Today’s plan was a trip to Galveston on the ferry that connects the Bolivar Peninsula to the western mainland. But as luck would have it, the elusive thunderstorms predicted each day for the last three gathered themselves up into one long-lasting band that began in the middle of the night and lasted through much of the day. Enter Plan B…

Torrential rain and thunder forced us to take a bit of welcome R&R at our AirBnb to revise our plan for the day. Our goal was to find an American oystercatcher and perhaps an anhinga before returning to Boy Scout Woods at High Island, where we hoped the storm had created a fallout of migrants.

[ngg src=”galleries” ids=”224″ display=”pro_mosaic”]

Well, best laid plans being as they so often are, none of the above worked out. Y’all need not fret for us though as the day provided some surprise additions to our life list and anyway, who can complain when they have a free day of birding in a beautiful place?

For us today, the unexpected and much appreciated included a ruddy turnstone, pine warbler, sedge and marsh wrens, and a Louisiana waterthrush. After a dinner of delicious (another surprise) pizza and salad from The Big Store enjoyed with a glass of wine on our deck on stilts, we headed for the beach at the end of our road and perhaps a northern gannet. But in keeping with the theme of the day, our last new bird of the trip turned out not to be a gannet, but a house sparrow! Yes indeed, it was a day full of surprises and fun…a great way to end our trip to the beautiful and bird bounteous Gulf Coast of Texas!

[ngg src=”galleries” ids=”225″ display=”pro_mosaic”]