TEXAS Spring 8–23 April 2009 Leader: James P. Smith and Peter Lansdown

Texas, the southernmost of the United States, is more than three times the size of the UK. It has a superb diversity of avifauna including the virtual endemics Golden-cheeked Warbler and Black-capped Vireo. During April there can be spectacular falls of migrants and up to 30 species of colourful warbler are possible. There is also the close proximity of Mexico, with Brown and Green Jays, Tamaulipas Crow, Audubon's and Altamira Orioles, White-collared Seedeater and Green and Ringed Kingfishers all on the Texas side of the border. The scenery varies from the vast sandy beaches of the Gulf coast to deserts, prairie and mountains up to 9000 feet.

Day 1 Scheduled flight from London Gatwick to Houston airport. Drive to Victoria for a two-night stay. En route we will see our first common American birds including Common and Great-tailed Grackles, Red-winged Blackbird, Turkey Vulture, Eastern Meadowlark and Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.

Day 2 We have an early breakfast before the one-hour drive to catch the 08.30 boat trip to see the last of the Whooping Cranes before they fly north to Wood Buffalo National Park in Canada to breed. The world's population is under 200, but increasing. There will be plenty of herons about, with Green, Tricolored, Great Blue and Little Blue Herons, and Reddish, Snowy, Great and Cattle Egrets, together with Roseate Spoonbill and White and White-faced Ibises. Waders will also be much in evidence with Willet, American Oystercatcher and Spotted Sandpiper. We will also look for Seaside Sparrow in the vegetation and keep an eye open for White-tailed Hawk. Some wintering ducks will also remain and we should see American Wigeon, Blue-winged Teal and Mottled Duck. We will have lunch at Rockport, where there is a superb wildlife sanctuary where Black Skimmers and numerous herons and waders can be seen at close range, giving marvellous photographic opportunities. In the afternoon we will stop by the bridge onto the Liveoak Peninsula where Black-necked Grebe and Common Loon (Great Northern Diver) are regularly recorded. If time permits we will visit Goose Island State Park, another excellent spot for migrants and resident birds including Mourning and Inca Doves and Common Ground-dove.

Day 3 It is a drive of about 200 miles to the Rio Grande on the Mexican border but, with excellent roads and several rest stops to look for Wild Turkey, Harris' Hawk, Tropical Parula, Brewer's Blackbird and Hooded Oriole, it won't seem like it. Our first destination is Sabel Palm Grove Sanctuary in Brownsville, where Plain Chachalaca, Green Jay, Olive Sparrow, White-tipped Dove and Buff-bellied Hummingbird all visit the feeders. Next we will make our one and only visit to a rubbish dump for Tamaulipas Crow, numerous Chihuahuan Ravens and a few Franklin's Gulls. Alternatively we may visit the local airport where the crows have bred in the past. We continue on to Weslaco for a four-night stay.

Days 4–6 These three days will be spent at Santa Ana, Boca Chica, Brownsville, Anzalduas and the nearby Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Parks. We should get excellent views of Altamira Oriole, Great Kiskadee, Golden-fronted and Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Plain Chachalaca, Long-billed Thrasher, Bronzed Cowbird and Green Jay. These are also proven sites for rarities, with Clay-colored Robin, Tropical Parula, Northern Beardless-tyrannulet, Rose-throated Becard, Gray-crowned Yellowthroat and Gray Hawk seen on previous tours. Raptors frequently fly overhead in large numbers with Broad-winged and Swainson's Hawks predominating, and we will have to keep our eyes open for rarer raptors including Hook-billed Kite. Santa Ana is good for waterbirds, and Least and Pied-billed Grebes, Cinnamon Teal, Black-bellied Whistling Duck, King and Virginia Rails have all been seen well on previous tours. We have seen Eastern Screech-owl here too. One evening we will return to Bentsen for nightbirds: Elf Owl, Eastern Screech-owl, Ferruginous Pygmy-owl, Lesser Nighthawk, Common Pauraque and Common Poorwill have all been seen on past tours. Another evening we will seek out some of the parrots now found in the area including Yellow-headed and Red-crowned Parrots and Green Parakeet, the last two of which are accepted onto the ABA list.

Day 7 An early start is needed to arrive at Salineño not long after dawn for Green and Ringed Kingfishers, Brown Jay and Muscovy Duck. Next we move on to Falcon Dam where there are plenty of good birds, perhaps including Red-billed Pigeon and Audubon's Oriole. We then drive to San Ygnacio to look for the very local White-collared Seedeater. Overnight in Laredo.

Day 8 The drive to Concan normally takes about three hours on excellent roads. We will take about six hours, however, as we crawl along the hard-shoulder for a couple of hours looking for Greater Roadrunner, Cassin's and Black-throated Sparrows, Sage Thrasher, Cactus Wren and Pyrrhuloxia. We have even seen Scaled Quail on this road. Lunch will be taken at Carrizo Springs before arriving at Neal's Lodges mid-afternoon for a three-night stay. On the feeders at the store and outside the restaurant we should get good views of House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Pine Siskin and Black-chinned and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds. The late afternoon will be spent on the trails of this extensive property in the beautiful remote environment of the Edwards Plateau looking for Verdin, Yellow-throated Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, Vermilion Flycatcher, Black and Eastern Phoebes, Bushtit, Carolina Wren, Western Scrub-jay, Hermit Thrush, White-eyed Vireo, Spotted Towhee and many other breeding species. We will also sit quietly by the pool in the river and watch the birds coming down to drink, obtaining excellent views of many species that may have been difficult to see during the heat of the day.

Day 9 We will visit Kerr WMA and Lost Maples SNA to look for Black-capped Vireo, Golden-cheeked Warbler, Eastern Bluebird, Canyon Wren, Zone-tailed and Cooper's Hawks, Rufous-crowned Sparrow and Scott's Oriole. After an early dinner we will visit a cave where, at dusk, approximately 17 million Mexican Free-tailed Bats emerge from roost to hunt. With Cave Swallows also breeding in the cave, and Cooper's, Red-tailed and Swainson's Hawks and Turkey Vultures waiting to take a bat or two, we won't be short of avian interest either! In the scrub on the hillside Canyon Towhee, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher and Black-throated Sparrow can usually be seen, and we may even see the resident Great Horned Owl and Chuck-will's-widow on our way back to Neal's Lodges.

Day 10 Today will be at leisure around Neil's Lodges. We will bird both morning and afternoon, however, on the trails around the lodge looking for species we may have previously missed. We will also try to locate one of the local Eastern Screech-owls.

Day 11 It is quite a long drive to Baytown, so after breakfast we will start the journey to San Antonio then on towards Houston. We may break our journey with a visit to Attwater NWR where we will look for Sprague's Pipit and maybe see some late Snow Geese or even a Ross's Goose. We should arrive at Baytown by late afternoon and, after checking in for a four-night stay, we may visit a local wooded park that is excellent for woodpeckers, including Red-headed, Red-bellied, Downy and Pileated, and Pine Warbler.

Days 12–14 Our first stop will be at Anahuac NWR, which holds a large number of species. We will be looking for Least and American Bitterns, Anhinga, Fulvous Whistling-duck, American Purple Gallinule, King Rail, Sora and any migrants that are in the bushes and trees. Unlike other migration spots, late morning and afternoon are the best times for migrants at High Island and we will be arriving at the right time. We will then spend the rest of Day 12 leisurely seeking out the birds we still need to see in both Smith Oaks and Boy Scout Woods. Likely species include Northern Parula, Blackburnian, Black-and-white, Worm-eating, Cerulean, Chestnut-sided, Tennessee, Yellow, Black-throated Green, Hooded, Kentucky and Prothonotary Warblers, Scarlet and Summer Tanagers, Baltimore and Orchard Orioles and Indigo Buntings. As well as revisiting High Island each day to see what new migrants have arrived, perhaps including Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Northern and Louisiana Waterthrushes, Ovenbird or a roosting Whip-poor-will or Common Nighthawk, we will also visit the nearby Bolivar Peninsula to look for waders, gulls and terns on the beaches. We should see Piping and Wilson's Plovers, American Avocet, Baird's, White-rumped, Western, Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers, Bonaparte's, Laughing and Ring-billed Gulls and Royal, Forster's and Least Terns together with American White and Brown Pelicans, Black Skimmer and Double-crested and Neotropic Cormorants.

We will look in the marshes on the landward side for Clapper Rail, Nelson's Sharp-tailed and Seaside Sparrows and Sedge Wren, and we will keep our eyes open for migrating raptors, which may include American Swallow-tailed and Mississippi Kites and for Magnificent Frigatebird. We may also visit the Silsbee area one morning for Bachman's Sparrow and one evening we will take a 'rail walk' where Yellow Rail is possible. Some of the drained ricefields may hold large flocks of waders and Upland Sandpiper, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, American Golden-plover and Hudsonian Godwit are all possible.

Day 15 This morning we will visit the W.G. Jones State Forest to look for Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Brown-headed Nuthatch and Pine Warbler before returning to Houston airport for our overnight flight back to London, arriving on Day 16.

General Information The climate can vary from cool in the mornings and in the hills to quite hot in the Rio Grande Valley and in the deserts. There will be a moderate amount of walking, mainly on flat terrain. There are no special medical requirements though insects can be a problem. Visas are not required. Distances between sites are quite long but the roads are excellent and the vehicles comfortable. Accommodation standards are good with most motel rooms having two beds, en-suite shower and WC, air conditioning and TV. Food is relatively cheap and we will all be taking breakfasts and evening meals together at restaurants at the discretion of the leader. Allow about £20 per day for food, which is excluded from the tour price, depending on your requirements. Some breakfasts are included in the tour price.

Group size Minimum number for tour to go ahead: 8; maximum group size: 10 with 1 leader, 16 with 2 leaders.

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