Back from a really good trip to High Island area, Lower Rio Grande Valley, Hill Country and finished back at High Island. Passerine migration was slow (endless SE winds and zero rainfall), in fact locals reckon it was the worst April of all time (hooray!), but waders and raptors were about in huge numbers and we still managed a decent list missing very few things we wanted.
Great birding and great people.
Highlights:
Black-capped Vireos at Lost Maples, Kerr WMA and Neal's Lodge
Golden-cheeked Warbler at Lost Maples and Kerr
Red-cockaded Woodpeckers at W.G.Jones State Park (with Red-headed, Pileated, Downy, Red-bellied, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Pine Warbler... blah blah blah ...)
Zone-tailed Hawks around Neal's Lodge
Nelson's Sparrows at Bolivar
Magnificent Frigatebirds at Galveston
Piping Plovers easy
Clapper and King Rails easy
5 Goatsuckers and Nightjobbies (inc Pauraque)
Elf Owl
A few unexpected things like Lazuli Bunting, Lark Bunting, Western Tanager
Nearly all the Rio Grande Valley targets were around in good numbers and usually gettable in visitor centre car parks whilst enjoying pints of Dr.Pepper.
Nice pretty wood warblers, and not all of them yellow ... Waterthrushes, Black-throated Blue, Worm-eating... but also some very yellow ones like Yellow Warbler, which is certainly very yellow but not as yellow as Prothonotary.
And so on.
Part one of a trip report (of no use to anyone going) below. Another part next week with trip list. Bet you can't wait.
http://birdingblogs.com/2011/tommck...as_trip_report1