Trip to High Island -- Intro

Trip to High Island...and a whole lot more.  It has been over a week since we returned from five days for a nature trip along the Texas coast, or what is commonly referred to there as "birding tourism".  Although we are novice birders at best, it was a very interesting trip.  We did not see many of the small migrating warblers we expected, but that was more than made up for by an up close and personal encounter we had with two large birds--two whooping cranes!  I never expected to see them in person in my lifetime.  There will be more on them to follow in a future blog.

Two whooping cranes in a rice field northwest of Winnie, Texas.  Each bird is over five feet tall.  Note the colored bands and the radio transmitter visible on the left leg of the bird in front.

As is usually the case for me, I also learned a lot about some new locations, including some interesting history.  Unfortunately I am just now getting to writing this blog. 

Observations on iNaturalist.  "What took you so long to start the blog?" you may be thinking.  Well, most of my spare time over the last week has been pouring over the nearly 3000 pictures we took on the trip and getting the critters (and some plants) identified and posted as observations on iNaturalist.  Some were similar to the types of things we see and recognize at home but others were totally new to us.  Observations for each day are at these links.  Click on individual pictures within each link to see the actual observation details.  April 10, April 11, April 12, April 13, April 14.

What is High Island and why is it special in the birding world?  High Island is an unincorporated town of several hundred people (500 in the 2000 census, but probably fewer now) on the eastern end of the Bolivar Peninsula.  Bolivar Peninsula is a narrow strip of land, really a barrier island but connected to the mainland on the east end, that is east of Galveston Island.  The southern boundary is the Gulf, while the northern boundary is the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) and Galveston Bay.

Satellite view of Bolivar Peninsula (outlined in red).  The round feature that almost fills the large eastern end of the red outline is High Island. 

In driving around the entire region it was obviously very flat, but that did not completely hit home to me until I saw a tall structure in the distance as we were driving south along Texas Highway 124 towards High Island from Winnie.  It stood out since there were so few landmarks.  My first thought was that it was a grain elevator in the distance, certainly a common sight in Texas.  No it was not. It was the bridge of a tugboat pushing a barge along the ICW. It is always a bit disconcerting when you feel you are looking up to see boats.

Lots of flatness and no landmarks.  We were unfamiliar with the grasses, but they were very tall.  The grasses here were not nearly as tall as in other fields, but were still nearly the height of the fence posts.  Taken from the road in Anahuac NWR. 

I also did not realize how much water was in some of the fields until we were looking down from the height of the 124 bridge that goes over the ICW a few miles north of High Island.

High Island also refers to the fact that the town sits on a salt dome which is about 1 mile in diameter and 38 feet high.  This makes it one of the highest points along the Gulf Coast between the Yucatan Peninsula and Mobile, Alabama.  For comparison, most of the remainder of the Bolivar Peninsula is only about five feet above sea level. It truly is an island at those times when hurricanes hit the region, which is all too often.  The region between Freeport (just south of Galveston) and High Island averages being hit by a named tropical storm once every eight years. 

The importance of the height from a bird's perspective is the presence of trees.  The higher elevation makes it one of the very few locations in the region where trees can grow.  The water table is just too close to the surface every place else for trees to survive.

Migrant birds from Central and South America make the spring migration north across the Gulf of Mexico from the Yucatan Peninsula to the Texas coast, a trip of 600 miles. Under favorable conditions the birds leave Mexico just after sunset (traveling at night to avoid predators) and head north across the Gulf.  High Island is an oasis of trees for small birds such as warblers after the long journey over water.

Scarlet Tanager chilling across the street from Boy Scout Woods Sanctuary on Thursday morning. 

Recognizing the unusual (and critical) nature of High Island for the migrating birds, the Houston Audubon Society began assembling land on High Island in the 1980's.  HAS has continued to acquire land and has established multiple bird sanctuaries in town as well as several along the shore on Bolivar Peninsula.
 

Fallout.  With good weather the trip across the Gulf takes typical warblers about 18 hours.  Arriving on the Texas coast midday some of these birds will stop on the coast, although many will continue inland until nightfall.  However, conditions occasionally exist where strong north winds and rain trigger a phenomenon called "fallout."  The wind and rain slows the birds trying to make the crossing, causing them to rapidly use up their stored energy. Thousands of tired migrants seek shelter and food as soon as they reach the coast.  At times the numbers of birds are so great they fill the trees and nearly cover the ground.  According to the Houston Audubon Society website:

During a typical fallout, Houston Audubon sanctuaries are used by the majority of species of the neotropical migrants that nest in the forests of eastern North America. Often, more individual species are found here than could be found in several thousand acres of prime Appalachian forests. For birdwatchers, fallouts can provide an exceptional birdwatching experience, as the birds are very tired and hungry and seem oblivious of humans.

Needless to say, we did not experience a fallout while we were there.  In fact, even the veterans commented repeatedly about how few birds they were seeing.  We did not care.  It was all new to us and we were having fun.