Reddish Egret Day

Friday, May 1

Today turned into another frustrating day as most of the passerines have continued on north to their breeding and nesting grounds. There were still a few Orchard and Baltimore Orioles hanging around as well as a couple of Chestnut-sided Warblers, a Yellow-breasted Chat, an Olive-sided Flycatcher, and a couple of Summer Tanagers.

Yellow-breasted Chat (Internet)

We stopped at the usual hotspots but found little, though at one marshy place we did turn up a Savannah Sparrow and a Reddish Egret. The egret put on a show for us, completely oblivious to our presence as it dashed and danced and hunted in the shallow tidal water.

Reddish Egret canopy feeding. This egret is fascinating to watch. It jumps, runs, twirls, crouches, and holds its wings out in a shade canopy to give it a better view of its prey. Photo c Deb Hirt

Pipevine Swallowtail Day

Saturday, May 2

We left the Gulfway for home about 8 am this morning but stopped at 1st Street for a quick check. A Yellow Warbler and a Swainson’s Thrush were the only morning visitors, but we left the thrushes (we’d seen several species here as well as a Veery) the tag end of our grapes and Deb’s cornbread.

My favorite sight at this site was a field of thistle seedheads. The thistle seedhead on the left in the top photo is the same seedhead on left in the photo beneath it. I took these photos only one day apart. Aren’t these spectacular?

After good-bye to 1st Street we hightailed it north to Big Thicket Visitor’s Center and Kirby Trail. Probably spent an hour and a half to two hours on the trail but saw little. We did get momentarily lost though, so I called HDQ and Mike told us where we were. Dummies that we are, we had hopped to the birding and neglected to take a trail guide with us. The trail marker numbers kept rising putting us—we thought—farther from the trailhead. Au contraire—the higher the number, the closer to the Trailhead. It was one big loop trail with several smaller loops off it.

Big Thicket Visitor's Center and museum

Cabin at trailhead

After Kirby, we drove north and again walked the Sundew Trail at Big Thicket like we’d done on the way to H.I. Here we ate lunch from our cooler and lunch bags, and then walked the trail. There were few birds--male and female yellow warblers and a Tufted Titmouse--and we again could find no sundews, though Mike had told us that they were small and often found beneath leaves and pine needles. Score: Pitcher plants, many, sundews, none—at least to our searching eyes.

Carnivorous Pitcher Plants

Next we headed farther north to the Angelina National Forest looking for Red-cockaded Woodpeckers. No luck, but Mike said that people were reporting them in that area. There had been reports of Bachmans Sparrow sightings in this area also, but of course we did not see this species either, or I would be trumpeting the news.

After a very brief and fruitless walk down a potholed, muddy side road, we returned to the car, which was parked near a field of wildflowers that were being visited by Pipevine Swallowtail Butterflies.So, while we did not get bird photos today, we settled for Pipevine photos and took several pix of same.

We again stayed at America’s Best Value Inn in Kilgore, TX. This evening Deb, who works at Stillwater’s Olive Garden, treated me to dinner at Longview’s Olive Garden about 9 miles from the motel. She gets a good discount. I had lemon-honey chicken and fresh steamed veggies.

Horse to Barn

Sunday, May 3

This our last day was horse to barn. We turned on our navigator and headed due north, mostly on Hwy 271. On this 6.5 hour drive, our only stops were pitstops until we reached Tulsa where we again stopped at Whole Foods and Deb stocked up on gluten-free products. Then we walked Tulsa’s Botanical Gardens, and Deb took her last photo of the trip—of two small incredibly loud Screaming Frogs (Lepidobatrachus laevis)  in the pond before the greenhouse. 

"Screaming" frog at Tulsa's Botanical Gardens c Deb Hirt

During our trip and Island stay, we also saw the following reptiles and animals.

Crawdad mounds and fire ant mound nests everywhere one turned

Garter snake and alligators at Anahuac

Feral Hog prints at Anahuac and big Red-Eared Sliders at Texas Chenier Plains Refuge 

 Water Moccasin at Chenier and Marsh Rabbits everywhere, but Deb photographed this one on Kirby Trail

White-tailed Deer at roadside on way home (this pic Internet) and Giant Swallowtail, Smith Oaks