Down the Dusty road: Sea to Shining Sea Part 11 – High Island and Port Lavaca, TX

March 31

A short drive (under 200 miles) to High Island, Tx.

Rob and I went to High Island by ourselves to check out the birding activity. This area is well known among birders because of its proximity to the Gulf and the migratory paths of many birds returning from wintering in South and Central America. The Houston chapter of Audubon Society has purchased and manages several bird refuges in the area. One of them, Boy Scout Woods, was within walking distance of our RV park. As soon as we were settled, we walked over. It was late in the day and the last volunteer was just closing everything up, but she did spend some time with us describing our options. She also told us that a Painted Bunting had been hanging around the house across the street in the back yard. The house is being used by volunteers from Houston Audubon so it was okay for us to go into the back yard. We checked the yard on our way back to the RV park, but no luck.

Dusk was approaching and we wanted to get to a rookery in time to see the occupants fly in.

Here they come

Close by the RV park is Smith Oaks Sanctuary, 177 acres of woods, wetlands and ponds. Within it is a rookery that is a popular evening watch. We hustled back to the RV to get our car and took off for the rookery. What an amazing sight! Many of the birds had already staked their roost and many more were still arriving…hundreds and hundreds of Roseate Spoonbills, Double Crested Cormorants, Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Snowy Egrets, Little Blue Herons, Tri-colored Herons. And what a noise they made! There was a lot of squawking as one bird flew in with a stick to add to its nest and another bird (another type) flew over and stole it.

Early arrivals

Mostly Spoonbills and Egrets

Great picture Rob took of a Roseate Spoonbill

The rookery is in the middle of a man-made pond originally dug to hold water for the High Island community and to supply water for a nearby sulfur plant. A pathway winds around about half of the pond with viewing areas cut into the brush complete with benches to sit on. This is a very popular photography spot and, judging by the size of their lenses, some serious picture taking was going on.

April 1

Rob wanted to check out the ferry to see if we would fit so we drove out to the end of the Bolivar Peninsula. This is another of the areas we were directed to for some good birding of shore birds. We watched as a couple of RVs boarded the ferry confirming that we could leave by this route.

On the way back to High Island we stopped at one of the recommended birding spots-“Bob’s Road”. This road doesn’t seem to go anywhere except across a swamp. There are ponds on both sides all along the road and at its end. There were several birds we were immediately able to identify and then there was a small white “egret-like” bird standing on a rock. It was quite accommodating just standing there while we scrutinized every part of its body in an effort to identify it. We finally decided it was a juvenile Little Blue Heron, confirmed with “Sibley’s”.

Just barely a blue tinge on the head

Just on the off chance Mr. Bunting would show up we stopped off at the Audubon house. He wasn't there so we sat down and waited. Our perseverance paid off as very shortly I could see a flash of blue and red in the tree. Being very still, we were able to get some photos of this beautiful bird, although he never came out from behind the feeder.

Male Painted Bunting

April 2

We’re ready for some serious birding! Scheduled this morning at 8:30 is a walk through Boy Scout Woods led by three professional birders employed by Tropical Birding Tours. Andres was from Ecuador, Cameron from the U.S. and Scott from Canada. All of them lead birding tours all over the world. We didn’t see very many birds on the walk, but we learned a lot about migration and we had a nice walk in the woods.

Present in abundance, but not always visible, the Northern Cardinal

Close up of another one

Birds migrate south for the winter, some to Central America, some to South America, some just south in the U.S. They migrate north when the weather warms flying over or around the Gulf of Mexico. All along the coastline are recognized migratory bird corridors. Once they begin their journey they have no place to land until they reach the border. The weather patterns affect when they leave and whether they will reach their destination. A southerly wind will benefit the birds as it carries them northward without their having to expend any effort. Winds from the north will slow them down and cause early fatigue. When the winds are from the north High Island birders benefit because the birds land sooner. Wouldn’t you know we were experiencing southerly winds carrying the migrants much further north.

Another walk with the same team was scheduled for 12:00. We met up again at Boy Scout Woods and caravaned to the coast along the Bolivar Peninsula. Our first stop was Roll Over Pass, a man-made cut between the Gulf of Mexico and East Bay. Our guides set up their spotting scopes along the East Bay. Tide was low providing shallow foraging and resting spots for thousands of birds. Andres suggested an organized approach to spotting and identifying all the birds we were seeing, but that wasn’t happening. Our fellow birders looking through binoculars were shouting out birds they recognized, while Scott, Cameron and Andres we using their scopes. Several of the birds were easy to pick out, i.e. Avocets, Skimmers, Pelicans, and Cormorants. The varieties of Terns, Plovers, and Sandpipers however, were intermixed making identification very difficult.

American Avocets using the team approach to feeding

Black Skimmer

Black Skimmers napping, looking like they're dead

Too much chaos for our leaders. We packed up and moved to another site. Rob and I decided to revisit this area once the guided tour was over.

This time we stopped at a grassy field near a residential complex. We were specifically looking for an Upland Sandpiper. The field was being mowed as we drove in dousing any possibility the Sandpiper would still be there.

On we moved to “Bob’s Road”, the spot we visited yesterday. A few birds were spotted and discussed then the group was dismissed. Rob and I headed back to Roll Over Pass. We wanted to see if we could better sort out the Terns and Sandpipers. Terns are easier than Sandpipers only because there aren’t so many varieties. I failed at Sandpipers!

Along the road we spotted a flock of Cattle Egret in amongst, what else???Cattle!

Cattle are off to the side out of the picture

Heading back to the RV an Upland Sandpiper stepped out onto the road in front of us. Check one more off our list! And this bird, which is also everywhere.

Great-tailed Grackle distinguished from the Boat-tailed Grackle by the color of the eye

April 3

We left High Island via the Bolivar Peninsula and the very small ferry across Galveston Bay on the way to Port Lavaca where we would meet up with Stan and Jerre and Jurhee Ivy and Jerry Clary, another couple from SWCCers who now reside close by in Victoria, Texas.

Hardly looks big enough

Dusty's watching the circling Laughing Gulls

On the way, we pulled over in the middle of a forgettable tiny town to have lunch. While we were stopped Stan and Jerre passed us, stopping long enough to say they were going on and would meet us at the RV park.

We stayed at Texas Lakes RV Resort. This is a very nice modern RV Park with spaces set around a central, man-made lake…no gators in the lake.

Relaxing by the lake

Stan and Jerre took a different route than we did and arrived just a few minutes before us.

April 4

Rob and I explored around Port Lavaca. He wanted to show me where he spotted Crested Caracaras. Naturally, they were no longer there.

I found a quilt shop, the first one on this entire trip. (Not that there weren’t any along the way, I just didn’t look.) Of course, I had to buy something! Two new projects added to my long, long list.

Nice little shop

We stopped by the Port Lavaca Lighthouse Beach and Bird Sanctuary, a city park with a boardwalk out over the wetlands. It was Saturday before Easter Sunday and the park was filled with parties. We walked out on the boardwalk and watched as some White Ibis scratched around in some silt. While we were watching (with binoculars) a strange looking bird ran across the silted area and disappeared into the vegetation. An American Bittern! One very secretive bird, hard to spot because they resemble their surroundings so well. We have seen them before so we knew just what it was. No picture though. Rob was looking through his binoculars, not his camera. Off in the distance, we saw another Spoonbill in company with Ibis.