High Island, Texas

I love this time of year. When migration is happening I always want to be everywhere at once, and this year I seem to have done my best to accomplish that! At the end of April my husband and I, accompanied by his parents, spent two weeks in Oaxaca, Mexico. A week after our return we spent a long weekend at High Island, Texas, on the Gulf Coast.

High Island is one of the birding "Meccas" in the United States. Birds migrating from Central and South America fly north over the Gulf of Mexico, and if they're lucky they'll catch a south wind which will push them on through Texas to their breeding grounds elsewhere in the north. But if the wind blows from the north, and if the birds encounter a storm, then they struggle to make it across the Gulf before they run out of energy. In those conditions many don't make it, they fall to the sea and drown. Those that do reach landfall completely exhausted, creating what are called "fallouts" as birds literally drop from the sky at the first available spot in order to recuperate from their difficult flight. High Island is famous for being one of those spots. Although we had hoped to witness one of those spring fallouts, we felt guilty for even wishing for it, since those conditions mean many birds don't make it to shore, and those that do are so drained from their efforts that they may never recover their strength again. However, the weather conditions during our visit were good for the birds, with a strong wind from the south which helped them move right past High Island without stopping. That meant we didn't see as many birds, but those we did see were strong and healthy.

One of our favorite spots was Smith Oaks, where roseate spoonbills, tricolored herons, great egrets, snowy egrets and cattle egrets were all nesting. The trail past the rookery was far enough away from the nesting birds, and separated by water, so the birds were not alarmed by our presence. The cacophony from the birds as they jostled for prime nest sites and communicated with their mates and with each other was nothing short of amazing. Most birds were just setting up their nests, although we did see some egret chicks that were very cute.

High Island is about 90 minutes south of Houston. We stayed in a hotel in Winnie, Texas, which was about 20 minutes from the High Island preserves, which are managed by the Houston Audubon Society. During our visit we also spent some time at the Houston Audubon- managed site at Bolivar Flats, where we witnessed hundreds of avocets, dunlin, and plovers feeding in the rich mudflats. If you're ever in the Houston area, I recommend a side-trip to High Island and Bolivar Flats. You won't regret it. And make sure you stop at Stingarees Restaurant in Crystal Beach, the catfish and shrimp are totally awesome!!

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