Texas Trip Summary Hill Country, Rio Grande Valley, Coast & Piney Woods
Stuart Healy April 15-30, 2009; with David Patick, April 19-27
Trip Log (journal entries)	Trip Species List	Trip Photo List (links)

By using the links above, you can find day to day details of the trip (in my journal); see the the overall trip list; and view the bird photos that I took from the links in the photo list. Comments and questions welcome.

This was a working trip with David Patick from Huntington, WV who I've birded with on three previous occasions in Arizona and California. From April 19-27 we covered the Hill Country, Rio Grande Valley, Central & Upper Coast and the Piney Woods in East Texas. We started in San Antonio and finished in Houston traveling a total of 2900 miles. I birded in the Hill Country a few days at the beginning of the trip and spent a day on the coast at the end of the trip. From April 15-30, my total round trip travel from El Paso was 3900 miles with an additional 640 miles round trip from home to El Paso.

This was strictly a target birding trip and we did not focus at all on migration (almost every other birder in Texas seemed to be doing just that). We had a very successful trip with a total of 43 target species seen, well above the mid 30s that I had expected. We essentially conceded 3 birds (Red-billed Pigeon, Brown Jay and Tamaulipas Crow) because of their potential to consume time with zero reward (only the Pigeon has been reported recently). Those birds apart, we found all species that we sought and added a few lingering rarities. Overall, we saw 239 species (see trip species list).

Target highlights were Muscovy Duck in Chapeņo, Masked Duck at Laguna Atascosa NWR; Hook-billed Kite, Groove-billed Ani & Clay-colored Robin at Bentsen-Rio Grande State Park; Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl at King Ranch; Black-capped Vireo and Golden-cheeked Warbler in the Hill Country; White-collared Seedeater in Laredo; Bachman's Sparrow in the Piney Woods and Crimson-collared Grosbeak & Blue Bunting at Frontera Audubon Thicket.

The 43 targets seen were:
Least Grebe, Fulvous Whistling-Duck, Muscovy, Mottled & Masked Ducks; Hook-billed Kite, White-tailed Hawk, Crested Caracara, Plain Chachalaca, Snowy Plover, Sandwich & Least Terns; White-tipped Dove, Green & Monk Parakeets; Red-crowned Parrot, Groove-billed Ani, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, Pauraque, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Ringed & Green Kingfishers; Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Great Kiskadee, Couch's Kingbird, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Cave Swallow, Long-billed Thrasher, Clay-colored Robin, Black-crested Titmouse, Green Jay, Black-capped Vireo, Tropical Parula, Golden-cheeked Warbler, White-collared Seedeater, Olive, Bachman's & Seaside Sparrows; Crimson-collared Grosbeak, Blue & Painted Buntings; and Altamira & Audubon's Orioles.