A three-day weekend gave us the perfect opportunity for a quick trip to Texas, with the main goal of seeing Whooping Cranes. We landed in Houston on a Saturday morning and drove straight to Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR. The cold, misty weather was perfect for raptors, and we weren’t disappointed. We had a five-raptor morning, highlighted by a White-tailed Hawk. We also added five year birds to our list: American Crow, Carolina Chickadee, Sedge Wren, and Vesper and Song Sparrows, for a total of eighteen species. A lucky tip from another birder confirmed a Sprague’s Pipit on the shoulder of the road.
Next, we headed to Cibolo and Crescent Bend Nature Park. This area, once a trailer park devastated by floods, now offers diverse habitats and numerous trails. We tallied 27 species, with the biggest surprise being a Barred Owl calling in the early afternoon. Here, we added seven more year birds: Eurasian Collared Dove, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Black-crested Titmouse, American Goldfinch, House Finch, Chipping Sparrow, and Great-tailed Grackle.
San Antonio
After a long but successful day of birding, we made our first visit to San Antonio. We were moved by seeing the Alamo and understanding the history behind this symbol of Texas pride. The Riverwalk has so much to offer, with its abundance of dining and shopping options. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Boudro’s, a new American Bistro. They even offer a dining option on a barge while you float down the river, passing the colorful boats.
Saturday morning, we joined the San Antonio Audubon Society bird walk at Mitchell Lake Audubon Center. While waiting for the group to assemble, we birded the grounds and feeders, spotting a Lincoln’s Sparrow, Spotted Towhee, and Pyrrhuloxia. Our group leader identified an Audubon’s Oriole call, which we heard several times. If we had known it was a lifer for us, we would have definitely asked to spend more time trying to see it!
Pyrrhuloxia
The group then caravanned around the property, where we tallied 45 species in two hours. The lakes were filled with seven different duck species, including 600 Northern Shovelers and 150 Ruddy Ducks. Unfortunately, we had to leave at 10 a.m. to get to our next destination.
Whooping Cranes
One of the main goals of our trip was to see Whooping Cranes, a bird we had only seen once before in Central Florida during our ‘Little Big Year’ of 2015. We checked into the Inn at Fulton Harbor and walked across the street to board our tour boat. The ride out to Aransas Bay was a little rough, but it was well worth it when we saw our first Whooping Crane. We ended up seeing a total of 19, and highly recommend taking the tour with Rockport Adventures.
On the ride back, we stopped to see Long-billed Curlews and Long-billed Dowitchers. A true surprise was spotting an American Bittern right on the lawn in front of our inn! The final count for this tour was 39 species and seven year birds, including Crested Caracara, Yellow-crowned Night Heron, and Lesser Black-backed Gull.
King Ranch
Our last birding adventure was a tour of the Santa Gertrudis Unit of King Ranch in Kingsville. This immense working ranch has been active since the 1800s. Our guide, Whitney Lanfranco, was both an excellent birder and incredibly knowledgeable about the ranch’s history. We knew this would be a bonanza for our Texas target birds, and just outside the parking lot, we saw one of our favorites, the Great Kiskadee.
Our first stop was an old wooden trestle where we saw a Neotropic Cormorant, a Belted Kingfisher, and several Crested Caracara. As we wound our way along the ranch roads, we checked the cactus patches for Curve-billed Thrasher without success. We briefly stopped at a horse corral (cowboys on horseback still do much of the work), where a male Vermilion Flycatcher was hawking bugs. The area also had large numbers of Western Meadowlark and Sandhill Cranes, as well as both Golden-fronted and Ladder-backed Woodpeckers.
Some of the pasture roads are accessed by “bump gates”—turnstile-type gates that can be opened by a vehicle’s bumper and close automatically, so you don’t have to get out. We went through several on our way to the feeders, where we also spotted a couple of Pyrrhuloxia. As soon as our guide put out a special feed, birds arrived from all directions, including Green Jays, Long-billed Thrashers, Black-crested Titmice, and White-tipped Doves. An Olive Sparrow was a very nice addition to our list.
On the final leg of the tour, we drove along Reservoir Number 5, which was teeming with ducks, including Blue-winged and Green-winged Teals, Ruddy Ducks, and Northern Shovelers. After a patient search, we got great looks at several Least Grebes, always a special waterbird for us. As we headed back toward the Visitor Center, one bird after another popped out of the grass next to the tire ruts and flew high into the air. It was the elusive Sprague’s Pipit—a perfect way to end our tour. The bird list was too long to mention, but you can find the complete eBird checklist [here].
This was our second trip to the King Ranch, our first being with the Rio Grande Bird Festival, where we birded the Norias Division at the south end of the property. King Ranch offers a variety of birding tours, including overnight options due to its immense size. We will definitely be back and highly recommend this Texas gem to all our birder friends.
Trip Birds: 116 Year Birds: 44 Life Birds: 1
Next Up: South Florida Birding and Glamping
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