Day 9, Last Day at Galveston Island

Blue Flag in a  ditch by the National Wildlife Refuge
(San Bernard NWR)

How about a few pictures then the days activities?

Some of the thicket for birds in the Quintana
Neotropical Preserve.

The trail around the Preserve.

The entry to the NWR. Yucca plant!

A beautiful azalea in Jones creek , TX

A pair of Live Oak trees that tower over the truck,
where we stopped for a "stretch".

With the first full week of our trip passed, we now will move westward to Rockport ,TX and a slightly different venue on the Ocean.  Rockport is considered the "middle Coast" as it is about halfway betweem Louisiana and the Mexican border.

Today was, however , another great birding day for us. Even though the warblers are not coming through yet in any kind of number, they are staring to make themselves known. Today we did see a Yellow Throated Warbler, and a Parula, both very beautiful birds in their own right showing that striking yellhow color.  Today we did see 53 birds wit a great variety and added 7 new species to the trip list. {We count all birds seen each day and post the ones that are new as we go along each day.} Some notables were: Black Skimmers (100's of them), Parula, Purple Martin, Common Yellowthroat, Vesper Sparrow, Cave Swallow, Eastern Kingbird, Moorhen, Fulvous Whistling Duck,   Little Blue Heron  (Six of them and a white phase young one) , Wood Thrush (taking a bath) and a  Rose Breasted Grosbeak (female).

These birds were seen on the beach, Fying, in bushes, on ponds, in the weeds, at the side of the road, in trees and taking a bath.

The oustanding thing that we witnessed today was a large bird that I stopped at the side of the road  for, and turnd the truck around to see if it was an Eagle over the Gulf. (They are rare and seldon seen here). We stopped and it was a large  Osprey circling at about 200 feet. It came down to about 100 feet and dove straight down into the water. It come up with a quite large ( 7-8 inches?) fish, and got up into the air again and flew inland  to where iIcould get a few quick shots of it carrying the prey. What a show!  Seeing the Fuvous Whistling Duck was also a treat.

Temperature held at 77 F today and sunny, with a nice 66 F at night. The stars are beautiful each night and a sliver of a moon has not deterred the star gazing.  Here are some more pictures.

Moorhen

 Two immature White Ibis  (note difference)

A Neotropic Cormorant (not seen in the north) 

Note face is white not yellow.

The Osprey with the fish he caught with that 100 foot dive.

Day 8 At Galveston, Texas (RV Park)

This Park is brand new as I mentioned earlier. The man has invested millions in deveoping what appears to be a well organized and designed Park. At present there are 60 sites ready to go and he is finishing another 120 , with plans to add on another 120 in the coming year.  Quite an endeavor,

Today, for us, was a lot of fun and of course when the birding is good and we see many, that adds to the enjoyment. There are many birds along the coast and even though some of them, like the Great Tailed Grackle are numerous, other fill in the "gaps" to add variety and surprises as the day goes along.

Today we headed over the San Luis Pass Bridge (SW of Galveston Island)  to three communities that had many birding sites and opportunities. (In 1830 the community of San Luis was 2,000 people. It never developed due to storms, an economic disaster that hit it just before the Civil War. Today 6 families inhabit the site.. It does not exist today.) We visited; Seaside, Free Port and Quintana. That included the rural part of all three of those communities. In Quintana we saw the first indication of the migration of warblers with five species spotted in a few minutes in a small neighborhood thicket run by the local birding group. An Orchard Oriole surprised us, as did a Yellow Throated Warlbler , a Bue Gray Gnatcatcher, a Ruby Throated Hummingbird, and a White Crowned Sparrow.  With just seeing those we would have been happy.  But...

The Reddish  Egret Using its wings to shield the sun,

The day was just beginning. By noon, again we had over 30 species, many seen along the roadsides where we could easily stop and observe. (One disadvantage of the Freeways is that you CANNOT  stop to observe birds safely. Hence the "back roads " are a favorite way to travel. Besides the Birds are usually a long ways from the freeways.

This area contains the estuary for the San Bernard River and the any twists and turns of the drainage allows many places in which to observe the water birds especially.

A Great Blue Heron doing sone sunbathing at the Ocean.

That is a Cattle Egret with the Skimmers n the Beach. What is he doing there?

Indian Paint Brush growing for miles along TX 3005 on both sides of the road.

Some less known birds we saw that might be of interest not previously mentioned were: Sandwich Tern, Cattle Egret (It was actually on the beach at the Ocean!), Gull Billed Tern and two Scoters the Black and the White Winged. Total count today was 57 species.

                                                                              

The treat of the day was wonderful "dance" while watching a Reddish Egret looking for prey in the shallow waters of the West Bay (Galveston) .  (See above picture) They have a peculiar, but practical  habit of stretching their massive wings when persuing the prey which allows the sun to be blocked and they can see the fish much better. . Then they run as fast as they can chasing the prey in a 'helter skelter' manner.  Those long legs can reall scoot! Very entertaining. I did get a good video of that . I might try to insert that. (It was too long. I'll have to edit it!) N.B. OT was seen tat the bird always moved away from the sun. Smart!

A WW2 Coastal gun (Howitzer?) stll in place 

Ruth loves "Her " Pellies (Brown Pelican) This is a 'wingback' formation I believe.

This crew was protected from the sun, sand flies, mosquitoes and were digging clams we believe.
Love the bonnets!

Ruth using the scope to get those birds on the far side ofthe lagoon.

One of the many refineries in the Freeport area.

A close up of the Indian Paintbrush (It has other names) 

Also today was the eighth day on the road and when you are not home that means "LAUNDRY"! So this evening we were fortunate after supper to locate a laudramat just 7 miles from our trailer and were almost alone there doing the laundry before the 7:00 closing. The manager was tolerant of our 5 minute overtime .              



Got it all finished from 6:00 PM to 7:16 PM. (We hire out!) NOT!













Tomorrow we head across the San Luis Bridge again, ($2.00 toll each way) to return to that 'warbler thicket' and then to San Bernard NWR which has a variety of habitats .  See you tomorrow we hope, Thanks for following along.

Day7 Flowers only Galveston Island

This is a posting of flowers that we have seen that have not been posted. If you can help identify, it would be appreciated.-Jim

THis one is not identified yet. (a thistle-yes!)

A Turtle-yes!

Evening Primrose Sp.

Blanket Flower (wild)

Wood Sorrel Sp. 

Scarlet Pimpernel

Giant Spiderwort

Unidentified frog (From under the trailer)

A bird and animal trail to the water.

Day seven Galveston Island

A tri-colored Heron

LaFitte Preserve. He eveidently landed here in the historical past.

The rain has gone, the north wind doth blow, and "poor Robin" is nowhere to be seen.

We had great birding today and I will concentrate on pictures to give you a better picture of the birds and vistas we had today. (pun unintended).

One story, and that included the discovery of  rare bird that I reported to my bird "Guru" when we returned to the trailer. (He lives in Galveston) It seems that we thought we saw a Garganey, a Eurasian bird seldom seen. It was in a small, man-made bay off the Galveston Bay. When we got home (after I sent the report to my friend) Ruth said, after more research, she felt it was  Pintail. Well, it wasn't. Two minutes after I turned in the report of the Graganey,  my bird "guru" e-mailed me back and said , "Did you know that what you  saw was a Pintail Decoy"? YIKES! Slightly embarrassed. But one more thing learned.  OT evidently is a joke the locals play.

These birds pictured, are all on Galveston Island today, and  all but one seen on the back Bay areas. (The Sanderlings were seen on the Gulf side.)

N.B. I am posting a second blog later tonight with some pictures  that Ruth took of flowers seen today.

Willet, seen frequently

Caracara in flight. (Quick shot)

A female Great Tailed Grackle The most abundant bird
on the Island.

Loggerhead Shrike. Many of these were seen. Always on wires.

A female Ruddy Duck. Note the blue bill  and short stuck up
tail.

Those sanderlings were running on the beach, Gulfside.

Day 6. Galveston Island Rain, Rain, Rain!

Lordy , didn't it rain? At last count the Scholes Airport in Galveston reported 3.72 inches of rain  and although it had stopped, the prediction was for more tomorrow. No drought in the southern states today and this week. It is moving NE gradually, and Sunday evening the drier air will bring a great day on Monday.

So much for the weather report, as I know you wanted to know how we were doing and how the bird count is going. Well, in spite of the rain (or maybe because of it) many birds were down on the ponds and puddles created by the rain, which made for birding of a different sort. We looked for them along the rural roads and fields. We did find  a bunch.

It was not all birds as there was anabundance of these Lantana along the roadsides and windbreaks.

After staying in the trailer during the worst of the rain, we ate lunch and ventured out in a light rain to see what we could see. Between our campground (the SW end of the Island) and the city of Galveston, there are many developments especially on the "bay" side or back side away from the Gulf.  You know, the kind near the Ocean that have tall 10' stilts to hold them up. These are plopped in between non-developed land, often soggy, and used for cattle or lying fallow getting ready for a real estate sale for development. These are where the birds were today as ponding in fields means the food was stirred up by the rain, and seeds float and worms have a hard time staying in the ground. (My theory anyway). I am sure there are arthropods and other "goodies" in that water.

We headed down these narrow,  often  gravel roads to see what we could see. Every once in a while a bird species would surprise us, like the three Northern Shrikes we saw one after the other.  On a family front lawn, a large flock of White Ibis' were feeding in the grass. (see)

These along with a number of Great Egrets and  some Snowy Egrets allowed us to see a lot of "white" feathered birds. On another note we know that the warblers have not come through during this year's migration yet, so we have to concentrate on accidentals and the shore and water birds plus some residents

Another surprise was, when we were quite a way off the main roads, there was a golf course that had potential. Near there were; a Roseate Spoonbill,  three Snowy Egrets and a Neotropic Cormorant, working a rushing torrent of fresh water that was draining a subdivision into the Ocean on the bay side. (That is different from our "Northern" Cormorant, called the 'Double Crested')



The Roseate Spoonbill on the left is a beautiful bird and easy to spot  a great distance away due to its coloration. Behind it is the churning water that the Cormorant and the Egrets were working over for food. Note the bill of the R.Spoonbill.
Below  is the campground today during the rains that fell. The campground is sandy so after 3-4 hours of no rain it was quite devoid of puddles and ponding.

A few of the species today besides the ones mentioned were; Black Bellied Whistling Duck (Never saw one of those, I'll bet) , Redheads, Coots, Gadwalls, Shovelers, Blue Winged Teal, and Scaups in the duck families.  The ubiquitous Laughing Gull was all around, and on that golf course in a distance working a ponded green were two Black Necked Stilts and  a Marbled Godwit.  Now that WAS a surprise. Even the sand traps were water filled. The total today in all the rain was an excellent total of 32 different bird species. All that without getting out of the truck , but for a few times when I wanted to get a closer look.

These are Black Bellied Whistling Ducks
which we saw and did a "double take"and turned around to get another look, They were in the front yard of a store on the main highway (3005), where there was a ponded front yard.

On the right is a bird we had seen only once  before. Not a terrific shot, but it is a White Tailed Kite, which is a member of the Accipitridae family, or, we should say ..."It is a Hawk".



So a great start to the birding part of the trip, and a chance to get into the surrounding land to see the birds that come through this wonderful place on the Gulf. We do not know what tomorrow will hold so we will make the best of it. -Jim

Friday March 20 (Spring starts) Arriving at Galveston.

We made it to the Gulf Coast!  Arriving safe and sound at 3:30 this afternoon. We arrived at a brand new RV Campground, where the palm trees that were planted this year still were drooping in places from the root structure that is still developing and hasn't taken over completely.

The Campground is at the southern tip of Galveston Island away from the hub bub of the "Spring Break " activities that will be simmering down next week. Some of the colleges (and High Schools I am told) come down here to spend their spring break days.  The campground being 17.5 miles from the city of Galveston will help diminish the noise and traffic. Ocassionally a group of motorcyclist will go by on their way to the lower Texas Coast.
Geographically the Texas Coast os divided into three regions . The Upper Coast from Louisiana  to a point just south of Galveston Island; the Middle Coast , from that point to about Corpus Christi, and the Lower Coast from there to McAllen the Rio Grande River and the Mexican Border. In the birding world the Texans have developed a map system of those coastal areas and four other areas in the northern parts of the state to identify where good birding areas are located, Each of these 7  maps has about 125 sites that can be observed and they have a "loop" that can be followed, each containg about 8-10 stops for observation. This is a great system and we have used it three times before.  We try to get to new birding areas each time.

Today's trip from Lufkin, TX  to Galveston and the south end of the Island, was quite smooth except for coming off the Houston freeway (US 59) and its 5 lanes of traffic, when at the bottom of the long ramp leading to I-45 (4 lanes) there was a traffic accident involving three vehicles.  (The ramp drops abut 300 feet vertically.) You have to think that this is a highway that has no shoulder, high walls on both sides as a sort of "canal" of traffic. So those 4 lanes had to funnel down to one in order to get by a fire truck  on I-45 that was guarding the wreckage and emergency workers. We were in the right lane which was the "through" traffic lane eventually, so we moved a bit faster than the other three lanes. After about 30 minutes (not really that much of a wait) we were on our way into Galveston and beginning to feel the joy of "arriving" at our destination. Traveling less than 300 miles each day , Ruth stated was"...really a great idea as we could unwind easily in the afternoon".

We found our campgrund at the southern end of the Island,  but the Island was not as busy as later times in the year when we happened to be  here.  The campground was brand spanking new and they were still working to expand it as it already had 200 sites, some not ready to use this spring. The office was merely a steel box where the manager sat at a very small table. No maps of the campground nor then usual "do and don't's" were printed as yet, to follow.The "Office" sign was on a free standing "sandwich"board at the entrance.


                                                                                                                                                                                                 
                                                                                      The bridge at Houston over "Buffalo Bayou"

In the evening we thought that a dinner out would be a treat, so we headed to "Nate's Seafood", just up the road a few miles. It was recommended by the RV folks and we were not disappointed. Jim had the Combination seafood plate of a fillet of catfish, shrimp, oysters, and crab cakes with baked potato and fresh green beans,along with a local Texas beer named "Shiner" made in Shiner TX.  Ruth devoured her catfish (deep fried, with potato and vegges).  It is a locallly run place with litle decor, but great food.

So that is the day as it spelled out. Tomorrow we start the hunt to secure the birds that are here and coming more each day.  Hopefully the rain holds off as it looks like it

Our camping site at Gaveston. The Gulf of Mexico is just beyond the houses on stilts.

Our "Token" bird today. A Northern Mockingbird.

                                                                                 Our Camping site looking to the Gulf of Mexico behind those houses on stilts.

JIm and Ruth's first four days ...'On the road'.

Well, here we go!  Time to let you know how the trip has gone so far. 

It has gone very smoothly, with a few stories to tell,  including the one tonight , when it took us over an hour to find the campground even though we had gone by it two times. Now that is real navigation, I’d say!  Even with a GPS (which we don't use) we would not have found it. The name had  changed since January from “Lufkin R.V. Park” to a KOA. Not only the name was a problem, but the road it was on, was designated as FM2021 and the sign coming off the freeway did not say there was a North and  a South 2021!   (We took the wrong one.) Of course that led to a chase to find it and a young couple helped us with their phone GPS where we found that the “Lufkin RV” was on the other side of the Freeway anyway. (Amid much road construction and temporary lanes.) After passing the KOA by, as that “wasn't it”, as the correct one was 0.3 miles down the road... we stopped in a rural family’s yard where a young mother said she would lead us to the campground. She did and lo and behold it was the KOA.  Not seen from the highway, were the words printed  over the KOA ...“Lufkin RV”. We settled in finally . The trip all around Lufkin on their 50 mile “Circle Route” trying to find this park,  gave us a look at the city and it’s enormous size. We had used up an hour driving to find the Park. 

But back to the beginning of the trip on Monday the 16th of March.. It was a cool start at about 36 F but a partly cloudy day. That stayed all the way through the corn and bean fields of central Illinois, where we stopped the first night at Champaign Il. (Home of the Fighting Illini). The fields lie fallow at this time of the year , but as we moved to S. IL we could see there was much more agricultural activity. Trucks hauling large tractors, long conveyor belts apparatus were being hauled to sites, trucks hauling huge tires stacked three high on the trailers, grain bins getting a look over for emptying  and covers coming off the “surplus piles” of grain stacked high and long usually next to the elevators in some places.

The highlight on Tuesday (St.Patrick’s Day) on the drive from Champaign to Sikeston MO, was stopping in a very small and old gas station (Old “flip handle” pumps with no credit card slots and ‘Pay in side’). When I went in to pay I almost choked to death. The smoke residue took me back to the days when we had no rules on smoking in various places. This place for sure had never heard of such a rule. The store “REEKED OF SMOKE” and I almost walked out it was so thick. When I got back to the truck, Ruth could smell the smoke on my clothes. That sweater stayed outside for awhile that night!   Thankful for our laws on non smoking buildings! 

Sunset the first night! (Champaign IL)

What a rest area this is in Arkansas! (left)

A spring flower unidentified.

More flowers in North Texas

A Texas Rose, white, but prickly and fragile.

Right by the campground tis evening.

This part of IL and SE Missouri is filled with lakes and rivers. One Rest area had a Lake (Rend Lake) that is a favorite for hunting and wildlife. On the lake by which we ate lunch that noon, were thousands of gulls and some ducks.They were a ways out , but we could recognize the Bonaparte’s Gulls and some Scaups, probably Greater. Gas was obtained at “King Tut’s” Party store soon after, which is appropriately named next to a very large lake called  Egypt Lake. We crossed the Mississippi  on the Cairo Bridge ( a steel Through Truss type) which even though the river was at flood stage and many miles around were flooded, it was not as high as we had seen other years. That evening in the campground I was walking back from the sunset, and I stood in one spot as more than 500 Robins flew right over me and around me getting ready to roost for the night.  I was able to get a few videos in the fading light. They were only 6-10 feet off the ground for the most part. As a group, they are heading north for sure. What a fantastic witness.

The Cairo Bridge over the Mississippi River (above)

Rend Lake (A portion of) with the many Gulls and Ducks.(right)

Day three from Sikeston, MO to Benton, AR.

 The area here  has lots of rice, beans, corn, but few cattle (I guess we will see that in TX!).  A north tail wind (that cold front) really aided the gas mileage and the driving that day. A head wind results in about 2-4 mph less for 200 miles for the Toyota Tundra.. Through Poplar Bluff, and the Mark Twain National Forest there were lots of trees. The effect the spring rains was seen in the flooding in and around Pocahantus, AR, and some homes were flooded out but most of the buildings were on high ground. If it happens every year , there would be good             

reason to move. We crossed the Black and the White Rivers and tried to find an accesibe  National Wildlife Refuge with the trailer on, but missed the front entrance and after traveling some 15 miles found that there was no “back” entrance. It was a good effort but ended in “no success”. We have to admit that the local folks seldom “let you down” when help with directions is needed.

 Little Rock, AR really surprised me as it was huge. It has a 200,000 city population with more than 750,000 in the Metro area.  As we approached Benton It began to rain, very hard. Of course on the freeway  the splash from trucks especially can be a hazard. I usually slow down about 10-15 mph when that happens especially in heavy traffic.

Getting to the RV park that night, although just off the freeway, was tricky . The frontal roads led to a circuitous route to arrive at the RV Park.  (right  turn off the freeway, under the freeway, turn right,back over the freeway, a “U” turn to get to the frontal road on the other side and then to the Park). We did make it but I probably would not be able do it again the same way. (Don’t ask how getting back on the freeway in the morning went! )This day was overcast so there was no sunset as there had been the previous nights.

That night the wind howled from 2:00 AM until we left in the morning. The local weather station said the winds were steady at 35 and gusts above 40 mph.  We lost no part pf the trailer but it sure shook all night! 

Southwest Arkansas and NE Texas are filled with growing Loblolly and Southern Pine trees. Some farms and small ranches and seem to be old estates. It is a fact that Nacogdotches is the oldest town in Texas indicates that this area was settled long ago.

The US Steel plant (tubular steel) is huge! It covers more than a few square miles  along the corridor (US 57) in Lone Star, Texas.

The story at the beginning  (above)  sums up the days end quite well. The temperature at 8:20 is still 67 degrees F. The door and windows are open and I have my shorts on. 

Tomorrow we make the last daily leg and head for Galveston, “The Island On The Sea” where we will stay 5 days.  The birding should begin there in serious quantity and quality. See you then. No more freeways for awhile. Yea!

P.S. Ruth spotted our first Great Blue Heron in the floodwaters in Arkansas today!