Galveston Texas April 28^th - May 4^th, 2007

My wife Donna and I vacationed and birded in Galveston Texas in late April / early May, 2007. Soon after we arrived we started taking the Ferry to Bolivar regularly as a means of getting to High Island, Bolivar Flats, Anahuac NWR etc. Laughing Gulls liked to follow the boat or sometimes hitch a ride. We found that Common Nighthawks are very common in Texas at this time of year. We saw them several times in many locations including this one (above) along 8-mile Road on Galveston Island. The Wilson's Plover was one of 7 or 8 that we saw at Bolivar Flats on Monday April 30^th.

Before going to San Bernard NWR on Wednesday May 2^nd we spent most of the day in Quintana. On the ride down we stopped at San Luis Pass County Park and saw 224 American Avocets. Then at the Jetty there were Common (shown), Sandwich, Royal, Caspian (shown), and Black (shown) Terns as well as these Pelicans and a couple of American Oystercatchers.

This Alligator was one of several that we saw the day we went to Anahuac NWR (Tuesday May 1^st. The Least Bittern photo was also taken at Anahuac. We saw 4 of them there. We also saw two more at San Bernard NWR the following day. We saw Purple Gallinules at both refuges and heard a Black Rail at San Bernard. Thursday May 3^rd was our last full day there. We got up early and drove to Corpus Christi for the day. This Roseate Spoonbill was at Padre Island National Seashore.