Migration Road Trip – East from Houston

April 3^rd – 14^th, 2024 ~ Our anniversary is in early April, and we decided to celebrate with a road trip to Dauphin Island, Alabama, a location known for its numerous birding opportunities, located right on the coast, at the mouth of Mobile Bay.

Stops along our Migration Road Trip to Dauphin Island, Alabama

I planned our travel to allow exploring at additional birding locations between Houston and Dauphin Island. We planned stops at Sabine Woods, near Port Arthur, Texas; at Peveto Woods along a relatively isolated coastline just inside the Louisiana border; at Big Branch Marsh NWR near New Orleans, Louisiana; and finally, we would stay several days on Dauphin Island, Alabama.

Friends of this blog have recommended several of these locations, and eBird shows them as highly productive, with hundreds of species being identified each year. They have several things in common. They are the first stop for birds migrating north in the spring, following the Central and Mississippi Flyways, paths from South and Central America, up through Mexico or across the Gulf of Mexico and then across the continental US. They offer food, water, shelter and safe resting spots. They are typically isolated from industry, quiet sanctuaries. Let the adventure begin!

Graceful Willet showing hint of black secondaries
1/3200 sec. f/7.1 ISO 800
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 600mm f/4 + 1.4x TC (850mm total)

In Port Arthur, Texas, I took an evening drive along South Levee Road, a long straight suggestion of a road along the edge of Pleasure Island. The narrow track runs alongside the heavy piles of stone and concrete that protect the edge of the island. Two Willets, Tringa semipalmata, posed for me (or, more likely, for each other) several times, up on the breakwater, facing into the afternoon sun. Willets do migrate, and some cover very long distances, but there is a population that stays along the upper Gulf Coast year-round; I suspect these two may have been among the permanent residents. (Range maps are at the bottom of this post.)

Savannah Sparrow, all fluffed up
1/3200 sec. f/7.1 ISO 800
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 600mm f/4 + 1.4x TC (850mm total)

Levee Road ended at Jared N. Logan Park, the first real parking spot I’d seen. I found this Savannah Sparrow, Passerculus sandwichensis, chasing bugs among the purple vetch. He could have spent the winter here along the coast, or in Mexico, but was headed for breeding grounds that spread from east coast to west coast across Canada and the northern US.

Savannah Sparrow among tendrils of vetch
1/3200 sec. f/7.1 ISO 800
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 600mm f/4 + 1.4x TC (850mm total)

The vetch was growing along a fence, out of reach of the mowers, and this narrow patch must have been rife with bugs. The sparrow stayed 10 feet in front of me, flying in and out of the tangled plants, as I walked along the lawn. Birds have the interesting ability to add and use body fat without impacting the function of other organs; they typically increase their body weight by 20% to 30% between segments of their migratory flight, then use that fuel on the next leg of their journey. I wondered whether this little guy was adding fat, or just trying to intimidate me with his impressive size?

Map from “Geology of the Chenier Plain of Cameron Parish, southwestern Louisiana”, by Donald E Owen, published by The Geological Society of America.

Sabine Woods Sanctuary, a project of the Texas Ornithological Society, is located just inside the Texas – Louisiana border, south of Port Arthur. It occupies 27 acres along TX-87 on a chenier ridge, approximately one mile inland from the coast. It is a delightful environment, and the air is alive with birdsong.

The word “chenier” is a Cajun-French word meaning “place of oaks”, and it was given to this Acadian strandplain by the early Cajun-French settlers. Louisianans pronounce it variously as “shin-ear” or “shen-year” or “shinny”, or “shen-yay”. The Live Oaks at Sabine Woods could easily be 100 – 150 years old; from photos online, there are a few oaks in the Louisiana chenier woodlands that could be over 500 years old. These massive trees have survived some serious hurricanes over the centuries.

A strand plain, or strandplain, is a broad belt of sand along a shoreline with a surface exhibiting well-defined parallel or semi-parallel sand ridges separated by shallow swales. Strand plains typically are created by the redistribution via waves and longshore currents of coarse sediment on either side of a river mouth. The ridges are typically 3 to 20 feet high, hundreds of feet wide, and several miles long. They are often wooded. Strand plains typically occur along shorelines characterized by generally low wave energy, low gradient, muddy shorelines, and abundant sediment supply, in this case, from the Sabine Pass waterway. I found the geography fascinating.

Adult male Hooded Warbler in breeding colors
1/2500 sec. f/5.6 ISO 2000
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 600mm f/4 + 1.4x TC (850mm total)

A Hooded Warbler, Setophaga citrina, was busy hunting for insects along a moldering log. This is an adult male, in breeding colors. He is just resting here along the coast, headed for his breeding grounds in the eastern half of the United States.

Hooded Warbler flicks his tail for bugs
1/2500 sec. f/5.6 ISO 2000
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 600mm f/4 + 1.4x TC (850mm total)

I was tickled to get a photo of him flicking his white tail feathers. The Hooded Warbler will hop from one perch to another in the shrubby understory, flicking his tail continuously to startle bugs into motion. A Pennsylvanian study temporarily darkened the tail feathers of some Hooded Warblers and then compared their hunting success with non-darkened birds. The birds with white tail feathers were more successful at catching insects than those with darkened tails.

Checking. Every. Single. Branch.
1/1600 sec f/5.6 ISO 2500
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 600mm f/4 + 1.4x TC (850mm total)

I sat and watched him for about 30 minutes. He left no branch unchecked for bugs, flitting back and forth, up and down, within a volume of roughly 30 feet, cubed.

Spotted Sandpiper at Sea Rim State Park
1/2500 sec. f/6.3 ISO 640
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 600mm f/4 + 1.4x TC (850mm total)

Sea Rim State Park was only six miles farther down the road, so I decided to make a quick visit, and I’m glad I did. I found this Spotted Sandpiper, Actitis macularius, a new bird for me, far away from the boardwalk. It was really too far, even for my long lens on a tripod, but I was so excited to see him I couldn’t resist – pardon the tiny crop.

Spotted Sandpiper spies something salty
1/2500 sec. f/6.3 ISO 640
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 600mm f/4 + 1.4x TC (850mm total)

His orange bill (he is the only sandpiper I’ve been able to find whose bill isn’t black, or mostly black) was radiant, back-lit by the late afternoon sun.

Cornell’s All About Birds describes the walking movement of the Spotted Sandpiper as tipsy, or teetering. But while I was watching, I didn’t get to see that – this one walked up and down the log with nary a wobble.

Splash!
1/2500 sec. f/6.3 ISO 640
Nikon D850 with Nikkor 600mm f/4 + 1.4x TC (850mm total)

The sandpipers I’ve seen so far probe the sand to find small animals. Who knew this one would be interested in plunging his bill into the water to capture prey?

The Spotted Sandpipers migrate over very long distances. This one may have wintered here along the coast, or may have already flown in from Argentina. They migrate north, finding breeding grounds along northern coasts, but also along a wide variety of inland lakes, ponds, rivers, sloughs, bayous, marshes, etc.

Unlike most other birds, the female selects the nest spots (plural) and defends them from trespassers. She usually mates with more than one male, laying eggs in multiple nests; the males accept the brooding responsibility and raise the chicks, regardless of who the father is.

Range maps from left to right: Willet, Savannah Sparrow, Hooded Warbler and Spotted Sandpiper, courtesy of All About Birds

Sea Rim State Park and the Sabine Woods Sanctuary couldn’t be more different. The Park has a long boardwalk without railing that circles out and back across the pristine marsh. The landscape is open and flat, and sneaking up on birds just isn’t possible. The Sanctuary offers broad open pathways that wander through the heavy shade past thickets, ponds, seeps, and between great towering trees. The paths also include some sunny meadows, but I left those for another visit.

I was excited by the beginning of our trip along the upper Gulf Coast to see birds in their spring migration – excited not only by the birds, but also by the opportunity to experience new birding locations. Our next stops would be in Louisiana, and I could hardly wait!