30 new species scored around High Island, not a bad way to kick off our time in Texas!  Pre-dawn (despite the jetlag) found us at Anhuac National Wildlife Refuge, where we met Michael Retter from Tropical Birding, last seen by us in Mexico and now working at High Island.  Our birding started with us standing in the freezing cold straining our ears to hear Rails, Yellow and Black Rails that is.  The Rails however had more sense than us, and had obviously opted to stay curled up in the reeds to avoid the unseasonal cold.  As the light came up, we began to see lots of birds.  Seaside Sparrow was our first tick of the day, a singing male perched up in a small bush.  Next came an American Bittern that rather bizarrely landed in the middle of the track and stood completely in the open for several minutes.  Anhuac is a very special reserve – a mixture of open water, reed swamp, wet grassland with a few isolated patches of scrub with dirt tracks circumnavigating major habitats allowing great viewing from the car, and boardwalks if you wish to venture further.  Shallow water areas were checked for waders and we were soon rewarded with views of Stilt Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, both Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and Long-billed Dowitchers.  Squadrons of Fulvous Whistling Ducks and White-faced Ibis left their roosts and headed out to feed.  Our mammal list was boosted by the sighting of a pair of Otters feeding in a trackside ditch before lolloping across the road and disappearing into the reeds.Next we visited some flooded fields east of Winnie where hundreds of waders were feeding, though mostly at the back of the fields so quite distant.  The majority of the birds proved to be American Golden Plovers.  Careful scanning also produced Pectoral, Least and Baird’s Sandpipers, Semi-palmated Plovers and Whimbrel.We then drove down to the coast and headed out to Bolivar Flats to join a Houston Audubon walk guided by Sam Woods and Michael.  As always, Bolivar Flats was alive with birds and we enjoyed great close up views of terns, gulls and waders.  Offshore, a flock of 18 Lesser Scaup bobbed on the waves and further along the beach we found three Scoters, which on close examination proved to be two Surf Scoter and one drake White-winged Scoter, both new species for our year list.Leaving the others behind, we checked a nearby tidal area, and again scored great waders.  New birds for the day here included American Avocet and Marbled Godwit.  We were also surprised to see three Common Loons (Great Northern Divers) fishing in the waters here.  Heading back east along the coast towards High Island we stopped off at Rollover Pass where a huge flock of Black Skimmer were roosting on the sandbanks.Smith Oaks Wood back on High Island was our final destination of the day.  Migrants were quite scarce; however we found quality if not quantity including great looks at Cerulean Warbler, Prothonotary Warbler, and Worm-eating Warbler.  Our total for the day was a respectable 115 species, including 30 new birds for our yearlist.Bird Species list: 1944
Posted 8pm, 14th April, High Island, Texas