Class 3 consists of a weekend field trip to Corpus Christi & Vicinity. We will meet at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) at noon on Friday April 11th. The field trip concludes about noon on Sunday, April 13th.
Class 3/Field Trip to Corpus Christi & Vicinity
- There are numerous hotels in the vicinity of the Comfort Inn & Suites.
Class 3 Recap — Field Trip to Corpus Christi and Environs 4/11-13/25
About 20 B3 birders made the field trip to Corpus Christi on April 11-13, 2025. From Lance “Aplomado” Felber’s Ebird list we tallied around 140 species for the trip. See trip report here: Ebird Trip Report
We initially met at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge where the best birding was from the wildlife tower. There we saw a typical maneuver of the Gull-billed Tern, started working on Caspian vs Royal terns, saw a herd of wild pigs and other fly-bys.
https://www.visitcorpuschristi.com/blog/post/where-to-go-birding-in-americas-birdiest-city
Next up was a stop at Rattlesnake Point Ebird Hot Spot — I don’t think I’ll repeat this one, but we did have a look at American Oystercatchers and I think our only Spotted Sandpiper. (Note that some of these photos are from earlier trips).
The birding really started to get good when we got to Indian Point/Sunset Lake near Portland, Texas. Here we had great looks at Least Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Long-billed Dowitchers, Semipalmated Plovers, Wilson’s Plover, Black-bellied Plover and other gulf coast birds.
After finding our old reliable La Iguana Mexican restaurant had changed its hours (10-3), we had a minor adventure and then good food at Frida’s Mexican Restaurant in Corpus.
Saturday the 12th started off at Oso Bay near Texas A&M Corpus. We got more good looks at shorebirds and terns and found a huge party of Laughing Gulls across the bay, but I found this Gulf Shore Tiger Beetle to be the most interesting sighting!!
After a short break we converged on the self-styled “The Willows Birding Hollow” off highway 361 where we found a few warblers, orioles, a Yellow-billed cuckoo and an Eastern Wood-pewee.
Turnbull Birding Center is always an excellent stop. Here we found numerous shorebirds, the ever-present American Flamingo, ducks, 5 species of gulls (including Lesser Black-backed — I presume a lifer for some people) and numerous Long-billed Dowitchers. Perhaps the highlight was a Swallow-tailed Kite alertly spotted by Louise just seconds after having mentioned the species. Most of the group saw it briefly. (Once again some of these photos are from earlier trips).
We ate lunch and birded a bit at Charlie’s Pasture Nature Preserve next. Highlight for me were butterflies.
Then on to Paradise Pond where a few warblers and vireos were present along with a Long-billed Thrasher.
After checking out terns and etc at the Port Aransas ship Channel, several of us were treated to views of a Aplomado Falcon spotted simultaneously by Eric and Lance.
Here’s a previous sighting of this beautiful falcon.
Then it was time for a brief rest and a visit to Suter Wildlife Preserve. Then dinner at our favorite fried seafood spot Snoopy’s Pier.
We started Sunday morning at the famous birding location Blucher Park near downtown Corpus. Couch’s Kingbird, Inca Dove, Green Heron, Hooded Orioles, Yellow-breasted Chat and Chuck-wills-widows were seen by some.
Our next stop was unplanned as Lance found migrating Upland Sandpipers in an industrial field off Southern Minerals Road (photos are from a sighting on Friday morning).
Sometimes when we stop at Tule Lake there are very few birds, but not this time. We had good looks at Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Least and Western sandpipers and other good birds.
At Tule Lake we also had distant looks at the head of a Clapper Rail and watched and heard both Tropical and Couch’s Kingbirds. These 2 species are close to impossible to tell apart by sight, but upon hearing vocalizations it’s pretty easy.
This great field trip was closed out at Hazel Bazemore Park at the Hawkwatch Platform where we added Greater Roadrunner to a fine checklist.