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Texas, Spring 2007, part 2 - Posted at 10:32 PM on Monday, April 30, 2007 by Chris Conard
We visited High Island five days in a row (Friday, 4/13 through Tuesday, 4/17/07).  For the entire trip, we ended up with 30 species of warblers--about 1/2 of the species that occur in North America to the north of Mexico.  I was able to get photos of 18 species (here).

Scissor-tailed Flycatchers that were abundant on the lower coast became less common near Houston.


Summer and Scarlet Tanagers were so common we almost stopped looking at them...almost.


Kentucy Warbler--a lifer
We saw Kentucky Warblers all five days at Boy Scout Woods, and once at Smith Oaks.
We also saw Worm-eating Warblers on four of the five days.
On Friday, after first visiting Boy Scout Woods, we drove around past Sabine Woods to "the willows" at Sea Rim State Park.  For migrants, this was the single best flurry of activity on the trip.
Cerulean Warbler.  Jon Dunn was there with a group.  He stated that this is a first year male.  This is the forth Cerulean Warbler I have seen, but I've yet to see a male in the most stunning plumage that they are capable of.
This Blackburnian Warbler, however, was positively glowing, though the poor light doesn't show it off in the photo nearly as well as in the field.
We saw probably the same individual on the 13th and the 14th and we also saw the species twice at Boy Scout Woods.
Hooded Warblers were abundant.

From the Rookery at Smith Oaks:
Roseate Spoonbill

Snowy Egret

Yellow-throated Warbler at Smith Oaks.

We were spoiled by the good migrants on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, with Monday and Tuesday rather slow.  Nonetheless, Monday, 4/16, was perhaps the highlight of the trip. 

We arrived before dawn near Boykin Springs to the north of Jasper--the springs itself is still closed from damage from Hurricane Rita.  Rolling down the windows, we had many singing Chuck-will's-widows and two singing Bachman's Sparrows.  Since it was still too dark to see the sparrows, we drove down the road hoping to find a widow close enough to try to see.  We were tipped off to one in the road by its orange eye-shine in our headlights.  We then went back to the first spot and quickly located the Bachman's Sparrow and had it in the scope. 
It was 6:15 and we had already logged two life birds.  We listened to the sparrow sing its beautiful song and watched it throwing its head back to sing, then listen for a distant rival before singing again.  We spent the rest of the day visiting a number of sites as we worked our way back south, including a stop at Martin Dies State Park.  There we watched a Pileated Woodpecker excavate a cavity and saw two others in flight.  The park facilities had a lot of damage left over from Hurricane Rita.
Capping the day was a King Rail walking at our feet at Anahuac NWR!

Black-throated Green Warblers were abundant some days and absent others.  They proved to be very good photographic subjects.
Of course, there are always disappointments.  The only Eastern migrant we saw (for sure) that was a lifer was Kentucky Warbler.  We were too early in the migratory season for good shots at Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Mourning Warbler, and Bay-breasted Warbler--the latter turns up enough in CA that I should have seen it by now, but I haven't.  We scrutinized a number of thrushes, but were unable to make one convincingly into a Gray-cheeked.  We missed Black-billed Cuckoo by a day, and also a reported three Swainson's Warblers by a day.  We probably had a brief view of one.  We couldn't find them on territory on the two mornings we had to look (one was too windy and the other we were probably too late in the day).  Other birders we met on Gore Store Rd had also missed Swainson's.  Oh well, we'll have to go back.  Two weeks later in the season would produce a different cast of characters.

Boat-tailed Grackles

and, especially, Great-tailed Grackles were conspicuous

We left early on Wednesday morning, 4/18/07, heading west.  We made another stop at the Masked Duck pond (known locally as the Pipit Pond) south of Kingsville, but had no luck.  We then went south to Brownsville, arriving mid-day to see Tamaulipas Crows sitting in a palm near what appeared to be a nest.  The palm was in the yard of a fruit stand, and the owner was very nice.  We bought some oranges, and he refused to take more than a dollar.
These tiny crows look and sound more like mini-ravens.
The oranges were meant for juicing, so we gave them to the folks at the Sabal Palm Sanctuary, and they were quickly put to use:
Golden-fronted Woodpecker

Buff-breasted Hummingbird

We were alerted to a Least Grebe nest on the boardwalk at Sabal Palms
White-eyed Vireos were singing loudly in the heat of the day
Before continuing on to Big Bend, we make a quick stop at the South Padre Island Convention Center.  There were a good number of migrants, including this Painted Bunting.
It was too dark for another try for the Masked Duck, so we continued into the night toward Big Bend.
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