LABA Trip to High Island , Texas

Trip Journal for Hawk Watch 2006 by Joseph G Vallee

Friday, September 22, 2006
I left Abbeville at 9:24 a.m. with the intention of following the coast to Cameron and then going into Texas and following Highway 87 to Beaumont to I-10 to Winnie before turning south to High Island. However, to quote Robert Burns, "The best laid schemes of mice and men...leave us nought but grief and pain" my plans came to an abrupt halt when I was turned around by the Cameron ferries being closed to traffic. I then had to reroute myself back to Highway 27 north to Lake Charles and I-10 West.
When I reached Sulphur I got a cell phone call from Karen and Rick Hoyt who were stopping for lunch in Winnie before going on to Anahuac Wildlife Refuge. I told Karen I hadn’t heard from Elouise Mullen yet but I was sure she was right behind them. About 2:30 Elouise did contact me and let me know that she had reached Anahuac Wildlife Refuge. I asked them to locate Karen and Rick and stay at the refuge until I had reached them in about another hour or so. At 3:45 the entire group met up at the entrance to the refuge. I was delighted to see that Joy and Bob were with Elouise and the group. We stayed at Anahuac and walked a trail that gave us nice views of a Belted Kingfisher and a White-tailed Kite as well as a chance to visit and introduce each other. We left about 4:30 to go check in at the Gulfway Motel. Imagine our surprise when we were told that we were one of the last guests to be staying there as the motel was closing at the end of the month! Guess LABA will have to make some new plans for its Hawk Watch trip.
After checking into our rooms and taking a small break we left at 6 for dinner at Stingaree’s in Crystal Beach. Of course, before we got there we stopped at Rollover Pass for a good look at the White Phase of the Reddish Egret along with immature Herring and Laughing Gulls. I guess I should mention that a strong south wind and low clouds prevented us from getting a high bird count for the day. We were back to the motel for 9 p.m.
Saturday, September 23, 2006
We all met in the motel cafe for a filling breakfast served by the always entertaining Millie, the unforgettable waitress who has been a favorite of LABA previous trips. After breakfast, the group left at 9 a.m. for Hawk Watch at Smith Point. The Hawk Tower was suffering from the strong south wind and only two birds were sighted, a Peregrine Falcon and a Merlin, before we decided to leave at 10:30 a.m. and try our luck elsewhere. At this point, Eloise, Joy and Bob left us for Katy, Texas, to visit relatives. Then the group split up with Joseph, Karen and Rick went to Smith Woods and Lainie and Billy to Boy Scout Woods. Both places were dense with mosquitoes and humidity. The Smith Woods group reported no birds while the Boy Scout Woods group reported some warblers before being driven out by the mosquitoes. By this time it was lunch so we all went back to the motel for a picnic lunch on the grounds. After an afternoon break, the entire group met at 3:30 p.m. to go to Bolivar Flats as well as to ride the ferry across to Galveston for dinner. The south wind kept many of the shorebirds at Bolivar Flats facing south and not flying much so good views were obtained of Black-bellied Plovers, Sanderlings, Willets,
Brown Pelicans, Long-billed Dowitchers, along with other shorebirds. We boarded the ferry at 6:30 although one of the group was pulled over to have his vehicle searched! The group had a delicious dinner at Gaido’s on the beachfront in Galveston before returning to High Island for 11 p.m.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
After having breakfast with Millie for the last time, Rick, Karen, Lainie and Billy left for home. I spent the entire day traveling from Bolivar Peninsula and the flats back to High Island and Smith Point looking for birds who were now just beginning to make themselves visible since the wind was beginning to turn to the north and the clouds were dissipating. One of the best shorebirds I sighted on my way was a solitary Piping Plover at the beach at Crystal Beach. The Hawk Tower was showing signs of returning to high numbers when I got there about 4 p.m. Both of the volunteers reported that the total for Saturday had only been 9 hawks. However, in the hour that I stayed at the tower Sunday I was able to see 15 to 20 Broad-wings as well as a number of Kestrels, Peregrines, and at least two Ospreys. I returned to the motel with high hopes for a much better day on Monday.
Monday, September 25, 2006
Although I didn’t begin birding until 9 a.m. the weather was absolutely beautiful with blue skies and a moderate north wind. I started out at Smith Point where I was fortunate enough to see two kettles of Broad-winged Hawks numbering near 500 birds in each kettle along with a kettle of almost 50 Wood Storks. I only stayed an hour at Smith Point before going on to Anahuac Wildlife Refuge where I birded from 11:30 to 1:30. The welcome center was not open but I drove on all the roads in the refuge and saw many marsh birds including a Least Bittern.
I drove on to Winnie, had a late lunch and then drove home.
The following birds were seen on this trip:
Pied-billed Grebe
American White Pelican
Brown Pelican
Neotropic Cormorant
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
Magnificent Frigatebird
Least Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Reddish Egret
Cattle Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron
Yellow-crowned Night Heron (immature)
White ibis
White-faced Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Turkey Vulture
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Osprey
White-tailed Kite
Mississippi Kite
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper’s Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Swainson’s Hawk
Crested Caracara
American Kestrel
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
Clapper Rail
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Piping Plover
Black-necked Stilt
Willet
Sanderling
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Long-billed Dowitcher
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Gull-billed Tern
Caspian Tern
Royal Tern
Forester’s Tern
Black Tern
Black Skimmer
Eurasian Collared-Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Inca Dove
Barn Owl
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Least Flycatcher
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Loggerhead Strike
Blue Jay
Bank Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
Black and White Warbler
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Sparrow
79 Species