By Ken Pitts
I had the privilege of traveling with Steve Bredthauer to the coast of South Texas for eight days in early April of photographing some unique birds inhabiting the areas from Austin, to Port Lavaca, Port Aransas, North and South Padre Islands, Rio Grande Valley, and finally San Antonio. Our focus was really on photography, but I was able to add 35 species to my life list as a side benefit.
My favorite spots to photograph birds on this trip were:
1) Leguna Seca Ranch is near Edinburg.
2) Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center is in Port Aransas.
3) Aransas National Wildlife Refuge is near Port Aransas.
4) Lighthouse Beach Boardwalk is in Port Lavaca.
5) Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge is near Reynosa.
Our trip included some interesting surprises, partially due to historic floods the day before we arrived that disrupted some wildlife areas and cities we visited. Brownsville received 24 inches of rain in 24 hours, with 12 of those inches coming in a time span of 1 hour. Shore birds had plenty of choices as to where to be, so they were not concentrated in the usual smaller bodies of water. It was very warm and humid. Normally in our rental SUV we would have used air conditioning, but try stepping out of a cool car into the TX coastal humidity. It takes about 25 minutes before your camera lens will not fog up. The most unpleasant surprise was a hotel having flood related sewage problems, which Steve and I became acutely aware of when raw sewage came up in our sink and began spilling into the room. A quick room change was the fix. My most in your face surprise was that Alligators in TX sometimes show up in unexpected places, like right beside our vehicle in a beach parking lot in Port Lavaca.
A huge thank you to Steve for being the more experienced TX visitor, developing the itinerary to some great places to see birds, and being a great friend to be on a journey with to get better at this wonderful hobby of wildlife photography!
If you have any questions, feedback, or would like to have a conversation about TX coastal birding, feel free to contact me at kenp@vancouveradubon.org.
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