This trip takes you to one of the best locales for finding numerous varieties of waterbirds, East Beach. We begin with a drive down Boddecker Rd through the East End Lagoon Nature Preserve, catching views of a precious and increasingly rare ecosystem. We will explore 684 acres of Galveston’s largest undeveloped habitat including one of the few remaining sizable tracts of coastal prairie. The site contains both tidal and nontidal wetlands, beach dunes, a freshwater pond, black mangroves and upland prairie, along with an extensive marine coastline. The wetlands and lagoon create a variety of food sources that attract many species of birds. Raptors hunt in the grassy uplands, which serve as a breeding ground for certain species and winter habitat for different birds. All types of herons and egrets meander beside sandpipers and plovers picking for food along the sandy edges of the lagoon and ship channel, while large flocks of gulls, pelicans, terns and cormorants often rest on the sandbars along the beach.
Bring: water, snacks, sunscreen, bug spray
