Overall great trip, although the locals told us that the winds had been high and many of the migratory birds hard just kept flying. I think it was more that we were there a little early - over the end of April to beginning of May.
Flying over Texas it seemed like most of the fields were underwater from recent heavy rains.
We enjoyed lots of fish tacos and shrimp tacos - all the seafood was great. The giant t-shirt shops and cady stores are crazy. I laughed at one Friday night where there was a battle of music between two trucks: Chicano rap vs. Desi hip hop.
The Courtyard Marriott was perfectly positioned for us next to the birding center. Nice beach walks with some of the man o'war jellyfish and local shorebirds: https://ebird.org/checklist/S229478071
The visit was bookended by Caracara sightings.
White-tailed hawk being chased by a kite as we drove up.
Green jays, Chachalacas, and Olive Sparrows at the visitors center as always.
Altamira Orioles everywhere, nesting in mesquite and on telephone wires with hanging nests. Golden-fronted woodpeckers often seen with them.
15-mile drive has been closed for some time - it's been decades since we were here. Now only open to walking and cycling. Well worth the short walk in from the main park road at the end of it, as we were able to scope lots of shorebirds, phalaropes, stilts, ibis. Verdin as well.
https://ebird.org/checklist/S229325285
Right across form our hotel, songbirds near the entrance - orioles, cuckoo, tanagers, etc. - then pay the fee and use the boardwalk to look at herons, rails, shorebirds. Scope was great for looking across the mudflats. Hard to find a better place to see the differences between Reddish Egret, Little Blue Heron, Green Heron, Least Bittern, Tricolored Heron, and so on. Within 6 feet of both Clapper Rail and Sora. We ended up back here a couple of times.
Conference Center - orchard orioles, migratory warblers
https://ebird.org/checklist/S229642847 https://ebird.org/checklist/S230595208 https://ebird.org/checklist/S231230874
Sabal - mosquitos, gray cheeked thrush, buff bellied hummingbird. Needed bug repellent.
https://ebird.org/checklist/S230087033
Northern Beardless Tyrannulet, gnats, Least Bittern and Leat Grebes are noisy, Painted Buntings singing from treetops (and surprisingly uninterested in calls from my phone), lots of water, gray hawk, better than Sabal by far, definitely worth the drive.
https://ebird.org/checklist/S230871460
(Some I may have seen before but these were definitive ID's) Mottled Duck, Least Tern, Royal Tern, Neotropic Cormorant, Tricolored Heron, Orchard Oriole, Gray Hawk, Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet, Verdin, Clay-colored Thrush, Altamira Oriole, Clapper Rail, Canada Warbler, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Wilson's Phalarope, White-tailed Hawk