowned Night-Heron by holding my phone up to my binoculars.

I ended my Galveston Island birding by making a quick stop near the eastern end of the island and found an amazing congregation of terns and shorebirds roosting in a flooded parking lot.  I counted 19 species of shorebirds and 5 species of terns plus Skimmers.  With such a diverse set of habitats I had a feeling that I had racked up a pretty good list for the morning.  After entering everything into eBird I tallied an even 100 species – not bad for just a morning, and for pretty limited passerine migration.

With 4 new statebirds that gives me 433 for TX.  Although that’s my largest statelist, there are still quite a number of relatively easy species to try for on future trips to the state, especially if those trips occur during spring migration.