Hi,
My wife and I are planning a trip in April/ May are I seek your help;
1) Which is the best book to giving sites and appropriate maps/ directions?
2) Plan would be to do North of Jasper, Baytown, Rockport and Brownsville areas; I am not sure if we have the time to fit in Concon areas; i have take these areas from the various birding trip reports from birding companies, sadly a bit outside our budget; have I picked up the best areas?
3) I have looked at the info on the Whooping Cranes; some says they leave by the end of March but others suggest they stay well into April; do you know which is correct?
3) Any help is much appreciated and if anybody is out birding and would like some company we would welcome it; happy to reciprocate if folks get to the UK
My thanks in advance/ Mike
#1) Agree w/the above.
#2). In April, I would stay closer to the coast. High Island, Sabine Woods, Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge are just a few places in E. TX that are excellent birding hotspots in April, and sometimes into May. Personally, I doubt that I would go north of Jasper. Look at the Texas Ornithlogical Society and the Houston Audubon Society websites for more information on these and other great birding sites. In the central coastal area you have Rockport/Aransas Pass/Port Aransas areas. You can also find good birding areas on their websites too.
For south TX, there are a great number of places, all outlined in the book suggested above. But please keep in mind that by May, it gets *very* warm in S. TX. In fact, that area has already had temps above 90 degrees this year, and today's high temp in the Donna/Edinburgh area will be around 91 or so. This means that by May, it will be above 90 degrees every day, unless there just happens to be a storm over you. If you are not used to 90+ degree days, you might do S. TX (aka "The Valley", as in Rio Grande Valley) in April. This unfortunately takes you away from the excellent upper coastal sites that are best seen in April. Too bad you can't be in two places at once! At any rate, definitely hit up the state parks and NWR's along the border.
Concan is a beautiful area, but you won't see the diversity of birds in "The Hill Country" as you will see along the coast and The Valley.
#3) Both are correct. It just depends. Each year is different. This past winter has been much warmer than average, so I have to wonder if that won't affect migration. At any rate, I can tell you the Whoopers were there last month :king:
Some additional info: Sea Rim State Park has a cabin you can rent. You would be close to the beach, and the TOS site called Sabine Woods. The state park system has a website.
There is a small and extremely basic hotel in High Island, and is within walking distance to the main birding site called Boy Scout Woods. The people are friendly, but it's not much to look at. But it will put you right in the middle of some great places to go to. But for April and May, you have to book early. If you can't get a room there, the small town of Winnie has hotels, and is about 15 miles away.
Port Aransas has many hotels, but as it is a small resort town, the prices can get rather high, especially after school lets out for the summer. You might look for a VRBO place there.
For the Valley, there are several hotels/lodges that cater to birders. They have websites. Friendly people, and great sources of birding info.