Jason In the early months of 2021, we spent six weeks on Galveston Island, Texas. With my 2021 focus on birding, we visited many different birding locations on the island. While we were here in winter and saw many of the winter residents, spring migration during April and May I’m told is very, very good. Having spent spring migration in the Rio Grande Valley twice now, I can’t vouch for it being a better migration spot than South Padre Island. If you have been during migration, let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
There were three top spots on the island that we enjoyed, the west end, LaFitte’s Cove and the east end. Our favorite spot, which we visited several times a week, was LaFitte’s Cove. It’s a wonderful preserve smack in the middle of an upscale subdivision. It is very well maintained with concrete paths and boardwalks. You have freshwater, a marsh area (when it is wet enough) and a wooded area. Therefore you can expect to see everything from shorebirds, waterfowl to song birds. A good variety for one location! For more information, check out this link.
Each end of the island has large numbers of shorebirds and waders. I’m not as good with identification of gulls so I’m sure I saw more species than I could ID. The coast is just a good spot to spend some beach time and knockout a checklist or two. Good times!
Checklist for the west end. Checklist for LaFitte’s Cove.
