Last year I went to High Island to experience the Spring Migration first hand. It was an a amazing experience to see the density and variety of the birds. Birds get exhausted travelling over Gulf Of Mexico and they rest on the first piece of land they see to refuel to continue their northward journey.
This year before I started my trip I read ebird report to see the bird activity was unusually low at High Island for this time of the year. Probably because of the rains or probably the weather conditions was not right for birds to start their migration. Since I had the rooms booked I decided to go ahead with my planned trip.
First day morning I started birding at Boy Woods Sanctuary where I saw the bird activity was quiet. There were Summer Tanagers, Hummingbird, Thrushes and few Warblers. The main attraction though was a Cape-May Warbler. People have been reporting this bird for the last few days. Apart from this we saw Eastern-wood Pewee, Red Eyed Vireo, Yellow-billed cuckoo and few other birds. But as a whole the bird activity was low.
For the afternoon we went to Bolivar flats sanctuary to bird shorebirds, Gulls and Terns. The birding at Bolivar has been very good. We saw good flock of birds here. We saw Long-tailed Duck which has been lingering here. We saw Sandpipers, Sanderlings, Rudy Turnstone, Dunlins, Dowitchers and Yellow legs. The interesting sighting for me was a Red Knot. Among Terns, we saw Royal, Caspian, Sandwich and Least Terns. We also saw Piping , Semipalmated and Wilson's plover. We also had a flyby of Swainson's Hawk.
In the evening we headed towards Smith Oaks Sanctuary. The migratory birds activity was minimal. But we did have lot of activity near the Rookery. Most of the chicks were stretching their wings and some of the adults were busy squabbling each other. There were Little Blue Herons, Tri-colored Herons, Egrets and Gallinules everywhere. But the majority were the Roseatte Spoonbills.
At the end of the day instead of heading to the room directly I thought of doing a quick stop at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge. Last year I could not visit it but I wanted to try my luck here before ending the day. There were some Shorebirds but for me the interesting sighting was couple of Gull-billed Terns. And then driving around the refuge I got my first sighting of a Sora :-) Amazing way to finish an interesting day at High Island.
This year before I started my trip I read ebird report to see the bird activity was unusually low at High Island for this time of the year. Probably because of the rains or probably the weather conditions was not right for birds to start their migration. Since I had the rooms booked I decided to go ahead with my planned trip.
First day morning I started birding at Boy Woods Sanctuary where I saw the bird activity was quiet. There were Summer Tanagers, Hummingbird, Thrushes and few Warblers. The main attraction though was a Cape-May Warbler. People have been reporting this bird for the last few days. Apart from this we saw Eastern-wood Pewee, Red Eyed Vireo, Yellow-billed cuckoo and few other birds. But as a whole the bird activity was low.
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| Cape-May Warbler |
 |
| Black-chinned/Ruby-Throated Hummingbird |
 |
| Yellow-billed Cuckoo |
For the afternoon we went to Bolivar flats sanctuary to bird shorebirds, Gulls and Terns. The birding at Bolivar has been very good. We saw good flock of birds here. We saw Long-tailed Duck which has been lingering here. We saw Sandpipers, Sanderlings, Rudy Turnstone, Dunlins, Dowitchers and Yellow legs. The interesting sighting for me was a Red Knot. Among Terns, we saw Royal, Caspian, Sandwich and Least Terns. We also saw Piping , Semipalmated and Wilson's plover. We also had a flyby of Swainson's Hawk.
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| Red Knot |
 |
| Buff-breasted Sandpiper |
 |
| Black Skimmer |
 |
| American white pelican |
 |
| Western Sandpiper |
 |
| American Avocet |
 |
| Laughing Gull |
 |
| Wilson's Plover |
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| Rudy Turnstone |
 |
| Piping Plover |
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| Willet |
 |
| Sanderling |
 |
| Semipalmated Plover |
 |
| Long Tailed Duck |
 |
| Swainson's Hawk |
In the evening we headed towards Smith Oaks Sanctuary. The migratory birds activity was minimal. But we did have lot of activity near the Rookery. Most of the chicks were stretching their wings and some of the adults were busy squabbling each other. There were Little Blue Herons, Tri-colored Herons, Egrets and Gallinules everywhere. But the majority were the Roseatte Spoonbills.
 |
| Roseaate Spoonbill |
 |
| Great Egret |
 |
| Common Gallinule |
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| Snowy Egret |
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| Purple Gallinule |
 |
| Cattle Egret |
 |
| Tricolored Heron |
At the end of the day instead of heading to the room directly I thought of doing a quick stop at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge. Last year I could not visit it but I wanted to try my luck here before ending the day. There were some Shorebirds but for me the interesting sighting was couple of Gull-billed Terns. And then driving around the refuge I got my first sighting of a Sora :-) Amazing way to finish an interesting day at High Island.
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| Black-billed Gulls |
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| Sora |
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