High Island birding photos are finally going up! So, for the second spring migration season in a row, we headed to High Island. We landed and Hobby, grabbed a car, then drove south to the Ferry.
< - - why does my face look weird here? What is up with that?
The ferry ride was fun as always. Plus, for the first time ever, I saw dolphins in the water. We moved to the Houston area in the early 1970s and I've never seen them there before. It was a treat.
We arrived at High Island and checked into our rockin' hotel - the only one there. It's simple but it has everything we need.
This area is called High Island because it composed of a salt dome that rises about 38' above sea level. This is quite high considering about a mile or two away is the Gulf of Mexico. High Island, and other areas on the Bolivar Penisula were destroyed during Hurricane Ike in 2008. It was awful. Some more info here: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=9107&eocn=image&eoci=morenh. And here: http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/hurricanes/ike/photo-comparisons/highisland.html. And here: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/farewell-high-island-hurricane-ike-slams-a-birding-mecca/. There are many more sources on the interwebs for interested parties.
We'd not birded here before the hurricane and I'd feared we'd lost that chance. Happily, the birding is still strong for birds after the area had a chance to recover.
A favorite place to go is the Boy Scout Woods.
Last year, we felt like we had arrived a little early and missed a lot of the birds. This year, I think we nailed it! Why come here? Many of our song birds winter in central and south America. In the spring, they take flight north to where there are lots of insects. These insects are important in feeding young. Given that, they come here to raise young. To get here, many fly over the Gulf of Mexico nonstop for up to two days. High Island is a place along the coast that is the first land they see after this long difficult (and deadly for many birds) flight.
When they land here, they are exhausted and hungry. For that reason, they are not as skittish about people and this allows some nice looks at the birds who survive. This is a beautiful Rose-Breasted Grosbeak (male).
Indigo Buntings were thick while we were there. Here's a beauty on a Bottle Brush.
It is sometimes easy to see where a 'good' bird has landed....look for the cluster of birders!
A real treat in the High Island area is the Rookery. This may be Dave's favorite place. This island is where birds such as Roseate Spoonbills, Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets and other birds raise their young. In those waters are alligators.
Those white spots you see are Great Egrets on their nests. The area has set up some nice platforms that make watching the birds easier.
Here are some adult Great Egrets with two offspring. The babies are adorable!
We've all experienced those awkward early years (and by the looks of the first photo in this series, I'm still experiencing it!)
This baby was working hard to earn some food.
Birders!
This beautiful male Summer Tanager offers a great representation of an exhausted bird who had just arrived. He sat here, in the midst of a lot of birders, resting from the long, arduous trip. After he rested a bit, he got busy eating and eating and eating.
Gray Catbirds were everywhere.
After we arrived, it started raining a lot. And in true Houston form, it started flooding a lot. While it rains/floods a lot in Houston, these floods were quite extensive and for several days we couldn't have left High Island had we wanted too. All the water caused a lot of Water Moccasins (aka Cottonmouths) out in the open. We saw many.
Tennesse Warbler on a bottlebrush. There must have been 100s of them there.
A gorgeous Hooded Warble (male). The tiny four inch birds are like bumblebees.
Once we could drive a bit (aka the ocean was not over the road), we headed to a nearby restaurant and watched barges push giant tankers into the Houston Ship Channel.
The local cat tired to convince us to take him with us. He's still there.
Look! Fried food!
More photos in Parts II and III....
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