I decided to go to Anahuac first thing to look for the Purple Gallinule and Green Herons that had been seen there this week. The gallinule was a no show, but there were several Green Herons, at least 50 Fulvous Whistling Ducks, a couple of American Bitterns, and a calling Marsh Wren.

My next stop was Boy Scout Woods in High Island. It was quiet there again except for a Common Nighthawk and a distant Painted Bunting that sent people scurrying when I reported finding it.

Four down, four to go for 300.  I decided to run to the Bolivar Penninsula to get the waders and sea birds that were coming into the area.  But on the way, I decided to check out the TOS Hooks Woods site.  It was full of Hooded Warblers as well as a few Kentucky Warblers, Louisiana Waterthrush, as well as Indigo and Painted Buntings in the field next to the walk.

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I needed to get to the penninsula to catch up with Sam and Scott.  I had promised dinner to them if I broke 300 today and I thought that these birds would be the difference.  The Terns had shown up at Rollover Pass.  The Black Terns and Common Terns had finally arrived despite being out of camera range.  The Plovers were closer at the Bolliver Flats Sanctuary and I added Snowy Plovers to make 299 for the year.

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Other birds of interest were white phase Reddish Egrets chasing their food in the surf, and red knotts changing into  their red vests for the summer.

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I decided to start back and found a White-tailed Kite on Retillon Road at the same location that I had found a calling Black Rail an hour before.  Funny, that rail was posted as being on the flats, but friends asked about it and word got around to the point that the eBird Sapsuckers used iton their big day.  I brought my friends from up north to hear it a couple of weeks later so that they could get Black Rails on their life lists.

I stopped at Yacht Basin Road and saw a number of Whimbrels and Willets.  The Willet was unusual and I was not 100% sure that I was correct with my ID.

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I stopped at Hooks Woods to see if it was still hopping.  It was doing even better so I stayed and took some nice shots of some nice birds. There were a number of male American Redstarts.

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I finally got decent shots of Prothonotary Warblers ( a bird that I missed last year).

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There were a couple of Worm-eating Warblers and Kentucky Warblers that came in over time.

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I had good views of Grey Catbirds and a nice butterfly (Swallow-tail I think?!?)

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Going back to Boyscout Woods, I saw my first of the season Swainson’s Warbler to hit number 300 for the year!  No pictures were taken but I did take Sam and Scott to dinner.  Not bad for somebody with an average of less than a day off a week.