Visit Beaumont, Texas RVG - Flipbook - Page 35
OF BIRDING
NOTABLE TEX AS
GULF COAST
BIRDING FESTIVALS
DAY 3
MORNING
B IG TH ICKET
NATIONAL PRE SE RVE
The Big Thicket National
Preserve spans nine different
ecosystems, including hardwood
forest, coastal plain, swamp,
desert and prairie. In 1981, the
United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) added
this preserve to its international
network of biosphere reserves.
Visitors can enjoy hiking its
40 miles of trails, as well as
backcountry camping, canoeing
and fishing on the Neches River.
FE ATH E RFE ST GALVE STON
April
galvestonfeatherfest.com
AFTERNOON
B I RDI E ST F E STIVAL I N
AM E RICA , CORPUS CH RISTI
April
birdiestfestival.org
VI LL AG E CRE E K STATE PARK
Village Creek State Park offers amazing diversity of both plants and wildlife, just 14 miles
north of Beaumont. The park is part of the Big Thicket National Preserve and is home to
a forest full of cypress swamps; water tupelo, river birch, mayhaw and yaupon trees; and
baygalls and blackwater sloughs in the floodplain of the Neches River.
ROY E . L ARSE N SAN DYL AN D SANC TUARY
The 5,654-acre Roy E. Larsen Sandyland Sanctuary harbors a variety of plant communities,
including one of the last remaining longleaf pine communities in Texas. A rare combination of
swamp, forest and southern pinelands create a preserve with remarkable diversity, sustaining
582 plant species and 234 animal species.
RIO G R AN DE VALLE Y
B I RDI NG FE STIVAL
November
rgvbf.org
GORE STORE RD. & TURKE Y CRE E K
The birding along Gore Store Road is renowned and for many years birders have visited this
area to see the Pineywoods. Species that prefer early succession growth and dense yaupon
thickets, such as Prairie and Swainson’s Warblers, Yellow-breasted Chat, and Indigo and
Painted Buntings, have become quite common here (listen for Prairie Warblers in young pine
plantations).
Note: After reaching Firetower Road, travel south. Camp Waluta Road (0.2 mile) is often worth
a try (Eastern Towhees apparently nest here). Continue south to FM 418, then east on FM 418
to FM 92. In late spring through early summer, listen for Eastern Screech-Owls, Barred Owls,
and Chuck-will’s-widows just after dark or immediately before sunrise.
WH OOPI NG CR AN E
FE STIVAL
February
portaransas.org
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