Spring across America: Upper Texas Coast,
Southeastern Arizona, and Southern California

This unique tour is designed to sample three of the southern United States' best birding areas, resulting in around 400 species. The trip begins with five full days on the Upper Texas Coast, arguably one of the most-exciting birding locations in America. Spring migration will be in full swing, bringing the possibility of an incredible variety of waders and songbirds as they stream across the Gulf of Mexico to famous coastal migrant traps. As if the migration wasn't enough, East Texas also offers access to both pine and hardwood forests, where we'll search for a variety of southeastern specialities.

Continuing west with the Spring, we'll fly across Texas to Tucson in southeastern Arizona, for the next five days. Late April is an exciting time to visit Arizona, combining the breeding season residents with lingering winter species. We'll have ample time to sample the rich Sonoran Desert around Tucson, the lush cottonwood riparian habitats near Patagonia, the cool sycamore-lined canyons in the Huachuca Mountains, and the boreal forest high in the Catalina Mountains. We'll visit virtually all the major birding localities, and have the chance of seeing as many as nine species of owl and ten species of hummingbirds, as well as most of the Arizona specialities.

Our trip will conclude with six days in Southern California. California is an incredibly varied state, but many of the regional endemics can be found short distances from Los Angeles. We'll visit Santa Cruz Island for the endemic Santa Cruz Island Scrub-Jay, take a half-day pelagic trip out of Morro Bay where we'll see a nice variety of migrant seabirds, and visit canyons in the coastal mountains for California endemics. Huge numbers of migrating waders, gulls and terns will augment resident birds, as spring migration here will be reaching its peak in early May.

Monday 14 April to Saturday 3 May

With Gary Rosenberg as leader.

Spring across America bird list
return to North American introduction
return to Calendar

Day 1: The trip begins with a flight from London to Houston, Texas, from where we'll travel east to Beaumont, our base for the next six nights. Night in Beaumont.

Days 2-6: Our schedule for the next five days will vary according to the weather. Fronts crossing North America create conditions on the coast that are not suitable for migrants to fly through. The result is sometimes mind-boggling numbers of warblers, thrushes, buntings, and tanagers tumbling out of the sky into coastal woods. By paying close attention to weather forecasts we will time our visits to such famous birding locations as High Island and Sabine Woods to give us the best chances of experiencing one of the great visible migration spectacles in the world.

Although watching bird migration is not very predictable, much of the other birding along the coast is. Mid-April sees the peak of wader migration, and we'll seek out flooded rice-fields where there may be as many as 20 species of wader at one time, including specialities such as Buff-breasted and Upland Sandpipers, and Hudsonian Godwit. Equally predictable will be the teeming numbers of gulls, terns and skimmers, as well as waders, at Bolivar Flats. The marshes at Anahuac will be alive with herons and egrets, including Little Blue and Tricolored Herons, and Roseate Spoonbill. April is also the best time for Least Bittern, and Clapper and King Rails, and there is an outside chance for rarer species such as Yellow Rail, or a lingering Le Conte's Sparrow.

We'll also have time to visit the Silsbee area to the north of Beaumont, with its cypress swamps and pine forests, to search for specialities such as Red-headed and Pileated Woodpeckers, Fish Crow, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Swainson's Warbler, and Bachman's Sparrow. On one day we'll venture east into Louisiana where the wader migration can be even better. Nights in Beaumont.

Day 7: After a final morning of birding on the Texas Coast, we'll work our way back to Houston for an afternoon flight to Tucson, Arizona. Night in Tucson.

Day 8: Southeastern Arizona is one of the great birding destinations in North America, and we'll have five full days to experience the varied habitats found within striking distance of Tucson. Today we'll concentrate on sampling the rich Sonoran Desert. A short distance north of Tucson is Arivaipa Canyon and the lower San Pedro River, where a small population of Common Black-Hawks exist. Hillsides dominated by Saguaro Cactus dotted with cottonwood should produce a number of desert specialities, including Harris's Hawk, Gilded Flicker, Gila and Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Ash-throated and Brown-crested Flycatchers, Cactus Wren, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Rufous-winged Sparrow, and Hooded Oriole. In the afternoon, we'll escape the desert heat by climbing into the Santa Catalina Mountains, where we'll have our first chances for a number of montane species, including Red-breasted and White-breasted Nuthatches, Western Bluebird, Red-faced and Grace's Warblers, Painted Redstart, and Black-headed Grosbeak. We'll end the day at Sabino Canyon listening for Elf Owls as they call from the tall Saguaros, the quintessential Sonoran Desert experience. Night in Tucson.

Day 9: This morning we'll begin our birding in famous Madera Canyon. Before arriving in the canyon, we'll pass through rich mesquite/cactus desert, and can expect a number of new species, such as Roadrunner, Curve-billed Thrasher, Phainopepla, Pyrrhuloxia, and Black-throated Sparrow. Madera Canyon itself is a beautiful place lined with sycamores and oaks, and this will be our first opportunity for great birds such as Elegant Trogon, Arizona Woodpecker, and a variety of hummingbirds, including Broad-billed, Magnificent, Blue-throated, and Black-chinned. The afternoon will be spent around Arivaca Cienega, a beautiful willow-dominated wetland surrounded by desert, where we'll look for Gray Hawk, Vermilion Flycatcher, and perhaps a variety of migrants. Night in Nogales.

Day 10: We'll spend all of today visiting several birding localities around the Nogales-Patagonia area, including Patagonia Lake, Sonoita Creek, Kino Springs, the Patons' feeders in Patagonia, and Harshaw Canyon. We'll cover a wide variety of habitats, and should see a number of interesting birds, including Zone-tailed and Gray Hawks, Cassin's and Thick-billed Kingbirds, Bell's Vireo, Rock and Canyon Wrens, Lucy's Warbler, Abert's and Canyon Towhees, and Rufous-crowned Sparrow. At Patagonia Lake there might be an assortment of waterbirds, possibly including a lingering Western Grebe, or a variety of ducks. At the Patons' feeders we'll likely see Violet-crowned Hummingbird, as well as Anna's, and perhaps Costa's Hummingbird. This evening we'll do some owling in Harshaw Canyon where we have a chance for both Western and Whiskered Screech-Owls, Elf Owl, and Common Poorwill. Night in Nogales.

Day 11: After a final early morning around the Patagonia area, we'll work our way to Sierra Vista and the Huachuca Mountains. While in the Huachucas, we'll visit famous birding areas such as Ramsey and Miller Canyons, where we'll sit and watch hummingbird feeders that sometimes attract as many as eight species. These canyons are cool and lined with sycamores, and we'll search for a number of higher elevation species such as Northern Pygmy-Owl, Acorn Woodpecker, Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Hutton's Vireo, Virginia's Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Hepatic Tanager, Black-headed Grosbeak, and Yellow-eyed Junco. At the highest elevations in the pines we'll hope to see the local Buff-breasted Flycatcher, as well as Band-tailed Pigeon, Greater Pewee, and Red-faced Warbler. Time permitting, we'll make the hike along Scheelite Canyon in search of a roosting pair of Spotted Owls. Night in Sierra Vista.

Day 12: This morning we'll walk along the San Pedro River through beautiful riparian cottonwood. This stretch of river has some of the best remaining natural habitat left in southeastern Arizona, and we are likely to find it one of the more bird-rich areas we will visit. Common birds will include Gila and Ladder-backed Woodpeckers, Bewick's Wren, Bell's Vireo, Lucy's and Yellow Warblers, Song Sparrow, Abert's Towhee, and Bullock's Oriole. This is one of the better areas for migrants and lingering wintering species, and we'll hope to run into Hammond's and Dusky Flycatchers, Warbling Vireo, Wilson's and Townsend's Warblers, Green-tailed Towhee, and White-crowned Sparrow. Sometimes there is a pair of Green Kingfishers along the river. In the afternoon we'll escape the heat by retreating to one of the cooler canyons in the Huachucas once again to watch hummingbirds, and search for any montane species we are still missing. Night in Sierra Vista.

Day 13: After a final morning of birding in the Huachuca Mountains, we'll leave Sierra Vista and drive back to Tucson for lunch and an afternoon flight to Los Angeles. We'll have the better part of six days to bird in Southern California and search for a variety of regional endemics, western migrants, and a nice assortment of 'Pacific' seabirds and waders. Night in Los Angeles.

Day 14: Our California birding will begin with a visit to a wonderful estuary at Bolsa Chica, south of Los Angeles. Here we will see a fine assortment of western waders, gulls, and terns, including Marbled Godwit, Long-billed Curlew, Heerman's, California, and Western Gulls, and Elegant Tern, to name just a few. We may visit some of the more vegetated parks south of Los Angeles in search of migrants, and possibly lingering wintering species. Further south we'll look for the local endemic California Gnatcatcher and other California specialities such as California Thrasher, Wrentit, and California Towhee. In the afternoon we'll travel back north of Los Angeles to the Ventura area. The coastline north of Los Angeles is unspoilt, with steep hills dropping to the ocean forming a rugged, scenic coast. Night in Camarillo.

Day 15: We'll spend the morning crossing to Santa Cruz Island, the largest, and most-wooded of the California Channel Islands. Our goal is to find the endemic Island Scrub-Jay, but if conditions are right, we may encounter a variety of western migrants on the island as well. On the crossing we're likely to see a few seabirds including, possibly, the much sought-after Xantus's Murrelet, Black Storm-petrel, and Sooty and Black-vented Shearwaters, while along the rocky coastline of the island itself we'll search for Black Oystercatcher and Pigeon Guillemot. Night in Camarillo.

Day 16: Today we will travel north to Morro Bay, by way of Santa Barbara and Santa Maria. We will stop at a variety of canyons, beaches and estuaries along the way, and new species could include Nuttall's Woodpecker, Oak Titmouse, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Black-chinned Sparrow, and Fox and Golden-crowned Sparrows. The coastline at Morro Bay is one of the most scenic anywhere in California, with wild sandy beaches, and miles of rocky shoreline pounded by the Pacific surf. Night at Morro Bay.

Day 17: This morning we'll take a half-day boat trip out into Morro Bay looking for pelagic species, including Black-footed Albatross, Pink-footed and Sooty Shearwaters, Grey Phalarope, Pomarine and Arctic Skuas, and Cassin's and Rhinoceros Auklets. Other rarer possibilities include Ashy Storm-petrel, and Ancient Murrelet. Along the coast at Morro Bay we'll look for lingering Glaucous-winged Gulls, as well as Black Oystercatcher, Surfbird, Wandering Tattler, and Pigeon Guillemot. In the late afternoon we'll visit a nearby canyon for White-throated Swift, Allen's Hummingbird, Canyon Wren, and Cassin's Vireo. Night at Morro Bay.

Day 18: Today we'll travel from Morro Bay, through the San Joaquin Valley and the classic California oak savanna, to the mountains northeast of Los Angeles, and in particular Mt. Pinos. Our main goal will be to find Yellow-billed Magpie, a California endemic, and we may see other interesting species such as Tricolored Blackbird, or a lingering Lewis's Woodpecker. On our way to Mt. Pinos we'll make a stop in search of Le Conte's Thrasher and the coastal race of Sage Sparrow. Mt. Pinos will be a pleasant, cool place to look for birds, and in the pine forest we will search for Mountain Quail, White-headed Woodpecker, Western Bluebird, Fox Sparrow, and Cassin's Finch among others. Night in Gorman.

Day 19: After a final morning birding in the Mt. Pinos area, we'll return to Los Angeles in time for our afternoon flight back to London where the tour ends on Day 20.

Cost £3070

Single Room Supplement £440

Maximum group size: 14 participants and 2 leaders.

The ground arrangements for this tour are organised by our American associates WINGS.

Spring across America bird list
return to top of page
return to North American introduction
return to Calendar