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.
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