Tag Archives: Texas

Protecting Texas’ Globally Important Bolivar Peninsula—We Can Do This Now!

Instead of your regularly-scheduled blog, we today invite FSB readers to join in on an urgent appeal to help protect one of North America’s coolest and most vital bird habitats—the globally important Bolivar Peninsula. Learn more and donate by clicking here—or on the Piping Plover below.

If you’ve followed FatherSonBirding—or read my books Birding for Boomers or Warblers & Woodpeckers: A Father-Son Big Year of Birding—you know that High Island and the Bolivar Peninsula outside of Houston have played pivotal roles in Braden’s and my birding experiences. In these locations, the Houston Audubon Society (HAS) has worked tirelessly to obtain, restore, and protect vital habitat for both migrating and resident birds. On our first visit to High Island and the Bolivar Peninsula in 2016, Braden and I saw an astounding forty-five Life Birds in one day! These included everything from Scarlet Tanagers and Least Terns to Piping, Black-bellied, and Semipalmated Plovers.

**Braden and I saw our first-ever Piping Plovers on the Bolivar Peninsula, and I was lucky to see this endangered species again on a subsequent visit.**

Even though I live in Montana, I became an annual supporter of HAS shortly after that visit. Even better, I have been fortunate to visit the area three more times. Every trip has been a highlight of my birding career. Each time, I have seen gobs of amazing songbirds, shorebirds, and waders, and learned a ton about birds. Just check out some of my past posts about visiting the region:

Turkey Day Texas Adventures Part 1: Pursuing Plovers

Tangled!

Going Cuckoo for Fall Warblers in Texas

Anahuac Lifer Attack

Unfortunately, during my visits, I also have noticed an inescapable fact: the Bolivar Peninsula is being developed at an astounding rate and the reason is clear: beachfront property. During our first visit there, Braden and I noticed quite a few houses along the 25-mile or so stretch of the peninsula. On each subsequent visit, I was blown away by how many new houses had sprung up since my previous visit! On my most recent trip, this past April, I realized with dismay that the entire peninsula would soon be wall-to-wall housing developments.

**One of dozens of major housing developments that have sprung up on the Bolivar Peninsula since Braden and I first visited in 2016.**

I can’t even begin to explain how poorly-conceived this kind of rampant development is. Never mind that it has gobbled up some of the best remaining Gulf Coast wildlife habitat, it is virtually guaranteed that hurricanes will totally destroy these developments as they have in the past—and with increasing frequency thanks to climate change (see this Hurricane Ike story and this astonishing storm list). In fact, the ability of the peninsula in its natural state to block tidal surges, prevent erosion, and soak up storm water economically outweighs by far the short-term profits from this get-rich-quick development.

Rampant development in coastal areas not only destroys critical habitat, it greatly diminishes the ability of the coast to withstand hurricanes and other major storms. Though I’d love to enjoy a beachfront house like this myself, economically it is a lose-lose situation, both for homeowners and taxpayers, who often get stuck with paying the bills for disaster cleanup and rebuilding.

Still, the lure of fast profits is just too much here as it is in many other places. And that’s why I’m writing this post. Right now is one of our last best chances to protect what remains of this globally vital birding habitat. How? Currently, HAS owns and manages more than 3,000 acres of Bolivar Peninsula habitat—natural islands in an expanding sea of development. And yet, right at the entrance to their Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary, a new development recently cropped up. Ironically dubbed the Sanderling Development, it threatened to wipe out critical habitat and destroy a buffer to the core of the Bolivar refuge. The good news? Through heroic efforts, HAS managed to raise $3 million to buy 25 acres of the land this past July. Now, however, they need another $3 million to complete purchase of the remaining 27 acres of the property. This land is so vital that for the first time in decades, HAS has issued a public appeal for funds—And that’s where we come in!

Just one of many Bolivar housing developments, the proposed Sanderling Development directly threatened the ecological integrity of the Bolivar Flats refuge right across the road. However, HAS still needs to raise $3 million to complete the property’s acquisition. Click on this photo to donate!

No matter where we live, securing this last bit of property should be a major priority for birders. Not only does it help provide essential stop-over areas for millions of migrating birds that spread out across the continent, it helps protect critical breeding and wintering habitat. Endangered Piping Plovers, Black Rails, and Red Knots are just three endangered species among hundreds of other species that use this important area.

**A fall Long-billed Curlew at Bolivar Flats—perhaps just returned from breeding in Montana?**

So how about it? Do you have $25 to chip in? $100? $1000? If you do, I can say with confidence that your money will rarely be better spent. Along with donating, why not plan a spring or fall trip down to the area? If you are fortunate enough to be able to do this, I can almost guarantee it will be one of the highlights of your birding experiences. You also will not have the slightest doubt that your investment in this area is one of the best you will ever make. To donate, CLICK HERE NOW!

And with that, I will sign off so I can make a contribution myself!

**Houston Audubon’s Bolivar Peninsula’s sanctuaries are not only vital for Texas birds, but for breeding birds throughout North America.**

Target Birds and a Shocking Surprise in the Texas Hill Country (Texas 2025 Part 3)

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After spending two glorious birding days along the east Texas & Louisiana coasts (see “Peveto Woods, Louisiana: Spring Migration Hotspot.”), I returned to San Antonio for my four minutes—yes, you read that right—four minutes of work to promote my book Birding for Boomers. While there, I reprised my now-sort-of-famous birding route along San Antonio’s Riverwalk (see our post “Birding San Antonio’s Riverwalk—Are You Nuts?”). Once again, I found birds—but not enough to write another blog about it. As soon as I finished my speaking gig, though, I headed west into the Texas hill country. Why? To try to find two birds Braden and I had talked about our entire birding careers.

Leaving San Antonio, I drove two hours to the hot, fairly flat town of Uvalde and booked myself into a Hampton Inn. That afternoon, I picked up a few nice birds in the town’s Memorial Park including another Yellow-throated Vireo and my first—and only—Green Jay of the trip. I also grabbed an excellent Tex-Mex meal at El Herradero de Jalisco restaurant. The next morning, I hit the road before dawn.

Ah, a good Tex-Mex meal with a “dressed” cerveza is one of many rewards birding offers—one that FSB contributor Roger Kohn will especially appreciate.

One bonus to birding is that we birders invariably get to see spectacular sunrises and sunsets. As I headed north, I witnessed an unforgettable sizzling orange sunrise on one side of the car while an equally spectacular orange full moon set in the west. It boded well for what would be arguably the most important—and most demanding—birding day of my trip: my quest to find Black-capped Vireos and Golden-cheeked Warblers.

Anyone who has been birding for more than a couple of years has probably heard of these two Texas specialties. Of the near-threatened Black-capped Vireo, Braden simply says, “It’s the best vireo.” Quite a statement considering how cool other vireos are! The bird winters in Mexico, and its primary breeding range lies in central Texas—though it technically extends from far northern Mexico to southern Kansas. The endangered Golden-cheeked Warbler winters in Central America and far southern Mexico, but breeds exclusively in central Texas.

**According to eBird lists, Lost Maples State Natural Area is one of the most reliable places to find both Black-capped Vireos and Golden-cheeked Warblers.**

As usual, I felt a bit skeptical of my ability to find these birds. Call it psychological protection against failure. Nonetheless, I did have a plan. After scouring eBird hotspots, bar charts, and birding lists before the trip, I settled on Lost Maples State Natural Area as the most reliable location to find both species. Indeed, when I pulled into the parking lot, I met a couple who had staked out a bush where they had seen a Black-capped Vireo the previous day. “We saw Golden-cheeked Warblers in that tree about fifteen minutes ago,” the woman added, motioning to a nearby oak tree. I briefly pondered waiting around for either species, but the canyon before me beckoned and I reasoned I could hang around the parking lot later if need be.

**I immediately loved Lost Maples, especially since its habitat reminded me of the chaparral and oak woodland I’d grown up with in Southern California.**

I headed up the park’s East Trail and immediately felt at home in the scenic canyon’s xeric landscape full of oaks, junipers, mesquite, and other classic Western vegetation. I also realized that I had tackled some tough birding! Birdsong rang out all around me, but I got few glimpses of actual birds. Thank god for Merlin’s Sound ID, which I ran multiple times to get an idea of what might be around me: an impressive list that included Canyon and Carolina Wrens, Olive Sparrows, Yellow-breasted Chats, and at least four (other) kinds of vireos. Finally, however, “Black-capped Vireo” popped up on Sound ID and I stopped to seriously scour the nearby vegetation. Over the next five minutes, I got a brief glimpse of a Blue-headed Vireo and good looks at a White-eyed Vireo.

**I had to work hard for actual bird sightings at Lost Maples, but managed a great look at a White-eyed Vireo—one of five vireos on my checklist for the day.**

Finally, I saw the distinctive black head and white spectacles of the bird I most hoped to see: a Black-capped Vireo! Soon, I saw another. The birds definitely did not want to strike a pose and I followed them as they flitted almost frantically from bush to tree and tree to bush. I finally managed a couple of ID photos, and then just tried to relax and observe them. It was a good moment, and I felt glad I hadn’t just waited around the parking lot hoping for one to appear.

**I was so glad that I hadn’t waited around the parking lot to find my Lifer Black-capped Vireos!**

That left the Golden-cheeked Warbler. Sound ID had picked it up a couple of times as I hiked the canyon, but it wasn’t until I was back in the park next to my car that I began to figure out the bird’s song. With my imperfect hearing, it sounded like a high-pitched buzzing trill—a lot like an insect, but distinct from any other bird calls around me. Soon, I found myself standing for five minutes directly in front of an oak tree as a Golden-cheeked sang repeatedly.

I never saw it.

This frustrating experience repeated itself several times. I eventually added the bird to my eBird list (“Heard only”), but I was not a happy camper and I thought I might remove it later. As shy as they were, the Black-capped Vireos had been publicity hogs compared to the Golden-cheekeds! Knowing when I was beaten, I headed off to some bird feeders set up in the park about a mile away. There, I tried to console myself with leisurely views of Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jays and Scott’s Orioles. I also told the bird hostess about my lack of success actually seeing a Golden-cheeked Warbler. “Any suggestions?” I asked.

**While pondering my next moves, I spent a pleasant half-hour watching Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jays and Scott’s Orioles at the Lost Maples bird feeders.**

“Well,” she said, “I’d head up the East-West Trail right here until you come to the ponds about a mile on. Just keep scanning the trees as you walk.”

By now, the heat had built into the low 80s. Another hike did not sit high on my priority list, but darn it, I hadn’t come all the way to the Texas hill country for nothing! Slinging my camera and new Vortex Viper 8X42s over my shoulders I resolutely started marching.

Fortunately, a number of beautiful oak trees provided shade to parts of the trail. I kept stopping frequently and soon enough began hearing more Golden-cheeked Warblers. Again, they absolutely refused to be seen, even when I seemed to be standing right in front of them! As I was scouring one oak tree, though, I detected movement and a flash of yellow. My excitement rose . . . but something didn’t look quite right. Finally, I got my binoculars on the bird and I realized what it was. This wasn’t a Golden-cheeked Warbler. For me, it was even better: my lifer Yellow-throated Warbler!

**My Bird of the Day wasn’t actually the Black-capped Vireos or Golden-cheeked Warblers I’d set out to find. It ended up being my Lifer Yellow-throated Warbler—a complete surprise!**

I couldn’t have been more thrilled. On other trips, I had hoped to see one of these birds multiple times without success, but today, it hadn’t even been on my radar! The bird was every bit as beautiful as a Golden-cheeked, and a quick look at the Merlin app confirmed that I was indeed within its breeding range—but just barely. According to Cornell’s Birds of the World, it has a relatively small, disjunct breeding range in central Texas separate from its more extensive breeding range across the Southeast. While fortunately not endangered or threatened, this bird had assumed an almost mythical status in my mind and to see it now . . . well, it felt exhilarating.

**I felt both grateful and relieved to finally see a single Golden-cheeked after multiple GCWAs had taunted me all day!**

Long story short: I finally spotted a single Golden-cheeked Warbler after spending almost an hour standing in front of trees where one or another GCWA sat singing and taunting me. While I had hoped to add just the Black-capped Vireo and Golden-cheeked Warbler to my life list during my entire Texas week, I had now seen an amazing seven lifers. Even better, having tracked down the BCVI and GCWA, I now had the entire next day to pursue one more. Check out the next post for details!

Shopping for a great new pair of binoculars that are reasonably priced? Be sure to check out our recent (unpaid!) review of Vortex Viper HDs by clicking here!

Vortex Viper HD Binoculars (Equipment Review, and/or Texas 2025 Part 2-½)

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I hope that you’ve enjoyed our last two posts about my recent Texas birding adventures. Never fear, more Texas posts are coming! Today, however, we’d like to offer up another in our popular new series of equipment reviews. Why? Because my Texas trip gave me a wonderful opportunity to field test a pair of Viper HD 8X42 binoculars from Vortex.

**Vortex Viper HDs offer great quality at a reasonable price.**

If you’re out in the field a lot, you’ll see many birders using the Viper HDs, and for excellent reasons. In hand, the binoculars are sturdy and comfortable to hold, yet lightweight enough to carry around all day without discomfort. Like all Vortex optics, they come with an incredible no-questions-asked, fully transferable, lifetime warranty—something almost priceless for the peace of mind it offers. But the question remains: how do they perform in the field?

**Backlit conditions—especially on water—are one of the true tests of binocular clarity and light transmission. The Viper HDs performed extremely well under these conditions.**

My Texas trip allowed me to test the Vipers in a variety of birding situations. In my last post, I shared my thrilling visit to the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge (now renamed to the Jocelyn Nungaray NWR), and almost immediately, I was confronted with the daunting task of observing shorebirds and waterfowl under extreme backlit conditions. Anyone who has experienced this knows how difficult it is to discern details of birds when bright glare turns the birds into shadowy figures, and I immediately thought, “Oh man, I don’t know if I’ll even be able to start identifying some of these critters.” To my surprise, the Viper HDs cut right through the glare. One small backlit shorebird particularly caught my attention, and I was sure I wouldn’t be able to see enough details to ID it. Focusing in with the Vipers, the bird’s features just popped—including its yellow legs, which allowed me to identify it as a Least Sandpiper.

**The Viper HD’s excellent light transmission allowed me to ID this Least Sandpiper and other shorebirds under badly backlit conditions.**

A couple of days later, I arrived at an exciting new (to me) location called Lafitte’s Cove on Galveston Island. This cool little nature reserve sits in the middle of an upscale housing development and features ponds, walking paths, and wooded areas. My main goal was to try to find migrating warblers and, thanks to the advice of some local birders, I staked out a drip in the wooded area that provides fresh drinking water for birds. Soon, I saw two shapes flitting around in deep shadow behind the drip. One leaped out into the sunlight—a Tennessee Warbler. The other bird proved much more cagy. Even as it stayed in the shadows, though, the Vipers gave me the sharp, full-color details that allowed me to confirm that it was a Nashville Warbler—a real surprise since I had never seen one before in the eastern US!

**Lafitte’s Cove on Galveston Island was a wonderful addition to my list of spring migration birding hotspots—and helped me test the Viper HDs under dark, shady conditions.**

As always, prospective buyers will ask, “Are the Vipers worth what they cost?” On the Vortex website, the 8X42s and 10X42s list for $719.99 and $729.99 respectively—not an inconsiderable sum. However, in “real life” the binoculars can be purchased for under $500, putting them in range of a doable investment for many birders who are ready to get serious, but can’t or don’t want to shell out thousands of dollars. Even for $500, though, you expect binoculars to be durable and weather-resistant, and the Vipers deliver on that count. Other great features include:

* a diopter ring that allows independent focus adjustment for each eye

* long (18 mm), rubberized eye-relief tubes designed to press eyeglasses against them without damage

* a close (six-foot) minimum focal distance

**A comfortable grip and long, comfortable eye-relief tubes are just two great selling points for the Viper HDs.**

As I have tried various brands and models of binoculars, though, for me it has become mainly about clarity. In other words, how well do the binoculars transmit light and how sharp is the image they deliver? As noted above, the Vipers deliver excellent performance in this regard. During my week in Texas, I never found a situation in which I had difficulty picking out colors and other details. That’s because, for the extra price investment, Vipers offer two advantages over many cheaper binoculars:

* extra low-dispersion glass that reduces chromatic aberrations and improves light transmission, even under difficult conditions such as those I experienced above

* high-quality coatings on both the glass and internal prisms which improve light transmission, creating a sharper, clearer image.

I have not yet found the perfect binoculars—if they indeed exist—and one thing I wasn’t crazy about is that I had to turn the focus knob quite a bit to bring the Vipers into focus between near and far situations. Presumably, this allows users to obtain a more precise focus on an object, but I found it wasted a bit of time and effort. This is a personal preference, however, and I’m guessing that most users will be just fine with this.

A final note: frequent FSB contributor Roger Kohn and his wife both happen to use Vortex Vipers. “We are very happy with them,” he says. “Really good quality glass, clear images. Feels good in the hands.”

Conclusion: the Vortex Viper HDs are an outstanding pair of binoculars for those ready to make a mid-range investment into the world’s greatest hobby. Sturdy construction, a light weight, and excellent light transmission make them suitable for almost every situation, and will provide years of satisfaction to the vast majority of birders.

Post Update: After posting this review, I traveled to Maine for our son’s graduation (see post “Graduation Birding Bonanza in Maine”), and I took along a pair of Vortex Viper HD 8X42 binoculars. This was my first chance to use them in rainy conditions and I have to say, they performed incredibly well. While my companions’ bins were fogging up, the Viper HDs stayed clear as a bell during our two-hour drizzly session. I also had a chance to use the Vipers in “almost night” conditions to view the American Woodcock mentioned above. Again, I was impressed with the amount of light they transmitted, allowing me to easily follow the bird’s silhouette in flight. Back at our Airbnb, I let Braden look at a distant loon on the lake and he said, “Wow, those are good binoculars!” I suspect I’ll be using these a lot more!

The author received no financial compensation for this review, but binocular images and sample binoculars are provided courtesy of Vortex.

Anahuac Lifer Attack (Texas 2025 Part 2)

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After my morning exploring Peveto Woods (see last post), I had intended to visit another favorite coastal Texas location, Sabine Woods (see “Going Cuckoo for Fall Warblers in Texas”). Alas, my long previous travel day caught up with me so I decided to grab a siesta back at my hotel in Winnie. Besides, it didn’t look like the warblers and other migrants were showing up in large numbers, and I reasoned that I wasn’t likely to see much more at Sabine Woods than I’d seen at Peveto that morning. Instead, that afternoon I decided to visit another Texas favorite of Braden’s and mine: Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge.

**Braden during our first visit to Anahuac NWR in 2016.**

The refuge lies about halfway between Winnie and High Island, and Braden and I had many fond memories of it. During our Big Year in 2016, we’d seen our first Scissor-tailed Flycatcher here, along with our first Common Yellowthroat. I especially liked driving a route called the Shoveler Pond Loop. This afternoon, I didn’t expect any major surprises, but it was a pleasant way to watch Roseate Spoonbills, Common Gallinules, and a variety of other water birds. As I approached the refuge entrance, however, I got my first major surprise: the refuge had a new name! Only in the past few weeks, Anahuac had been renamed the Jocelyn Nungaray NWR. I later looked up how the name change had come about. I like to keep this blog politics-free, but I will just say that the new name resulted from both a tragic story and crass political shenanigans that apparently caught everyone off-guard. Feel free to look it up yourself and draw your own conclusions.

The good news? Shoveler Pond Loop looked better than I’d ever seen it! The loop consists of a 2.5-mile road that circumnavigates a 300-acre wetlands, and the last time I’d visited, in 2021, the latter seemed clogged with vegetation. Not so today. A large area at the loop’s beginning had been cleared out to create wonderful habitat for wading and dabbling birds and as I proceeded, I noticed many other revived sections as well. In preparation to write this post, I called the refuge to make sure that I wasn’t imagining things, and Park Ranger Chris Campbell confirmed that a couple of years ago, they had drained the wetlands and taken steps to remove large areas of cane grass.

**Shoveler Pond Loop is definitely one of my Top 5 “car birding” routes in the United States.**

The results looked terrific. As I began making my way around the loop, I immediately noticed large numbers of Black-necked Stilts and dowitchers—probably Long-billed, according to Campbell. Both Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs made a good show of it, too, and it wasn’t long before I began obsessing over some smaller shorbs. I eventually IDed two of these as Dunlins, and was especially pleased to find a Least Sandpiper as well. Alligators also seemed to relish the new-and-improved loop, and I watched with amusement as Black-necked Stilts nonchalantly probed the shallows only a few feet from the six- or eight-foot crocodilians.

**Uh, Mr. Black-necked Stilt, have you looked over your shoulder lately?**

I soon found a great collection of waders including Roseate Spoonbills, Tricolored Herons, Snowy Egrets, and both White and White-faced Ibises. It was when I turned the first corner, however, that the real excitement began.

**“Uh, just where do you think you’re landing, Mr. Tricolored Heron? Us Neotropic Cormorants and the herps over there were here first.”**

First up? A kind of duck neither Braden nor I had ever seen before: Fulvous Whistling Ducks! “Wow! Lifer!” I exclaimed out loud. For some reason, it never occurred to me that I would see these ducks, but there they were—sitting only fifty feet from their compadres, Black-bellied Whistling Ducks! And the hits were just getting started.

My first lifer of the day, Fulvous Whistling Ducks.

As I rounded the second corner, a narrow canal paralleled the road to my left, and suddenly, a medium-sized, reddish-brown bird flew out from beneath the road to some reeds across the canal. Astonishingly, it was another lifer, one that I recognized immediately: a Least Bittern! One of the smallest members of the heron family, Least Bitterns apparently are not all that rare. Ranger Campbell told me that they are very common year-round at the refuge, but the thing is, they are incredibly shy. I will just tell you that I never really expected to see one, and yet here one was! Not only that, it struck a pleasing pose while I kept my camera shutter clicking.

**Seeing my lifer Least Bittern not only justified the entire trip, it captured Bird of the Trip honors!**

I had barely started again when I noticed a couple of terns flying around. Generally while I am birding, I ignore terns and gulls until I’ve identified everything else. As one of the terns zoomed by my car, however, I noticed that it had an oddly blunt thick black bill. “No way,” I said, rushing to take some ID photos. My hunch was correct. These were Gull-billed Terns—lifer Gull-billed Terns!

**Terns favor the prepared mind. If I hadn’t been birding for more than a decade, the black bill on this guy may never have caught my attention.**

Really, I could hardly believe it. I arrived at Anahuac expecting to see birds that I had seen many times before. Now, within the space of ten minutes, I added three new species to my life list! It seemed so preposterous that I laughed out loud. What’s more, this was still only my first day of birding on my Texas trip. One thing was for sure: I never would have had such success if it weren’t for the hard-working government employees we all depend on. It just shows the wisdom of investing in protecting our natural resources for the common good.

FatherSonBirding’s 100th Post Video Spectacular: Counting Down Our Top 5 Most Popular Posts!

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If you’d like to see us continue our posts, PLEASE SUBSCRIBE by filling out the box down and to the right. We promise we will not share or give away your information to ANYONE—though you can always feel free to share our posts with others who might enjoy them!

Do you remember listening to American Top 40 as a kid? Sure you do! To celebrate our 100th post, we decided to count down FSB’s All-Time Most Popular Posts—with a video!

Yes, believe it or not, this is FatherSonBirding’s 100th post! Since we seem to be evolving toward a video world, Braden and I agreed that a video post would be a fun way to celebrate our last four years of birding and blogging. Just don’t get used to it! Videos take a lot more effort than regular blogging and, frankly, making videos eats into our birding time!

A few notes about the Top 5. They may not be technically correct since for some of our early posts, we may not have been gathering statistics on views. Also, we had not yet switched to a Payola scheme by which people pay us to make sure that certain posts are more popular. Just kidding! About the Payola, that is. I’ll always be curious just how many views our first post, A Quest for Snowy Owls (published March 13, 2018) has really received!

Also, below are some quick links to the posts mentioned in this blog. They are NOT IN ORDER of popularity so there’s no opportunity for cheating here! You’ll just have to watch the video to find out WHAT IS NUMBER ONE! Also, I have misspelled “Maclay Flat” as “McClay Flats” and other permutations. You’ll just have to forgive me!

Thank you for following our birding adventures. We appreciate you and hope this winter brings you plenty of birding adventures of your own!

Links to Blogs mentioned in the video (not in order of popularity):

Lucky Day at Maclay

Birding San Antonio’s River Walk? Are You Nuts?

Incredible Birthday Birding

For Birders, Every Year is a Big Year

Are You Ready for . . . the QUACH?

To view this video post on YouTube, CLICK HERE!