This trip is targeted to catch any lingering migrants and catch afternoon arrivals. We plan to visit three HAS and Texas Ornithological Society sites. Watch for the afternoon drop of dozens of neotropic migrants along with local and resident waterfowl, raptors, seabirds, shorebirds, and passerines. April weather fronts can produce 30 or more species of songbirds in a single day!

Join Clayton Leopold on a guided tour of the birds of Moody Gardens. This unique combination field trip will include a guided tour through the canopy level of the Tropical Rainforest exhibit as well as a viewing of the Penguins in the Aquarium Pyramid. You then step outside to the birdiest areas of the 240-acre Moody Gardens complex showcasing a diverse array of habitat and species variety.

In one of our most popular trips, you will be guided by one of our most experienced birders and all-around nature lover, Glenn Olsen. Glenn leads nature tours in the US and overseas but he calls the upper Texas coast home. His extensive knowledge of local birding areas is sure to yield excellent views of migrating warblers as they move through our area on their way to nesting habitat. As a bonus, Glenn is also a Texas Master Naturalist and has served as the president of the Native Plant Society of Texas. His knowledge in these areas should greatly enhance your trip experience.

Galveston is a Gulf coastal island renowned for its many habitats. Explore the entire island with our local leaders. They know the birding spots well, and will consider the weather, tides, and what they have seen just prior to or during the festival, to decide what to view and where to go. In that regard, the tour is not fixed rigidly in advance, but is more a birding adventure. You’ll go where the birds are!

This trip takes you to a private property owned by the Galveston Bay Foundation (GBF) and not generally open to the public. Your trip will start at Sweetwater’s viewing platform overlooking brackish ponds, mud flats and West Galveston Bay. From there you will move to the property’s freshwater ponds and work your way past woodlots and grasslands as you bird your way to Sweetwater Lake. Expect to see a wide variety of birds including late wintering waterfowl, egrets, herons, rails, shorebirds, gulls, terns, hawks, and grassland species.