When: April 16, 2016
Where: Birding at High Island and Bolivar Flats
What to expect: peak of bird migration, thousands of shorebirds, hundreds of colorful songbirds, and lunch on a salt dome rimmed by oil wells!
What to bring: binoculars (if you have them, but not absolutely necessary), hat, sunscreen, water, lunch, full gas tank.
Organizers: Cin-Ty Lee and Martha Lou Broussard
Itinerary
Meeting place: meet at the ferry parking lot on the BOLIVAR PENINSULA at 930 AM. This means you should leave Rice at 8 AM, allowing for about 45 minutes to get down to Galveston and then about 30 minutes to cross the ferry (free of charge). The ferry parking lot is on hwy 87, just after you get off the ferry going from Galveston to Bolivar. MAP
Stop 1: Bolivar Flats Audubon Sanctuary. Go east on Hwy 87 from the ferry parking lot for about a mile. Turn right on 17th street and go to end and park. We will walk out on the jetty. The first part of the jetty is handicap accessible. In addition to thousands of shorebirds, we will also get to see some barrier island geology and the effects of the jetty in modifying sediment transport. MAP
Stop 2: High Island Bird Sanctuary. Continue NE on 87 for about 20 miles. 87 will follow the coast and then turn inland. After turning inland, you will reach High Island. Turn right on 5th street to the parking lot for Boy Scout Woods. We anticipate arriving there around noon. Migrants typically pick up in the afternoon. After Boy Scout Woods, we may move on to Smith Oaks, which is about a mile away. MAP
Optional Stop 3: Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, which is on the way home. MAP
Contact Cin-Ty Lee or Martha Lou Broussard for more details, ride-sharing, etc. Please let us know if you are coming so that we don’t leave anyone behind at the meeting spot.
Cin-Ty Lee – 713 348 5084 (ctlee@rice.edu)
Martha Lou Broussard (mlbrou@rice.edu)
