Imagine, if you will, being a bird. You've spent the winter in Central and South America, and you're returning to North America to breed during spring or summer. But your breeding grounds are in the southeast or eastern section, and your instinct tell you to fly the most direct route. (Though there have been some birds called "vagrants" who take a left instead of a right and end up far out of their normal range; the two Mississippi Kite I "discovered" at LA County's South Coast Botanic Garden were vagrants.) The thing is, you have to cross the Gulf of Mexico to get to your destination, a body of water which at the closest land points, from the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula to the Mississippi delta, is still 500 miles. And as there is no place to land except for the stray ship or two (and can you imagine having birds fall exhausted on the deck of your ship?) that distance has to be crossed non-stop. So one of the first sections of the US coastal mainland that you see is a green area filled with oaks and other trees that is higher than the rest of the mostly treeless delta. Here you can stop, rest, refuel and then head to your breeding grounds further north. The rest area is called High Island. Birdwatchers have made this a top destination for years. If you're lucky, you can experience a "fallout" where weather and wind conditions are just right so brightly-colored birds hang on the green trees like Christmas ornaments. Winds from the north keep the migrating birds at High Island and other spots along the coast, but if the wind comes from the south then most overshoot the coast and end up further inland. So it was with a great deal of anticipation that I headed to High Island with Discovery II, my travel trailer, planning to stay at least a week at the RV park there. Now, I admit I'm not a good birder; for the most part I can't recognize bird calls, or actually even hear them, to which I blame attending too many Queen concerts in the late 70's. I see a bird, take a photograph of it, then check my bird book and the Internet for ID later. So I really appreciated it when Lori, Mark, Martin and Eileen, all friends who like me lived in the South Bay of Los Angeles before moving out of the area, were going to join me at High Island. They're all top birders and would find the birds that I'd otherwise miss, and also identify them on the spot. Also along for the trip was Jose, a birding "wunderkid" who I've known for about 6 years; he's been hitch-hiking around the country, and I'd invited him to visit me at Faranuf for a few days, then go with me to High Island. Before heading out from Portal I made sure Discovery II was ready for the 1,002-mile journey while Jose went out hiking and birding with friends. On the way to pick him up at the Greyhound bus station (a single bench at a Texaco gas station) I was going along Hwy 80 at Granite Gap when I pebble hit my windshield, making a small crack. Drat! Later I called up AAA and I was able to get in touch with a glass place in Douglas that did mobile repairs; the day before we left they came out to Faranuf and sealed the crack for no charge as having windshield protection on your auto policy is a must when you live in a rural area. So Jose and I headed out, stopped at rest stops for the first 2 nights and got some birds that were new to us like Yellow-throated Vireo and Orchard Oriole. Scissor-tailed Flycatchers were on posts and electrical wires; they're always a treat to see no matter how many times you see them. In the past week or so, the Houston area had seen some severe flooding, so as I wanted to check out the road conditions there as I had to pass through the city to get to High Island, we stopped at a Holiday Inn Express in the town of Schulenburg along Interstate 10 to check things out. Older people from an antique car convention were staying at the hotel, so Jose cut quite a figure -- and I probably wasn't too far behind -- with his long hair and few possessions. After dinner of Texas chili at a "roadhouse" we checked a large pond near the hotel, and it was empty of birds. We went back a few hours later, and there must've been over 500 Cattle Egrets using it as an night roost, along with some Great Egrets and Little Blue Herons. Cardinals were singing nearby, Scissor-tailed Flycatchers were flycatching from power poles -- now this is what we'd come here for! We decided to get up early to catch the Egrets flying off at sunrise, but when we returned the following morning there was nothing; they'd all left earlier. Still, the prior evening had been a sight to behold...
The gal at the Holiday Inn Express' front desk said there was no problem taking the I-10 through Houston -- and there wasn't. We arrived at High Island around noon, made the trailer comfy, met our friends Lori and Mark, and headed over to Boy Scout Woods where we got a week's pass ($25) for all of the areas run by the Houston Audubon Society. I got a photo of my first bird right from the get-go, a beautiful male Scarlet Tanager; it wasn't a "lifer" as I'd seen a female at Ken Malloy in Harbor City --
Just a little later, we saw a male Hooded Warbler --
Those Warblers were all "lifers" for me, as they're rarely, if ever, seen in my previous hometown of San Pedro in coastal Los Angeles County. But, as I'd find out at the other bird sanctuaries here, they're difficult to spot in all the greenery -- especially when that greenery is set against a white, cloudy sky. And they're mostly way up there, which is how birdwatchers can get a condition called "warbler neck", caused from all of that peering up. It was a good beginning -- but I was with friends who'd spotted the birds, mostly by the bird calls. The next day was a little easier. We first went to Smith Oaks Bird Sanctuary, which is best known for its rookery. Egrets of all types, Roseate Spoonbills, and Cormorants, among others, nest there. And viewing platforms make photographing all of the action easy. All of the birds are in high breeding plumage, so you see familiar birds like Great and Snowy Egrets with colors that you never see on, say, wintering birds. Here are a few photos --
Great Egret
Roseate Spoonbill
Cattle Egret in breeding plumage
Blue Grosbeak (at Don's Drip)
Then we went to Anahuac Wildlife Refuge, which is laced with both paved and dirt roads.
Common Nighthawk on a fence post
Purple Gallinule
Crested Caracara (seen WAY out on a flooded field)
Black-bellied Whistling Duck
There is much more to come, as I'll be at High Island for nearly 2 weeks...
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