Song
03-23-2008, 03:01 PM
Well, it's a little early for many migrants, but my family decided to take a quick trip to High Island and the surrounding area for a good look at the wintering birds [mainly herons, ducks, and shorebirds] as well as the early migrants.
We visited the Smith Oaks sanctuary, which has a huge rookery [spoonbills, neotropic & DC cormorants, anhingas, great & snowy egrets, BC & Tri-colored herons, and some ibis nest there] as well as extensive woodland habitat. A barn owl frequents the old building near the parking lot. We also visited Boy Scout Woods--a great place to spot migrants. It has a few ponds, some marsh/swamp habitat, and trees that are a little kinder on the neck.
Bolivar Flats and Anahuac NWR were great places for shorebirds, terns, and gulls. Yacht Basin Rd, Bob Rd, Tuna Rd, and Rollover Pass [which are off of the main highway as you drive to Bolivar flats through Crystal Beach] are also great places to see shorebirds, herons, and ducks. There's just so much around that one area!!
I found over twenty lifers, though it could have been more [my shorebird identification skills are lacking]. Here's a species list.
White Ibis*
White-faced Ibis
R. Spoonbill*
GB Heron
LB Heron
Tri-colored Heron*
YCNH
BCNH*
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Cattle Egret
Reddish Egret*
Neotropic Cormorant*
DC Cormorant
Brown Pelican
AW Pelican
PB Grebe
A. Coot
Common Moorhen
Red-breasted Merganser*
Mottled Duck*
BW Teal
GW Teal
Gadwall
L. Scaup
Northern Shoveler
Wood Duck
RS Hawk
Northern Harrier
BW Hawk
B. Vulture
T. Vulture
Am. Kestrel
Laughing Gull
Herring Gull*
Ring-billed Gull
Bonaparte's Gull
Royal Tern
Common Tern*
Least Tern
Forster's Tern*
Spotted Sandpiper*
Ruddy Turnstone*
Willet
L. Yellowlegs*
Sanderling
BN Stilt*
Am. Avocet*
LB Curlew*
Com. Snipe
Black Skimmer
B. Kingfisher
N. Flicker
RB Woodpecker
YB Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Barn Owl
Short-eared Owl*
ST Flycatcher
E. Phoebe
Barn Swallow
Tree Swallow
Purp. Martin
Blue Jay
Br. Thrasher
No. Mockingbird
G. Catbird
N. Cardinal
L. Shrike
WE Vireo
YR Warbler
Yellow-Throated Warbler*
Pine Warbler
Hooded Warbler
OC Warbler
LA Waterthrush*
Common Yellowthroat
Hermit Thrush
BG Gnatcatcher
RC Kinglet
Car. Chickadee
T. Titmouse
Carolina Wren
Marsh Wren*
Swamp Sparrow*
White-throated Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Meadowlark [not sure which]
Red-winged Blackbird
--Song
We visited the Smith Oaks sanctuary, which has a huge rookery [spoonbills, neotropic & DC cormorants, anhingas, great & snowy egrets, BC & Tri-colored herons, and some ibis nest there] as well as extensive woodland habitat. A barn owl frequents the old building near the parking lot. We also visited Boy Scout Woods--a great place to spot migrants. It has a few ponds, some marsh/swamp habitat, and trees that are a little kinder on the neck.
Bolivar Flats and Anahuac NWR were great places for shorebirds, terns, and gulls. Yacht Basin Rd, Bob Rd, Tuna Rd, and Rollover Pass [which are off of the main highway as you drive to Bolivar flats through Crystal Beach] are also great places to see shorebirds, herons, and ducks. There's just so much around that one area!!
I found over twenty lifers, though it could have been more [my shorebird identification skills are lacking]. Here's a species list.
White Ibis*
White-faced Ibis
R. Spoonbill*
GB Heron
LB Heron
Tri-colored Heron*
YCNH
BCNH*
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Cattle Egret
Reddish Egret*
Neotropic Cormorant*
DC Cormorant
Brown Pelican
AW Pelican
PB Grebe
A. Coot
Common Moorhen
Red-breasted Merganser*
Mottled Duck*
BW Teal
GW Teal
Gadwall
L. Scaup
Northern Shoveler
Wood Duck
RS Hawk
Northern Harrier
BW Hawk
B. Vulture
T. Vulture
Am. Kestrel
Laughing Gull
Herring Gull*
Ring-billed Gull
Bonaparte's Gull
Royal Tern
Common Tern*
Least Tern
Forster's Tern*
Spotted Sandpiper*
Ruddy Turnstone*
Willet
L. Yellowlegs*
Sanderling
BN Stilt*
Am. Avocet*
LB Curlew*
Com. Snipe
Black Skimmer
B. Kingfisher
N. Flicker
RB Woodpecker
YB Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Barn Owl
Short-eared Owl*
ST Flycatcher
E. Phoebe
Barn Swallow
Tree Swallow
Purp. Martin
Blue Jay
Br. Thrasher
No. Mockingbird
G. Catbird
N. Cardinal
L. Shrike
WE Vireo
YR Warbler
Yellow-Throated Warbler*
Pine Warbler
Hooded Warbler
OC Warbler
LA Waterthrush*
Common Yellowthroat
Hermit Thrush
BG Gnatcatcher
RC Kinglet
Car. Chickadee
T. Titmouse
Carolina Wren
Marsh Wren*
Swamp Sparrow*
White-throated Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Meadowlark [not sure which]
Red-winged Blackbird
--Song