The Race to 300

So far this year has gotten off to a much better start than I expected. I owe a lot of that to going out to Utah and California. I got about 29 year birds off of those 2 trips. Outside of those trips, I've made a West Texas trip, like I did last year. After that trip I was around 215 or so, and right now I am sitting at 238. So far, I am on pace to shatter my record of 272 year birds. I really want to get to 300 this year, and I think I have a chance. The number is important to me not because of the number itself, but it symbolizes a really solid year of birding. That shows with the year I've had so far. In 5 months I have been all over the country birding, and I've had some amazing experiences. I want to keep that rolling through the summer. I've made some tentative plans through the summer of where I plan to go and what I hope to see, as well as some birds I've missed along the way.

I move to Houston on Thursday to start my first big boy job. Although that's less time to bird each week, I've mostly cleaned up on Dallas birds, but Houston one of the best birding areas of Texas. Most of these are day trips, and I would welcome some company on them. I'll throw in some pictures, although a heads up a ton of these aren't mine. After I visit I should have some good pics.

WG Jones State Forest
Jones State Forest in The Woodlands is a pine forest that is the best place to find the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker. Other year birds here are the stunning Red-headed Woodpecker, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Great-crested Flycatcher, Pine Warbler, and Yellow-breasted Chat. I've been here before  and I know where to look, so I should nab all 6 of these to get up to 244.

Pileated Woodpecker, another bird that can be found at WG Jones State Forest

Smith Point Hawkwatch

This will be an early August day trip out to Smith Point on the east side of Trinity Bay. This is a place to see thousands of migrating raptors as they head south. I should finally get Broad-winged Hawk, and in addition to that I should get a lifer Swallow-tailed Kite and White-tailed Hawk. I am expecting to get Wood Stork and lifer Magnificent Frigatebird as well, which are 2 fantastic birds. I got Wood Stork and White-tailed Hawk last year, but not the other three. Lifers/birds I missed last year are the key to getting to 300. If I get all 5, as expected with BirdsEye data, I'll go up to 249.

Red-shouldered Hawk is another migrant raptor that can be seen at Smith Point

Brazos Bend State Park

Brazos Bend is one of the best state parks in the state. Known for it's insane amount of alligators, it also has some great birding opportunities. I picked up a ton of wading birds last year at Quintana and Lafitte's Cove that I haven't gotten this year, and I have a chance to get them this here. Anhinga is as close to automatic as it can get here, and I am almost assured to get Tricolored and Green Heron as well. After this it looks the only wader I should be missing is Reddish Egret. I should be able to get lifers Purple Gallinule and Prothonotary Warbler, which would be big. Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Acadian Flycatcher, and Red-eyed Vireo are all possibilities, and I think 1 out of those 3 should be a lock. I'd expect another 5 here to go up to 254.

Yellow-crowned Night Heron should be almost a sure thing at Brazos Bend

Galveston Island State Park

Another great state park, Galveston Island should bring in some needed coastal birds. Mottled and Black-bellied Whistling-Duck are resident, and Reddish Egret appears to be a common find. White-tailed Kite is present, and Least and Royal Terns should be there as well. Black Skimmer is another great bird I hope to find there, and if not I can search for it at San Jacinto. Dickcissel and Bronzed Cowbird are possible, and I bet I get one of those. I also have an outside chance at Clapper Rail.

An August trip to Apffel Park that I can do the same day can get some great shorebirds. American Oystercatcher, Snowy, Piping, and Wilson's Plover, Red Knot will all be there as will Black, Common, Royal, Least, Caspian, and Sandwich Terns. The big possible bird is Pomarine Jaeger, but I won't hold my breath for that. A few sandpipers could be in play as well. I think expecting 15 year birds here is a fair expectation, bumping me up to 269. Pomarine Jaeger, Clapper Rail, and Red Knot are the few birds I doubt I get, and getting all 3 is not happening.

I'd expected Semipalmated Plover somewhere on Galveston

Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge

I should have included this with Smith Point. It's a great NWR that I have visited before, and it will offer some great chances at other birds. Seaside Sparrow is the big kahuna for me here, and it is the only sparrow being reported, and since I'm garbage at sparrows it'll help me ID it. Dickcissel is another almost given, and Marsh Wren was abundant last time I went as well. 3 year birds are likely and that'll get me to 272, what I finished with last year.

Rio Grande Valley

My big likely August weekend trip will likely be to the Rio Grande Valley, one of the birding holy lands that every birder must go to. While plans are far from finalized, I picked up an insane number of year birds last August. I hit I think 25, which got me up to 250 by the end of the summer. Last year I did the east side of the valley one weekend and the west side in December. Having been twice, I kind of have a better idea of where to go now. For the sake of this we'll say Estero Llano Grande, Santa Ana, and Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park, which are in my opinion the 3 best birding sites.  Plain Chachalaca, Least Grebe, Harris's Hawk, Gray Hawk, White-tipped Dove, Groove-billed Ani, Buff-bellied Hummer, Green Kingfisher, Northern-beardless Tyrannulet, Great Kiskadee, Couch's and Tropical Kingbird, Green Jay, Clay-colored Thrush, Olive Sparrow, Hooded and Altamire Oriole, Green Parakeet, Red-crowned Amazon, and Ringed Kingfisher are a good chunk of the year birds we can get there. 25 is a conservative estimate, putting me at 297 year birds.

Altamira Oriole

Plain Chachalaca

Common Paraque

I'm really pumped for this summer. I should be able to get all of these sites in 3 months, as most are day trips I can do on the weekends and one weekend trip. I didn't realize that I could get to 300 by September. 4 day trips and weekend trip. There are plenty of other chances. Chambers and Harris usually get a good rarity or 2 in the summer, and this time I don't have Fish Camp from keeping me from a Jabiru chase. I left out Yellow-billed Cuckoo, a bird I should get but I won't know where as they're tough to see, and Tropical Parula/Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, as that will be it's own trip that I have to ask myself if I want to do it (I do, I just don't know if I'll have time). I think 1 rarity over the summer is chaseable for me as well. There is a late summer Pelagic trip out of Port Aransas that I would jump on if the dates line up well in addition.

I'm always looking for a partner on these trips. It makes it a lot more fun, especially on a chase. Please hit me up if you like what you read and want to book your ticket for a coastal birding trip!