Day 6 Taking Galveston Bay Ferry (lost is returned)

The shortest way to get to the Bolivar Flats birding shoreline, is to take the Ferry across Galveston Pass to the east side of the Bay. This is a 16 minute trip on the Ferry with little waiting as there are more than 5 Ferries that ply back and forth all day. The Bolivar Flats is a huge tract of wetlands, lakes, fields and salt marshes adjacent to the Galveston shipping channel where you can watch the ships all day! (It connects with Houston on the north)Bolivar Flats is one of the most important locations for bird preservation in the world. The tide was out in the morning so we returned in the PM and we were not disappointed as there were 10,000 plus birds there of many varieties. Especially present were the thousands of Avocets and White Pelicans.

The road is packed sand to the site which ends at a heavy fence before the channel. Other species there were about twenty in species number. They included the Ruddy Turnstones, Western Sandpiper, Long Billed Curlew, rafts of Lesser Scaups, those 'running' Sanderlings, Black Bellied Plovers and a few others.

The road from the Pass and the Ferry (30 miles) to High Island runs along the Gulf shoreline and is flat, very sandy and has little in the way of cover. There is access to a "back bay" area, as well. There is some population growth here and the homes on the third row from the Gulf are three stories high, often, to see over the two and one story homes in front of them. A small unpretentious home (1,000sf) would cost $400,000. (Saw thatfigure today)

From the road to the north, we could see the Inland Waterway that runs from south Texas to New Orleans. and the ocean going ships carrying cargo back and forth. They look like "schooners on the prairie" with their wheelhouse sticking up above the grass. as they slide by slowly.

There were five stops along the TBT (Texas Birding Trail), that we stopped which included seeing a Western Meeadowlark, some Northern Shrikes, and quite a few Northern Harriers. We revisted High Island, but aside from the pre nesting White Ibis and Roseate Spoonbills, there was little movingt there. Hurricane Rita in October of 2005 had damaged many trees and nesting sites in the Smith Oaks reserve.The amount of damage is still eveident as all repairs are voluntary. It will take many years to clean up. The High Island Bird Association has limited membership.

We added Widgeons, Pied Billed Grebes, three Terns, the Black Tren, the Forster's and Common Terns, and a raft of Red Breasted Mergansers, ll with a 'bad hair day' near the ferry dock and one other place. The total species for the day was 40.

The trip back , including the Ferry ride from the east side of the Pass to the campsite, took about 35 minutes on good roads and through Galveston. (We did not stop this time and Ruth's navigation kept Jim on the correct roads).

The day turned overcast after a good sunny start and rain is on the way. scheduled for Wed and Thursday. We are off to the NASA Houston Space Center tomorrow and will catch you up on "Zero Gravity", "Living in Space", "Flight Simulation," and a "Blast Off". Keep in touch and check in with the blog if you haven't yet. Even an e-mail will be great!

.--Jim andRuth