Short Trip to Galveston County, Texas Yields 2 Statebirds, January 2017

Prior to my regular January business trip to Houston I set up an eBird Needs Alert to see if there might be any target birds in the area.  I’ve birded the greater Houston area enough times that few if any new statebirds are likely in the immediate area on most all of my trips.  And that was certainly the case this time – in fact there were no possible new statebirds at all in and around Houston. 

As a result of the limited opportunities in Houston I’ve recently started to expand my horizons a bit in search of new statebirds.  For instance Galveston is less than an hour away, and last year I was able to squeeze in a couple short birding trips down that way while in the area.  So I checked the Needs Alert for possibilities in Galveston County, and sure enough there were a number of targets -

• Texas City Dike had 2 reports of Thayer’s Gull, and 1 report each of Glaucous Gull and Pacific Loon, but with no details provided as to specific locations. 
• Offat’s Bayou in Galveston had several reports of a Red-throated Loon.
• Several locations along the coast had reports of Nelson’s Sparrow – one of the most common birds I still needed in TX.
• Bolivar Flats had single reports of both White-winged and Black Scoters in large Scaup flocks offshore, along with an occasional Gannet.

My birding time was limited to just a late afternoon after work, so that wouldn’t give me enough time to try for all of these birds.  (All of a sudden I went from no target birds to more birds than I had time to search for.)  The Texas City Dike is nearly 5 miles long, with lots of good habitat along almost the entire length.  And given the lack of details for the locations of each species, and only 1 or 2 reports of each, the targets reported there seemed like long shots.  So instead I focused on stops at the coast with 5 possible targets.  I would start at Offat’s Bayou in Galveston, then I would take the ferry over to Bolivar with a stop at Frenchtown Road for Nelson’s Sparrow, and then end the day doing a seawatch at Bolivar Flats.  I wouldn’t be able to spend much time at any of these stops, but it all seemed feasible despite the limited time.  And in the last couple days before my trip there were also reports of Pacific Loons at Offat’s Bayou – yet another target bird to try for. 

I was able to get out of the office on time, and headed south toward Galveston beating at least a little of the rush hour traffic.  Within an hour I had reached Offat’s Bayou and started to scan the bay from the little park on 61^st Street.  I instantly started to pick out several Common Loons scattered across the water.  Although most birds were distant, I soon noticed a small feeding frenzy which was much closer to me.  I counted 7 Common Loons and 21 small Grebes which I identified as Horned.  But the “eBird police” thought they should be Eared Grebes, so I changed the ID to “grebe, sp.” in eBird.  Unfortunately the frenzy included no rare Loons.  So I went back to scanning in the distance and got a quick look at a bird that I thought was a Red-throated.  But the bird dove, and I couldn’t re-find it, so I assumed my ID was incorrect.  Or maybe the bird just resurfaced too far away.  In any case I didn’t count it.

With more scanning I found even more Common Loons in the distance, and finally found a candidate for a Pacific.  I eventually got some pretty good looks at the bird (though it too was diving a lot), and I could see the smaller size and darker back than the Commons, and abrupt edge of the dark coloration on the side of the neck.  Pacific Loon indeed!  I then went back to looking for my possible Red-throated, but with no success.  Along the way I made an exact count of 126 Common Loons scattered across the bay.  By now most were quite distant to the northwest, and I started to think about driving to a different spot to get closer to them.  But I had already spent more time here than expected, so I decided to move on to my next location instead.  My statebird map for Pacific Loon is pretty interesting – I’ve seen this species in more states as a rarity (10) than in states in its regular Pacific coast range (4).

I drove to the east end of Galveston Island and was almost the last car to board the ferry before it departed – tough to beat that timing.  Soon after leaving the ferry on the Bolivar Peninsula I turned left onto Frenchtown Road to try for the Nelson’s Sparrows.  Although there had only been one recent Nelson’s report from this spot, there were several reports here in recent winters.  And the satellite view on GoogleMaps showed what appeared to be a nice patch of saltmarsh along the road.  So I was optimistic that this might be a regular wintering spot for this species.  A couple minutes later I reached the saltmarsh and it was indeed very nice habitat.  But it was so large I was a bit worried whether this could be a needle in a haystack kind of search.  And I didn’t have the proper footwear to wade out into the marsh to try to flush them.  Then I remembered that Nelson’s are quite responsive to playback (based on successful searches in VT and Nova Scotia), so I decided to give it a try right from the road.  Within a few seconds I got a fleeting glimpse of a sparrow fly toward me.  And just before it dropped into the grasses it perched long enough for me to ID it as a Nelson’s Sparrow.  I did a bit more playback hoping that the bird would come out into the open.  But instead of views of that bird, 3 other Nelson’s flew in to investigate.  Who knows how many birds might have been in this marsh.  Not bad when a 2-minute stop can yield a new statebird. 

And now a little side-story about my experience with Nelson’s Sparrow across the country-  Most of my winter birding in the southeast coastal areas came before what used to be known as the “Sharp-tailed Sparrow” was split into 2 species – today’s Nelson’s and Saltmarsh Sparrows.  So although years ago I saw birds of this complex in all the Gulf Coast and southern Atlantic Coast coastal states, I did not record what was at the time considered to be the races of these birds.  As a result I’ve conservatively decided to count all my sightings on the Atlantic Coast to be what is now called Saltmarsh Sparrow, and my Gulf Coast sightings as Nelson’s Sparrow.  Chances are I saw both species in most all the Atlantic states, but have decided to take this conservative approach to counting this species in that region.  Not to mention I've tried for it unsuccessfully in MN, ND, and MT on the breeding grounds of the inland nelsoni race.  Hence I have big gaps in my statebird map for Nelson’s Sparrow, though I'm happy to have it as a rare migrant in WV and VT.

 

That gave me quite a bit of remaining sunlight to try for the Scoters and Gannets off-shore.  After a short drive I had reached the end of Rettilon Road, where the pavement ends at the hard-packed sandy beach (luckily safe to drive on even in a 2-wheel-drive sedan).  With a quick binocular scan I spotted a very large flock of diving ducks offshore.  I got out the scope and estimated a whopping 4,000 Lesser Scaup.  But the raft was far off-shore, and even at 50 power under nearly ideal viewing conditions, there was no way I would be able to ID a Scoter mixed in.  I looked to the west and saw another large flock of divers, and these birds were closer to shore.  So I drove down to the western-most part of the beach, identified as the eBird hotspot “Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary”, and started to scan this flock.  The birds were indeed a bit closer, and I was able to spot an occasional Redhead mixed in with the estimated 1,000 Scaup, but still no Scoters.  I also scanned the coast for Gannets with no luck – though distant plunge-diving Pelicans got my interest at times. 

It was now getting late, so I decided to call it quits content to add 2 more birds to my TX statelist – now at 434.  As I was driving away in the fading light I had a flashback to another sunset visit to this same spot more than 10 years ago in November 2006 when I successfully added Short-eared Owl to my TX list.  Some fond birding memories…

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.