Barbara and I went to northeast Texas from April 17 to 26. The destination
was the coast around High Island, famous for its migrating warblers. Our
VENT trip was led by Bob Sundstrom, well-known to Washington birders, who
has been leading trips to this area for many years. High Island was the
centerpoint for the trip, but we ranged from Jones State Forest near
Houston, to the piney woods area near the Louisiana border, Bolivar Flats,
Anahuac NWR, and Sabine Woods near Port Arthur. Our weather was surprisingly
temperate, somebody said it seemed strange to bird at Anahuac when it wasn't
steaming hot. A lot of wind and an afternoon of rain on Easter Sunday
precipitated a mini-fallout on Monday, April 21, that made for some of the
most spectacular birding of my life -- there were vireos, buntings, orioles,
tanagers, and warblers in every tree, it seemed, we found 22 warbler species
on this day alone.

There are several reasons to bird this area: 1) the herons and egrets -- we
had 12 species plus the Roseate Spoonbill, 2) the shorebirds -- we found 32
species, including Solitary, Stilt, Upland, and White-rumped Sandpipers (the
latter two being lifers for me), 3) the terns -- we had all eight species
normally seen there, and 4) the warblers -- we found 29 species, including
hard-to get ones like Kentucky and Swainson's. Most raptors had gone
through before we arrived, but we had a clean sweep with the kites:
White-tailed, Mississippi, and Fork-tailed -- the last a stunningly
beautiful bird and perhaps the most graceful flier of all. Woodpeckers were
surprisingly good, too -- we had 8 species, including a group of
Red-cockaded Woodpeckers. We also had success with hard-to-get birds like
Bachmann's, Nelson's Sharp-tailed, and Seaside Sparrows, and an unusual
Black-billed Cuckoo. Finally, just to top off the trip we had a distant
view of a Magnificent Frigatebird.

The real virtue of a tour like this, where the group stays in the same
general area for a week, is that we saw the same birds repeatedly and got to
know some of them pretty well. When the tour ended on the 24th, Barbara and
I headed down the freeway to Galveston Island, where we spent two days
practicing what we had learned on the High Island trip with Bob and his
co-leader Brennan Mulrooney. We were even able to add a half-dozen birds to
the tour list of 205 species: a surprising Crested Caracara winging over a
grassy field at sunset, several uncommon migrant Western Kingbirds, and a
Blue-headed Vireo at Galveston Island State Park. We also want to return to
the Lafitte Cove Natural Area about 10 minutes south of Galveston that
offers a splendid array of warblers and other passerines.

Our totals for the trip: 213 species, 23 lifers for me, and an unforgettable
day of birding on April 21st (127 species), when it seemed as if we might
see every bird in Texas around High Island. Spring migration in Texas makes
for exciting birding -- we're ready to go back again!

Paul Webster
Seattle
paul.webster at attbi.com