Houston area trips get me to 972

Weekend of Apr 29:

Saturday:

I checked Rettilon road after taking the ferry to Bolivar - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45074261.

King Rail

I checked Yacht Basin Road for Bobolinks and dipped. A Clapper Rail was clearly identifiable. Another Clapper Rail had less grey on the cheecks and had me thinking of a King Rail for a while - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45024993. I checked Rollover Pass for Glaucous Gull and dipped - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45026686. I wanted the gull badly to avoid looking for it in Oregon during winter in a future trip! Boys Scouts Wood at High Island was ok - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45033789. Highlights were a lot of Wood and Swainson's Thrushes, and a look at a roosting Barn Owl in day light. I joined Tropical Birding group at Smith Oaks (High Island) for the 4 pm walk - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45043464. Finally, I went to Anahuac NWR after seeing reports of King Rails in good numbers on Shoveller Loop in the past few days - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45046457. A calling Rail gave poor looks hidden behind reeds, and eventually came out in the open for better looks. King Rail was bird 969.

Sunday:

The Glaucous Gull was reported later in the evening on Saturday from Bolivar Flats! This was a priority and I changed my initial plan to head to Quintana. I took the ferry and noted a good queue on the other side. I walked on the shores of Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary and couldn't get the Gull. Another birder joined and we got a Lesser Black-backed Gull, first time in Texas for me. A large gull interested us, and it turned out to be a Herring Gull. Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45066326. Since the ferry queue was huge, I decided to head north to Sabine Woods. On the way I stopped at Tuna road for a recently reported Black Rail from a birder whom I met while finishing the walk at Bolivar Flats - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45068066. As expected, No Black Rails! Sabine Woods was slow and not birdy - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45079219. I got an ebird-alert of Glaucous Gull at Rollover Pass again! So once again I headed back down. I made the hour plus long drive back to where I drove from after the morning birding session! I could see a large white bird resting it's head on it's back. I crossed the water, removed by slippers and continued walking on marsh until I hit another section of water. Ground was sinking ankle deep and I had difficulty maintaining balance. I backtracked and found a slightly better path until my feet started sinking down to hit large pointed sea shells (or whatever) that could cause my legs to bleed! I offered one coconut to Vinayagar if I came back safe without injury. I struggled to come back to better ground, and did not venture further. I waited for the gull to lift it's head up, and once it did, I was satisfied with the looks. Glaucous Gull was 970. It cleaned it's wings, took off and landed on another section of the same sand bar. I was satisfied overall since I don't have to look for this bird when I go to target birds at Oregon. I made the walk back with my bare feet crossing the flowing water. There were creatures darting from one shell to another, or shells themselves crawling. Here are a couple fighting - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2Hqcf2Be1c. Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45084070. The ferry had a good wait time, while a slightly longer route would save overall time to destination. I felt I could use daylight for Black Rail at Tuna Road, and drive lesser overall which turned out to be a bad decision. As expected Black Rails weren't even calling! I will have to do a Rail walk at Anahuac NWR for Black Rail and Yellow Rail next spring. The ferry wait was longer than what I expected and I ended up reaching my uncle's place at Sugarland at 10 pm! I took a shower, had adais and started back by 10:35 pm to reach my home at 1:15 am!

Weekend of May 05:
Saturday:

After heavy rains in ATX on Friday, I expected the overnight or morning rain on the coast to bring down migrants. On Saturday morning, Sugarland was cloudy. Rain started picking up just around Houston downtown. It continued till Sabine Woods. I went to McFaddin NWR to bird by car. Apart from a few Orchard Orioles, a few calling Common Nighthawks and a co-operative male Least Bittern it was uninteresting. I went to Sabine Woods after the rain stopped. It was a disappointment in terms of warblers. I walked a little at Texas Point NWR just to explore the place. The boredom was broken only when another birder joined! I came back to Sabine Woods and spent the rest of the evening there. Afternoon became hot! Bobolinks were seen in the fields opposite the woods. Sometime in the afternoon, another birder and me kept scanning and finally got a bunch fly and perch up the Cattails. Bobolinks were bird 971. Apparently they migrate in early May through the coast, and the fall migration has a different route. Except for a small flock of warblers in the morning that had a female Cerulean Warbler, it was uninteresting birding-wise. I crossed a Speckled Kingsnake on the trail, and was it interesting to watch for a while - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcjFTrQ5tKQ.

Checklists:
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45290085
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45302983
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45305481
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45321958
https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45328832

Sunday:

The next day, I wanted to try a new place - Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45356824. I was considering to keep this as an alternative to Laffite's Cove at Galveston, but it is too small for my liking. Quintana Xeriscape Park was also small and had no shade - https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45359818. Birding as expected was not great. I changed my plan to get the Red-cockaded Woodpecker instead of heading home so that I have something to feel happy about. I went to a seemingly reliable spot for them. The place was north of Houston - WG Jones State Forest. On the way I had lunch at Shiv Sagar at Hilcroft. I ordered a dosa combination where I got a plain dosa, an idly, a vadai and a paisam - none of them were good! The woodpecker is endangered, and certain parts of the trail at WGSF were closed during this time due to the breeding activity. I could not get it in the initial half-an-hour. A group of three birders joined, dipped, and left. Another birder kept his watch and hiked. Later, yet another birder kept watch and gave recommendations. I was mainly hiking back and forth on a single trail. I saw Red-headed Woodpecker and a few Brown-headed Nuthatches in Texas for the first time. I met the hiking birder and told about the nest that the new birder mentioned. He looked around while I took rest on a small bench. He saw a distant woodpecker, clicked pics and called me. When I put binocs the bird just flew. On checking his pics it was the target, but I needed better looks to call it a lifer. He too wanted a better look and started hiking. I waited, scanned, walked back and forth twice on the section of trail which I believed had the maximum probability. I decided to leave at 6 pm. I came back to the spot where we saw it a while back. It was close to 6 pm and I looked up with disappointment. Just when I was about to leave I saw a movement far away. When I put binocs, I could see a woodpecker knocking! Black cap, white face and I got the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker for bird 972. Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S45383410.

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Houston area trips get me to 972

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