For narrative and list from 2007 tour click here
This 8 night, 9 day birding trip in SOUTH TEXAS is a tined tuned version of trips I have led and organized in Texas in April 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. Specifically, participants will be picked up on Sunday April 11th, 2010 morning between 9 and 10 am in San Antonio (airport hotel pickups are easiest). It concludes with drop off at the San Antonio Airport/or airport hotel at 1 pm on Monday April 19th, 2010.
HOW BIG IS THE GROUP?: The group size limited to 8 participants. We will use a 15 passenger van for transportation. One seat will be removed to make room for luggage, cooler and scopes. This should give everyone a good amount of room. If the trip does not fill, then a small party supplement may be necessary.
The route is designed as a nice SAMPLER of southeast Texas, so it includes the HILL COUNTRY, the LOWER Rio Grande Valley, and SOME coastal migrant traps (but NOT High Island or the Upper Coast). This route should produce some spectacular birding, including representative birds, rare birds, and a species total in the 245-270 range. In addition this trip tentatively includes a day visit and guided birding tour of the famous King Ranch in south central Texas (to be confirmed).
Participants will be picked up in San Antonio this morning between 9 and 10 am. We will drive west into hill country stopping enroute for lunch. Hill country is a magical place in spring. Carpets of bluebonnets appear after spring rains, and the landscape is marked by dramatic crystal clear rivers, deeply cut limestone gorges and rolling hillsides covering with juniper and emerging big tooth maples. The birdlife is very different from the rest of South Texas and the experience is sure to be a highlight of your trip. The afternoon will be spent birding the grounds of Neals Lodge where we will make our first attempt for the breeding endemic Golden-cheeked Warbler and the endangered Black-capped Vireo. After checking in to our accommodations we will enjoy an early dinner at the lodge restaurant overlooking the river (and complete with hummingbird feeders). Accommodations at the lodge will likely not be in the cabins of Neals, but in two private homes adjacent to Neals and managed by Neals. These two homes are clean, comfortable and well appointed and very private. In addition to the birds, a major high point of the plateau will be an evening viewing one of the continents most incredible natural spectacles: the emergence of millions of Mexican Free-tailed Bats from a centuries old roost cave. As they emerge small numbers of raptors stoop on the columns of bats, grabbing a meal stunning speed and agility. Pending weather we will visit the roost cave this evening after dinner.
Meals included: L, D
All day Monday and early Tuesday morning will be spent birding hill country in search of specialties. Our main targets there will be the plateaus two endangered breeders: Black-capped Vireo and Golden-cheeked Warbler. We will use Neal's Lodge, a well known birders haven, as our base of operations. They do a fabulous job of catering to birders. The lodge grounds have many bird feeders and water features to attract resident and migrant birds. Among these are Black-throated Sparrow, Hooded Oriole, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Lesser Goldfinch, Canyon Towhee, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Vermilion Flycatcher, House Finch, and Verdin. The plateau also holds a number of resident and migrant breeding species (ie. Western Scrub Jay, Bushtit, Bell's Vireo, Black Phoebe, Scott's Oriole, Zone-tailed Hawk, Rufous-crowned Sparrow) that are absent or much easier to see than in the rest of southeast Texas.
We will spend a second night at Neals and then after a full morning of birding we will make our way south to the town of Kingsville. Kingsville is the main commercial centre and nearest town to the enormous privately owned King Ranch.
Today we will have a very early start and a box breakfast. This is an exciting day because we will have almost the entire day to bird on the famous King Ranch. We will meet our guide in the southern part of the ranch at 6 am, so a very early start is needed (4 to 4:30am). It will be worth it because today our targets are Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, Northern Beardless Tyrannulet, Tropical Parula and Audubon's Oriole. The ranch holds the largest US populations of all these species! Other rarities such as Masked Duck have turned up in recent years, but these are much less reliable.
We will spend most of the day birding on the ranch with a local guide. After lunch we will try to clean up any targets that we have missed and work the ranch for migrants which are often attracted by pockets of fresh water on the property. In mid afternoon, we will continue south towards the town of Weslaco where we will spend the next three nights.
Weslaco be our base for three nights. Using this area as a base for three days has several advantages. It's central to Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, Bentsen-Rio Grande State Park, Anzalduas County Park, parrot roosts and many other great areas, AND, if the weather looks good for a fallout on the coast, we will be within a hours drive. Having a three day window here, gives us a better shot at hitting at least a small fallout on South Padre Island (but there are no guarantees).
Common birds we can expect to see while in the lower valley include Neotropic Cormorant, Reddish Egret, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Harris's Hawk, Crested Caracara, Plain Chachalaca, White-winged Dove, Inca Dove, White-tipped Dove, Common Pauraque, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Golden-fronted and Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Great Kiskadee, Couch's Kingbird, Brown-crested Flycatcher, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Chihuahuan Raven, Cave Swallow, Long-billed Thrasher, Olive Sparrow, Altamira Oriole and Bronzed Cowbird. Rarer species we will specifically search for, and have a fair chance of seeing include Least Grebe, Fulvous Whistling-Duck, Hook-billed Kite, White-tailed Kite, Gray Hawk, Red-crowned Parrot, Green Parakeet, Elf Owl, Northern Beardless Tyrannulet, Tropical Kingbird and Tropical Parula, Clay-coloured Robin and Cassin's Sparrow (13 out of 13 of these scarcer species in 2003 and 2004, and 12 out of 13 in 2005). Again, don't expect to see them all, but we should get a good number. In addition, there is always the chance of a real rarity such as Rose-throated Becard (2003 and 2005), Crimson-collared Grosbeak (2005), or Gray-crowned Yellowthroat or the like.
On one of our days in McAllen, we will likely head east to South Padre Island, and spend most of the day on the coast searching for migrants and water birds. If a cold front hits just right, Padre can be teeming with songbirds, but it can also be quiet. Even if the songbirds don't co-operate this is a fabulous spot for egrets, herons, plovers (including Snowy, Piping and Wilson's), terns, rails and a host of other waterbirds. If there are Cassin's and or Botteri's Sparrows on territory, nesting Aplomado Falcon (seen virtually every year) or Tamaulipas Crows lingering, this also is the day we will take a shot at these species.
After checking out of our hotel, we will have a full morning in the lower valley to clean up and targets that have been missed in the past two days. We may visit sites such as Anzalduas Country Park and Bentsen State Park if we havent made it there yet. Then we will continue up the valley in search of a small group of species with very limited ranges in the US. Targets here will include Red-billed Pigeon, Muscovy Duck, Brown Jay, Green and Ringed Kingfishers, White-collared Seedeater, Hook-billed Kite and Audubon's Oriole. Aside from the kingfishers, all of these species are exceptionally difficult to find, but we will hope to cross paths with some of them.
Our final morning will be spent birding sites along the Rio Grande Valley in search of any targets that were missed the day before. Once it warms up, we will move north towards San Antonio, making several stops for scrub specialists such as Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Verdin, Cactus Wren, Black-throated and Cassin's Sparrows, Roadrunner, Harris's Hawk and if we are lucky, Scaled Quail (increasingly scarce and difficult).
We will arrive in Corpus Christi in late afternoon and may have time to check some migrant traps before a final dinner together.
Meals included: BLD
For our final morning together, we will bird some of the well known migrant traps in the Corpus Christi area. The most likely sites we will visit are Blucher Park and Tule Lake, but this will depend upon recent sightings and weather. We will depart in mid morning and make our way back to San Antonio airport arriving no later than 1 pm. Participants will be dropped off at the airport for outbound flights and/or to catch hotel or car rental shuttles if they are staying on. Please do not book flight departures before 2:30 pm today.
Meals included: B
The focus of the trip will be birding, and because it will be warm, especially in the lower valley, we will focus on getting out in the field early, taking it easy or making transfers in the middle of the day, and again birding in the evening when it is cooler. In the lower valley, we will likely take a break in the heat of the day for a couple of hours, when birding is much less productive. On most days, we will have breakfast at 6:00 or 6:30 am and go birding immediately afterwards. On a few occasions we will have earlier departures (4:30 am) to necessitate arrival at birding sites at key times for activity. In the lower valley we may bird first and then eat breakfast in mid morning. On most nights we will try to start supper between 6pm and 7:30pm, but on one night on the plateau we will take an early supper and go out to watch the bats emerge at dusk, and on another evening in McAllen we will have a picnic supper at Bensten so we can have a shot at Elf Owl and Pauraque in the evening. The terrain on the plateau is hilly but we won't be doing any strenuous walks. In the valley, its as flat as a pancake, but it can be real hot. Our longest walk will likely be at Santa Ana, where we will be walking most of the morning, but will start when it is cool at dawn.
What about Critters, Snakes, Bugs and Other Hazards?
The biggest hazards in my experience are SUN and CHIGGERS. Wearing a sun hat, drinking lots of cold water, using lots of sunscreen, and taking it easy at midday, should easily take care of the sun problem. Chiggers (also known as redbugs) are a small mite that are too small to see, and have a bad habit of chewing on our warmer, moister regions (armpits, groin, etc). Their bites can be mighty itchy. Seeing as I hate the darn things, we will do our level best to avoid walking in any grass that might harbour this little devils, but still we'll probably pick up a few here and there. A bug spray with high DEET sprayed liberally around the ankles or waist usually keeps them at bay. Sulphur powder is another deterrent though it can be a bit messy to transport (best done in some old pantyhose). There are also a number of venomous snakes in Texas, but chances are slim to none that we will see any (unfortunately). Bug spray is also helpful to ward off mosquitoes in some locales. But all in all, Texas in spring is a warm comfortable place to bird.
The cost, from San Antonio, is US $2175 per person, based upon double occupancy. This includes: 8 nights accommodations, guiding daily, ground transportation in 15 passenger van, entrance fees to public parks, entrance fees for several private properties and tours at these sites (King Ranch, and the Bat Cave), all meals (eight breakfasts, eight dinners, eight lunches), cold drinks in the field (water, pop), use of a telescope provided by the leader, checklist, full trip report, group photo. Please note that the amount does not include alcoholic beverages, items of a personal nature, or items not specifically listed as inclusives. Also, I generally buy bags of fresh fruit and trail mix for the group for snacks in the van, but if you have other specific snacks you like you should purchase those for personal consumption.
The cost includes 8 breakfasts (B), 8 dinners (D), and 8 lunches (L) as follows: 11th (LD), 12th (BLD), 13th (BLD), 14th (BLD), 15th (BLD), 16th (BLD), 17th (BLD), 18th (BLD), 19th (B).
On the Edwards plateau, we will be staying at private homes rented by Neal's Lodge, a well known haven for birders. I have tentatively reserved two private cabins that Neals rents which are a cut above their usual accommodations. However, depending on how our group comes together (couples, singles, gender, etc), we may have to change this slightly or use one of Neals regular cabins as well. In either case, there will have to be some bathroom and common facility sharing for these two nights. This will be more than compensated by the birding at this wonderful lodge.
At all other locations we will be staying at chain motels such as Best Western or Holiday Inn Express.
Single bookings are easily accommodated, but single accommodations are not guaranteed at Neal's Lodge, only at motels. A single supplement will be charged (estimated at US $400).
Reservations will be taken on a FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED basis. Because a number of folks have already expressed an interest, I am sending this message out to everyone together. To reserve a spot, please email me at peleetom@netcore.ca or call at 1 519 981-5994 giving the name(s) of participants, email, phone number and address. I ask for US $400 per person deposit when you reserve. You can forward this to me via personal check made out to me and mailed to P.O. Box 281, RR#1, Wheatley, Ontario. Canada N0P 2P0. The deposit allows me to pre pay some of the stuff that needs to be done ahead of our trip.
Final payment: payment in full is due January 11th, 2010.
Please keep in mind that there are only 8 spaces available for this trip, so if you are seriously interested don't hesitate.
If you cancel from January 11th, 2010 to February 10th, 2010 - fifty percent of your total tour costs are forfeit. Any balance paid over the fifty percent of the total cost due will be refunded.
Cancellation after February 10th, 2010 will result in forfeit of the entire tour fee. No funds will be refunded.
Of course, if we cancel at any time, all funds remitted will be fully
refunded.
I'm sure I've forgotten some important details, so please don't hesitate to give me a call, or drop me an email (I read my email every few hours during the workday). You can contact me at (519) 981-5994 or peleetom@netcore.ca