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USA - Texas: Spring Migration & Hill Country

© Northern Parula by Dusan Brinkhuizen
USA - Texas: Spring Migration & Hill Country

USD4,500 NO SPACES AVAILABLE

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Tour Leader: Local Leader

Wait List

Tour Price (Per person): USD4,500 (GBP3,490 * EUR3,972 * AUD7,027)

Pricing notes : Please see BirdingDirect link for spaces and updated pricing.

For enquiries & bookings, please following this link:  Birding Direct - United States

This tour is operated by High Lonesome BirdTours in partnership with BirdingDirect.
These are large group tours (up to 16 guests with multiple tour leaders), and will have guests from both Highlonesome as well as BirdingDirect.

The upper Texas coast provides an unrivaled birding spectacle in the spring as millions of migrants stream north on their way to their breeding rounds. Southern species are already setting up territories and the inland forests are ringing with songs. The coast can be alive with up to 30 species of warblers and it is not uncommon to record more than 30 species of shorebirds alone. Famous migrant traps like High Island, Sabine Woods, and LaFitte’s Cove concentrate vireos, thrushes, tanagers, grosbeaks, and of course the jewels of Neotropical migrants, warblers. This trip coincides with the peak of spring migration and will take advantage of the best time of year to witness this miracle of nature. Three full days birding migrant hotspots on the coast should net us a wide variety of songbirds and shorebirds, plus one full day exploring the Big Thicket regions will add southern breeders and pine woods specialties.

Of course, no visit to Texas would be complete without seeing the Golden-cheeked Warbler, an endemic nesting bird, and the endangered Black-capped Vireo. The trip will head west for two days to explore the riches of the Hill Country where, in addition to the two star birds, we will see a suite of birds different from the coast. In order to complete the loop through Texas’ richest birding habitats we will pass through Kingsville to locate several Rio Grande valley specialties, most notably Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, Tropical Parula and Northern Beardless Tyrannulet, plus Green Jay, Audubon’s Oriole and more. A short visit to the Rockport area will add many migrants and shorebirds.

 

Top Birds

Golden-cheeked Warbler, Black-capped Vireo, Woodhouse's Scrub Jay, Carolina Chickadee, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Wild Turkey, Yellow-throated, White-eyed, Blue-headed & Hutton’s Vireos, Canyon, Cactus and Bewick's Wrens, Northern Parula, Indigo & Painted Buntings, Blue Grosbeak, Greater Roadrunner, Curve-billed & Long-billed Thrashers, Pyrrhuloxia, Olive Sparrow, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Louisiana & Northern Waterthrushes, American Yellow, Worm-eating, Blue-winged, Black-and-white, Prothonotary, Orange-crowned, Tennessee, Nashville, Kentucky, Hooded, Yellow-throated, Magnolia, Blackburnian, Chestnut-sided, Pine, Hooded, Prairie, Canada, Bay-breasted, Wilson’s Warblers, Cerulean, Golden-winged, Mourning, Blackpoll, Cape May, Black-throated Blue & Black-throated Green Warblers, American Redstart, Ovenbird, Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, Red-cockaded, Golden-fronted & Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Aplomado Falcon, Botteri’s, Cassin’s, Clay-colored, Lark, Vesper, Seaside, Nelson’s, Le Conte’s, Savannah, Bachman’s & Grasshopper Sparrows, Brown-headed Nuthatch.

Top Mammals

Brazilian Free-tailed Bats, Bobcat

Habitats Covered

desert and desert scrub, sub-tropical woodlands and palm groves, riverside vegetation, wetlands

Expected Climate

temperatures will range from mild to warm, but can reach 90F at this time of the year in the Valley.

Max Group Size

14 with 2 Tour Leaders

Tour Pace & Walking

moderate with a few shorter walks (two to three longer drives). A few early morning starts are required especially for the Hill Country portion of the trip.

Accommodation

comfortable hotels & lodges, 2 or 3-star

Ease of Birding

generally easy

Number of Species Expected

275

Photographic Opportunities

outstanding

What our clients say about us

Stephan Lorenz
CC - USA 2021

This was my first birding tour, not only with Rockjumper, but any tour company. Being a first for me, I was a bit anxious, but am happy to say the tour met and exceeded my expectations. The lodging, meals and other tour participants were all great. Best of all was our tour guide, Stephan Lorenz. His knowledge, kindness and willingness to accommodate each member of the tour were phenomenal. I am also happy to say I picked up 94 life birds!

Stephan Lorenz
WW, Texas 2021

Stephan Lorenz is a fantastic leader. This is my second trip with him and the reason I booked this trip. His attention to details and relentless searching for sought after birds makes any trip with him well worth the time. He and his wife, Claudia work well together as a dynamic team solving any problem that arise. We missed our connections and were late for the first day and efforts were made and resolved for us to join the group quickly. Despite the stormy weather we were able to see the target birds. This trip was selected because of the shorter amount of days making it easier to fit into our schedule. During this pandemic we felt safe traveling with this group and with the conditions of lodging and take out meal dining. I look forward to my next trip with Stephan.

Stephan Lorenz
MC, Colorado & Texas 2022

I would just like to say how much I enjoyed both the tours - I saw lots of new birds, and our guide Stephan Lorenz was fantastic - extremely knowledgeable, and very patient, and made sure we all saw the birds. His wife Claudia was also extremely helpful in so many ways. I certainly hope I will do another tour with them in the not too distant future. The groups on both tours were friendly and easy to get on with. It was cold in Colorado, but it is a beautiful part of the world!

Stephan Lorenz
EL, Texas 2021

It is great to be traveling again, even if it is a short domestic trip. But I don’t want to sell the tour short. It really was an excellent short tour. We saw a great number of migrating warblers and shorebirds. Stephan Lorenz has an uncanny ability to find the one special shorebird or a rare migrating warbler buried in the bushes. He is also kind, informative and always helpful. And a special thanks to Claudia for her help with the driving and coordination.

Stephan Lorenz
KH, Texas 2021

Stephan is outstanding. His ability to find difficult birds is amazing. Both Stephan and Claudia's personalities make the trip very enjoyable.

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