Bird Galveston’s East End with one of the world’s most famous birders! In 1998, Greg zig-zagged 130,000 miles across the USA hoping to reach at least 700 species of birds in one calendar year.
We start our journey mid-afternoon traveling down Boddecker Rd stopping several times while traversing the East End Lagoon Nature Park and Preserve, ending at the Gulf. You will experience all the habitats associated with a barrier island, beach, dunes, uplands, freshwater ponds, brackish lagoons, black mangroves, and tidal and non-tidal wetlands. This diverse area supports a variety of food sources that attract many species of birds. Raptors hunt in the grassy uplands, which also serve as a breeding ground and place to winter for other birds. Sandpipers, plovers, herons, and egrets pick along the sandy edges of the lagoon and ship channel, and large flocks of gulls, pelicans, terns, and cormorants often cover the sandbars on the beach.
Later in the afternoon we head to Corps Woods, and possibly the Texas A&M Pelican Island wetlands, area to watch the afternoon arrival of migrants. Corps Woods is host to late wintering passerines, migrating songbirds and nesting waders. The Texas A&M Wetlands provides one of the Island’s best mulberry and hackberry groves with small freshwater pond grassy open areas and bay shoreline. April migration catches the grosbeak, tanagers, orioles, buntings, including painted, both species of cuckoo, 8-12 species of warblers as well as White-eyed and Warbling Vireo, Swamp and Lincoln Sparrow. American Kestrel, Red-shouldered Hawk and Merlin can be seen feeding on rodents and birds. The usual resident waders, terns and night herons will be easily spotted.
This trip provides the opportunity to see a large diversity of birds up close.
Bring: water, snacks, sunscreen, insect repellent
