Days 2-5: High Island, Anahuac NWR, and the coast. Four full days will be spent birding some of the coastal hotspots. Weather will dictate our specific course of action every day, and we won't hesitate to drop everything and scream over to High Island if it looks like a fallout is likely. If the weather cooperates, the island should literally be crawling with hungry birds, including Kentucky, Prothonotary, and Hooded Warblers, Northern Waterthrush, Orchard Oriole, Indigo Bunting, Yellow-throated Vireo, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak. During times like this, you can bank on a rarity or two amidst the wave of more common migrants. Although they are never to be expected, birds like Black-whiskered Vireo and Townsend’s Warbler are not out of the question if a major fallout hits High Island. We'll spend some time birding Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, a good site for Seaside Sparrow. Peering through the reeds, we hope to spy a Purple Gallinule or Fulvous Whistling-Duck, and by scouring the coastal prairie we might even turn up Yellow or Black Rails. Adjacent rice fields often play host to great numbers of shorebirds; we’ll comb through more common species in search of show stoppers like Hudsonian Godwit, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, or the elegant Wilson’s Phalarope. These boggy pastures are also a haven for wading birds, and we should expect to see Roseate Spoonbill, White Ibis, White-faced Ibis, Tricolored Heron, Little Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, and even Glossy Ibis. We will stay in the town of Winnie, a perfect base for hitting the top migrant spots, not to mention a great place for its mouth-watering Cajun food.

Day 6: Pineywoods. We’ll hit a number of important bird areas in the Pineywoods region, such as Angelina National Forest, Boykin Springs, the Jasper Fish Hatchery, Martin Dies State Park, and Big Creek Scenic Area. Targets include Louisiana Waterthrush and Pileated Woodpecker, and a host of other warblers, including Worm-eating, Prairie, and Swainson’s Warblers. With a bit of luck, we’ll find a graceful Swallow-tailed Kite gliding over the treetops.

Day 7: Pineywoods. We will head to a known spot for one of the tour’s rarest, most wanted birds, the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker. These beautiful mature southern pine forests are the last stronghold for this striking woodpecker, that has declined dramatically in the last century due to large-scale logging of its habitat. We will arrive at dawn near the nesting areas for some of these handsome birds and hope to catch sight of their exodus as they head out to feed for the day. Even before they emerge, the ethereal song of Bachman’s Sparrow echoing through this special forest should enchant us. Later on, we can look for stunning Red-headed Woodpeckers, lively troops of Brown-headed Nuthatches, and entertaining parties of chunky, vivid-red Summer Tanagers moving through the treetops.

Day 8: The coast and the Bolivar Peninsula. We have one more day along the coast, birding wherever weather conditions are suitable. An evening trip to the famous Bolivar Peninsula is just fantastic, as thousands upon thousands of terns, gulls, and shorebirds come to roost for the evening. The pace of the birding could be frenetic as we comb these massive mobs on the shoreline for particular target species. We’ll look for pallid Snowy Plovers and elegant American Avocets on the beach, as well as searching the dunes and adjacent grasses for Wilson’s Plovers, well-endowed Long-billed Curlews, and Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrows.

Day 9: Galveston Island and Brazoria. Our last morning offers another chance at migrants, as well as a trip to Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge, home to some southerly coastal prairie species like White-tailed Kite, Crested Caracara, and White-tailed Hawk. We may even have a chance to view the seriously rare and endangered “Attwater’s” Greater Prairie-Chicken on its lekking grounds before we return to Houston for our last night. 

Day 10: Departure. We’ll say our goodbyes this morning as the tour ends.