Hi Tweeters,

Cindy Sprecher, Gene Revelas, and I have just returned from a 10 day trip
(April 11-21) to
High Island and the upper Texas Gulf Coast. At the beginning, Cindy and I
spent several days south along the coast and at Aransas NWR while Gene
chased Black-capped Vireo and Golden-cheeked Warbler (successfully) over on
the Edmonds Plateau. Then we got together for birding at High Island.
Highlights for me included:

Boy Scout Woods Smith Oaks, and Sabine Woods at High Island, during good
weather and
strong southerly winds (no birds anywhere), and during the passage of a
strong front ('fall-out', with 27 warbler species in about 2 hours of
birding)

Bachman's Sparrow and Swainson's Warbler at Big Thicket, where we ran into
John Dunn and his VENT group.


Reddish Egret at Aransas NWR. King Rail nearby

Le Conte's and Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow at San Bernardo NWR, then again
near High Island.

Wilson's, Snowy, Semipalmated, and Piping Plover all together at Bolivar
Flats.

Gull-billed Tern,Caspian Tern,Royal Tern,Sandwich Tern,Common Tern,Forster's
Tern,Least Tern,Black Tern, and Black Skimmer all roosting together at
Bolivar Flats.

Yellow and Virginia Rails on the 'Rail Rope Walk' at Anuac NWR, with Victor
Emmanual and John Dunn. The 'aura' was palpable. Also many Seaside
Sparrows and Sedge Wrens.

Great looks at Herons, Egrets and Bitterns at Brazo Bend State Park south of
Houston.

Upland, Buff-breasted and Baird's Sandpipers in the fields around Winnie,
and Bolivar Flats.

Birds Observed:
Upper Texas Coast
April 1998

Pied-billed Grebe
American White Pelican
Brown Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Neotropical Cormorant
Anhinga
American Bittern
Least Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Reddish Egret
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
White-faced Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Fulvous Whistling-Duck
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Green-Winged Teal
Mottled Duck
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Red-breasted Merganser
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
White-tailed Kite
Northern Harrier
Red-shouldered Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Merlin
Northern Bobwhite
Yellow Rail
Clapper Rail
King Rail
Virginia Rail
Sora
Purple Gallinule
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Black-bellied Plover
American Golden-Plover
Snowy Plover
Wilson's Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Piping Plover
Killdeer
American Oystercatcher
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Solitary Sandpiper
Willet
Spotted Sandpiper
Upland Sandpiper
Whimbrel
Long-billed Curlew
Marbled Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Western Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Baird's Sandpiper
Pectoral Sandpiper
Dunlin
Buff-breasted Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Long-billed Dowitcher
Common Snipe
Laughing Gull
Bonaparte's Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Gull-billed Tern
Caspian Tern
Royal Tern
Sandwich Tern
Common Tern
Forster's Tern
Least Tern
Black Tern
Black Skimmer
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Inca Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Greater Roadrunner
Eastern Screech-Owl
Barred Owl
Common Nighthawk
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Acadian Flycatcher
Alder/Willow Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Western Kingbird
Eastern Kingbird
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Horned Lark
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
N Rough-winged Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Blue Jay
American Crow
Northern Raven
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Winter Wren
Sedge Wren
Marsh Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Veery
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Swainson's Thrush
Wood Thrush
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
Loggerhead Shrike
European Starling
White-eyed Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Philadelphia Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue-winged Warbler
Golden-winged Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Orange-crowned Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Prothonotary Warbler
Worm-eating Warbler
Swainson's Warbler
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Louisiana Waterthrush
Kentucky Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat
Summer Tanager
Scarlet Tanager
Western Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Painted Bunting
Dickcissel
Bachman's Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow
Le Conte's Sparrow
Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow
Seaside Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Bobolink
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow


ROAD KILL SPECIES OBSERVED

Possum
Raccoon
Dog
Cat
Deer
Porkypine
Skunk
Armadillo
Squirrel (Eastern Gray?)
Nutria (or large rat?)
Mallard
Grackle (Great-tailed?)
Domestic Goose
Northern Cardinal
Northern Mockingbird
Willet
Snake (big)
Lizard
Great Blue Heron (wire kill)
Harbor Porpoise (beach)
Seal (beach)


Rick Romea "That's not a knife. THIS is a KNIFE"
Seattle, WA -Croc. Dundee
rromea at stioptronics.com
206-523-5831 (Home)
425-827-0460 X 316 (Work)