Saturday, Dec. 10, 1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. This field trip is full.
Seawall’s East End Marshes, Lagoons, Ship Channel, Beach & Salt Flats
Tickets: $40, 10% discount to GINTC members
Driving directions to the meeting site will be emailed prior to the event
Bring binoculars if you have them
This field trip is designed for folks who want to see a variety of wintering coastal bird species.
NOTE: Sandhill Cranes will not be seen. See the target list below.
Explore the diverse habitats of the East End of Galveston Island and see the birds that make Galveston their home in the winter months. We will travel by bus stopping at key coastal habitats including the beach and South Jetty. We should see hundreds of wintering gulls, terns, pelicans, avocets, skimmers, small and medium sandpipers and plovers, egrets and herons. Weather permitting, there will be some short walks on this part of the field trip.
After leaving East Beach, we’ll spend time along the loop road that will take us past marshes and the lagoon on the north before returning to the Seawall.
Local field trip leader Dr. Alice Anne O’Donell will lead participants on this adventure designed for birders of all skill levels.
During the winter, there is an abundance of Snowy, Piping and Black-bellied Plovers, the American Oystercatcher, American Avocet, Long-billed Curlew, Marbled Godwit, Caspian Tern, Belted Kingfisher, Reddish Egret, Roseate Spoonbill, Osprey, Northern Harrier and more. Ducks include the Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Mottled Duck, Northern Shoveler and Red-breasted Merganser. Savannah and Lincoln’s Sparrows are often sighted, too.
Spanning almost 700 acres of diverse habitat, the East End Lagoon Nature Park & Preserve includes both tidal and nontidal wetlands, beach dunes, a freshwater pond, black mangroves, upland prairie, and an extensive marine coastline.