Guarded by Alligators: Birding hikes at the Smith Oaks Sanctuary Rookery in High Island

 

Roseate Spoonbill

 

 

Date: April 28 and May 1, 2025 

Place: Smith Oaks Sanctuary, High Island, Texas  

Coordinates: 29.572524, -94.390384

Level: easy

 

 

Returning to the birding trip I went on last April with Pappa Quail to southeast Texas - on our first full day there we met friends and went on a couple of short hikes in Big Thicket National Preserve which were followed by a beautiful birding walk in the Cattail Marsh Preserve. On the second day of our trip we went to a couple of small Audubon Society-owned and managed bird sanctuaries on High Island: that day was dedicated to the birds.

We first stopped at Smith Oaks Sanctuary. Smith Oaks has a number of ponds and canals, as well as forest areas, and a complex system of trails that is pretty dense for the relatively small area of the place.  

 

The first animal we noticed when we arrived at the place wasn't a bird but a green anole lizard that was on the wall of an old brick structure near the parking area. 

Green Anole

There was an information stand near the parking lot manned by the Audubon Society volunteers. Pappa Quail had been there before with the Elder Chika so he was already familiar with the places to go to there, but he approached the volunteers and asked what birds were present at the time. The first place we went to was up a canopy boardwalk to the observation decks that looked out onto the main lake where the rookery island was. 

Canopy Boardwalk

The canopy boardwalk was indeed at the level of the trees' canopies. Pappa Quail looked hard into the trees but didn't see the birds there. He did hear them though. 

Canopy

I did not expect to see bushes at the canopy level but there they were, and some even were blooming. I didn't look all the way down to see if they were rooted in the ground or riding tree branches as epiphytes. 

Chinese Privet, Ligustrum sinense

The boardwalk stretched over a pond of muddy water. I was ready to just go across, seeing that the water looked lifeless. 

Pappa Quail promptly called me back and pointed down at the muddy water below saying, alligator. I took nearly a minute of searching before I found the reptile resting very still between the plants. It was the first of many alligators we saw there that day. 

American Alligator

Now I was able to see some more in the water. The next reptile we saw there, resting on a fallen log in the water was a pond slider turtle. 

Yet no birds though. We kept searching the canopies though, and I was finding tall, really tall willow trees that were in bloom. 

Black Willow, Salix nigra

We reached the first observation deck and looked out onto a wide band of green water flanked by rich greenery of trees and bushes. There were birds in the boughs of the trees across the water but Pappa Quail didn't spend time taking photos. He said that the next observation deck had a better view. 

We continued on the canopy boardwalk to the other observation deck that Pappa Quail remembered from his previous visit there.

Canopy Boardwalk

Some of trees looked very familiar to me - they were mulberry trees. Then I found that the mulberries were in season - there were ripe fruit on those trees, and some branches were even close enough for me to enjoy some tasting. 

Red Mulberry, Morus rubra

At the next observation deck we had a much broader view on a much wider area. There was a lot of vegetation surrounding the water and on islands in the water, and also sticking right out of the water in the shallow areas. And there were birds everywhere on the branches. 

In the main pond there is a narrow, L shaped island that is covered in trees. In spring, these trees are full of nests and noises. Pappa Quail was pointing them out to me one by one and I followed with my binoculars. 

Rookery trees

Only one of the nesting birds was completely black - that was the neotropic cormorant, a species of the Atlantic that we don't get to see in California. 

Neotropic Cormorant

We had a good view of the cormorants from the observation deck but we got a better view of the other nests from the ground level decks on the shore line trail below. From above however, we got a good appreciation of how tight was the nest real estate situation. Really, every piece of branch that could support a nest had a nest. And different bird species nested close together. 

A staircase led us to the trail below, and we started following the shore line of the main pond in the sanctuary, where the rookery island was. 

I recognized a blackberry blossom in the vegetation by the trail side. Unlike the mulberries, there were no blackberries ready to harvest and eat. The few berries I did see were unripe red still. 

Highbush Blackberry, Rubus argutus

 

A flash of pink flew across the water - it was a roseate spoonbill. We saw many on them that day in the rookery and I didn't get tired of admiring their pretty plumage and even more - their interesting spoon-shaped bills. 

Roseate Spoonbill

We joined a few other birders in one of the canopied observation decks at looked at the rookery island. The first thing that caught our attention was the large alligator that was resting on the island's shore. As we later learned, these alligators are the best protection that the nesting birds have against mammalian predators such as raccoons, bobcats and foxes. None of them would dare cross the alligator-infested waters. The alligators tax only a bit from the birds - a fallen chick here and there, or a bird that strayed too close. For the most part, the birds were completely nonchalant about the big reptiles. 

American Alligator

The majority of the birds nesting on the island were herons and egrets. Pappa Quail pointed out to me the different species of herons, among them some species we don't get to see in California. I admit I had a hard time remembering which is which. 

Tricolored Heron

Birds were not the only winged creatures in the sanctuary. There were plenty of insects too, some of them even quite pretty. 

Four-spotted Pennant

We continued along the trail, walking slowly under the trees. There were many other birders in the sanctuary and every now and then Pappa Quail would stop to have a chat. Meanwhile I paid attention to the trees that surrounded us. I noticed some interesting bark patterns too. 

There was a flower blooming by the trail side. I have never seen it before, yet I remembered it from a photo that Pappa Quail sent me when he was on his trip there with the elder chika a couple of years before. The first thing I thought about when I saw it was, mariposa lily, but it wasn't a mariposa lily. Not even a relative. 

Prairie Nymph, Herbetia lahue

I saw a wood bridge across a murky water channel below the shore trail. While Pappa Quail was busy talking with the other birders still, I went on that bridge and looked down into the duckweed-covered water. 

All of a sudden I noticed a little bump sticking out of the duckweed - it was the nostrils of a small alligator. I raised my camera but not quickly enough - the alligator glided away into the darkness beneath the trees. On our second visit to the sanctuary three days later we passed that trail again and this time I was ready with the camera before stepping on that bridge. Sure enough - the alligator was there still, at exactly the same place. 

May 1, American Alligator

We turned to walk along the next pond's shore. For the most part the vegetation blocked our view of the water but occasionally the trees separated enough to allow us to look through. Pappa Quail kept scanning the water surface but there were no coots or any ducks. I fully understand - I wouldn't want to swim in a pond full of alligators. 

I saw an interesting bug on a leaf of one of the trees. My first thought was cicada, but it wasn't. Cicadas are very difficult to see. No, this one was another type of leaf bug.

Florida Leaf-footed Bug

The day was growing hot and muggy. I was thankful for the tree shade, which was all over the trail, a beautiful canopy tunnel for us to walk through.

I kept my eyes on the shoreline whenever the vegetation parted enough. My main concern was the possibility of alligators resting along the trail by the water. In one spot I noticed the 'knees' of a bald cypress. 

'Knees' of Baldcypress, Taxodium distichum

I raised my gaze and sure enough - there were the bald cypresses in full foliage. I was very happy to have recognized them - I've only seen them naked before, in the swamps of South Carolina in November of 2024. I showed them to Pappa Quail and he said that there were many of them in Big Thicket National Preserve. We haven't seen them in the two small walks we took yesterday but we would go again tomorrow to where the bogs were, he told me. 

Baldcypress, Taxodium distichum

Sure enough, an alligator was lurking in the shallows near the shore. He eyed us lazily, not making any move or showing any sign of being bothered or hungry. I wondered how long it'll take me to get used to these beasts being all around that area. 

American Alligator

We surrounded the second pond, slowly returning to the main pond where the rookery island was. we stepped into one of the lower observation deck and looked out at the birds sitting on the vegetation that protruded from the water. 

Right below us, resting on a partially sunken log, was a pond slider turtle. I am used to turtles sliding into the water on the moment they notice people but this one was completely nonchalant. 

Pond Slider Turtle

Also on our side on the water, on a nearby tree perched a single white ibis. This bird wasn't nesting. It's partial darker plumage indicated it was juvenile, not yet in breeding age. 

White Ibis

Across the water perched another bird that wasn't nesting at the time. It was the only anhinga that we've seen on that visit and Pappa Quail lamented that on his previous visit there a couple of years before he and the elder chika had seen many anhinga there. Where were they now? 

Anhinga

A small dead tree was sticking out of the water a bit away from the rookery island. As small as that tree was, it supported three nests, each of a different bird species: snowy egret in the back, great egret on top, and roseate spoonbill at the bottom. 

The spoonbill rose up a little, revealing a nest full of baby hatchlings. They babies' down was light pink too. They looked very cute.   

Roseate Spoonbill

On the rookery island's shore stood another spoonbill. That bird apparently was late in claiming its real estate because  it was busy trying hard to pull a branch that was stuck in the mud. A few minutes later a little drama ensued when a great blue heron appeared from behind and bullied the smaller spoonbill way from the branch. The stuck piece of wood turned out to be too much for the heron too and after some useless tugging it left and the spoonbill returned to its struggle. 

Roseate Spoonbill

While I was watching the spoonbill on the shore Pappa Quail was picking out the nests on the rookery island one by one. 

Neotropic Cormorant

The dominant birds in the rookery were the egrets, both great egrets and snowy egrets. Old world cattle egrets were present too but they seemed to not mix with the others as much. 

Snowy Egret

Below the patch of dry plants off the island was a patch of water lilies in bloom. I knew this plant from the ponds at Shadowcliffs Regional Par and from landscaped ponds in California where it is an introduced species that found its way to wild places too. Here in southeast Texas it is a native species and it was lovely to see it in its natural habitat. 

Tropical Royalblue Waterlily, Nymphaea elegans

A deep, gurgling sound came from the water below the observation deck. The other birders there told us it was a bullfrog. We looked below and identified two of these beastly amphibians, floating in the duckweed and booming out their bovine-like calls. 

American Bullfrog

The other birders that sat next to us were Texans. When they learned that we're from California they started joking out loud. It seemed ambient at first but all too soon it became too much for me. We bade them good luck in their birding quest and moved on down the trail. 

We completed our loop and Pappa Quail went over to the volunteers stand to get more information and to share what he's seen. Meanwhile I found a white mulberry tree with many low-hanging fruit. That was a great snack break. 

White Mulberry, Morus alba

High Island is one of the Barrier Island separating the Gulf of Mexico from the mainland. The Barrier Islands are the first piece of land that the migratory birds see at the end of their flight north from Mexico. These islands provide for them a place to stop and rest from the long flight before dispersing inland. In the Audubon Society sanctuaries and other wildlife preserves people installed fresh water drippers and basins for the thirsty and fatigued birds. There are benches located strategically by these drippers, not to close but within clear view. 

When Pappa quail finished his chat with the sanctuary's volunteers he called me and we moved behind the building where one of those drippers was. Sure enough, the birds were there. 

Common Grackle

Not only the birds benefit from these water features. An eastern gray squirrel, looking very similar to the squirrels we have in the Bay Area, was also enjoying an occasional sip. 

Eastern Gray Squirrel

We joined the two other birders that were sitting at the benches and watched patiently as different birds dropped by one by one to drink or to bathe. Pappa Quail photographed them as they were waiting in their queue on the branches above the basin. 

Northern Cardinal, female

 

Some of these birds were lifers for me. I have never before seen an indigo bunting. It is such a pretty bird! 

Indigo Bunting

Other birds, such as the catbird, I have seen before but not regularly (or otherwise, I wasn't able to identify them on my own.) 

Gray Catbird

The cardinal of course, I was very familiar with from the time I lived in Wisconsin and from other visits in other states, but they are not California residents and I was happy to see them now. 

Northern Cardinal. male

It was certainly my first time seeing a scarlet tanager. It was an exciting lifer species for Pappa Quail too. 

Scarlet Tanager, male

Besides the birds I was also looking out for the wildflowers, of which there were only a few near the birding benches.

Straggler Daisy, Calyptocarpus vialis

After enough time at the dripper with no new bird coming along Pappa Quail decided it was time to explore a different part of the sanctuary. We got up and headed west to where there was forest and no ponds. 

Roughleaf Dogwood, Cornus drummondii

Within a minute we were in a subtropical jungle, surrounded by greenery from all sides and from above. Where it was less green was the forest floor - too little light seeped through to support any serious undergrowth. 

Part of the trail was on a raised boardwalk, indicating that some areas were routinely flooded during the rainy season. 

Finding the little forest birds wasn't easy. They were everywhere - we could hear them. But they were well hidden in the foliage, and when we did see them, they were moving too quickly, hopping from twig to twig. Still, Pappa Quail was able to capture some nice photos of the little forest birds. 

Cerulean Warbler

It was certainly easier to tell where the birds were by finding where the birders were, rather than by trying to locate the source of the tweets. 

Scarlet Tanager, female

We joined a small group of birders that concentrated in a particular spot. They were very happy to tell us what they were seeing there and pointed up to the trees. 

Gray-cheeked Thrush 

We stood at that one point for at least half an hour. It genuinely felt longer. Eventually I started drifting off into the forest and Pappa Quail got the hint and came along. 

We found another dripper but the only bird we saw there was a common grackle. The locals don't even blink twice at grackles, they are so common in that area. The common grackle however, isn't all that common in California. 

Common Grackle

I was amazed at how dark a broad-leaf forest can be in the spring and summer when the trees are fully foliaged. It looked like a fairy tale kind of forest, sans the goblins. 

There were no goblins in the Smith Oaks Sanctuary forest but we did get to see a few more birds on out little forest walk. 

Carolina Wren

Eventually Pappa Quail decided that we saw all that we could see there that day and led us back to the main area where we quickly checked the dripper again (no new birds there). Then Pappa Quail went to speak with the volunteers again and I ,already very hungry, took my lunch out of the car and went to the picnic area that was nearby.

A female great-tailed grackle immediately zeroed in on me and started hopping around my table, begging for food. She was cute and bold, but I didn't feed her - feeding wildlife is bad for them and also for people. I did get a nice photo of the hungry girl. 

Great-tailed Grackle, female

From the Smith Oaks Rookery we went to the Boy Scout Sanctuary, which is another Audubon Society managed area, and that I'll write about in the next blog post. We did however, return to the Smith Oaks Sanctuary three days later - it was expected to rain the night before and we were hoping to see a fallout event. 

When we arrived there on May 1 (after having been at the Boy Scouts Sanctuary earlier that morning), we headed right away to the forested area. At the trailhead we were welcomed by a single swamp rabbit which hopped away lazily when we insisted on passing it along the trail. 

May 1, Swamp Rabbit

It had rained only a little bit earlier that morning, but there wasn't the big storm that was originally predicted. The plants had little droplets hanging on their petals still. 

May 1, Nakedstem Dewflower, Murdannia nudiflora

These little wildflowers I've seen on our first visit there three days before but now I had the opportunity to take better photos. These flowers were completely new to me. 

May 1, Hairyflower Spiderword, Tradescantia hirusiflora

The forest dripper was disappointingly empty of birds. In fact, there seemed to be even fewer forest birds than what we've seen earlier that week. Clearly, there was no fallout event. 

May 1, Baltimore Oriole

A fallout event is when southbound storms meet the north-flying birds that migrate that fly overnight across the Gulf of Mexico. Exhausted from battling the storm at night, the birds literally fall down at the first land they see, which in this area is High Island. Too exhausted to move, it is easy for birders (and for predators too) to approach them. 

May 1, Tropical Sage, Salvia coccinea

There was no big storm during the week we were in the Beaumont area and no fallout event. After searching the forest for a good hour Pappa Quail decided to return to the rookery area where we were sure to see birds, and also to walk around the third of the four ponds of the sanctuary, which we skipped on our previous visit. 

May 1, Tricolored Heron

The rookery was just as busy as before. We spend more time observing the birds and saw the adults feeding the chicks. There were fewer birders there that day too, and we didn't get into too many conversations there. 

May 1, Great Egret

Once again we started moving along the shore, heading in the direction of the third pond. We kept looking out for alligators along the water line and found also birds there. 

May 1, Purple Gallinule

The trails looked like tunnels, with the tree canopies linked together overhead. That day too was hot and muggy and it was nice to have the shade. 

May 1

I expected many mosquitoes there but they weren't too bad at the time. There were other insects though, among them a large and colorful caterpillar that crossed the trail slowly. 

May 1

When we reached the third pond we found it covered completely in duckweed. We couldn't see and water at all - it was all hidden below the bright green mat. 

May 1

We immediately saw the reptiles - a number of pond slider turtles of varying ages were sunning themselves on partially submerged logs and branches. 

May 1, Pond Slider Turtle

On one of those fallen logs stood a single common gallinule, the first we've seen in the the Smith Oaks Sanctuary so far. The purple gallinules were more common here. 

May 1, Common Gallinule

There was no rookery island in this pond but enough trees were growing right in the middle of the water, and although not very crowded, there were plenty of nests in those trees. 

May 1, Little Blue Heron

There we got to see some of the bird species that we didn't see mingle with the great egrets, snowy egrets, and roseate spoonbills in the main rookery pond. We got to see there the little blue heron and the cattle egrets as well. 

May 1, Cattle Egret

Some of the fallen logs turned out to not be logs at all - they had nostrils and eyes, and ridge scales. Alligators here too were doing their duty of protecting the birds nests above. 

May 1, American Alligator

We rounded up that third pond, walking toward the main rookery area. At the edge of the pond we found another little nesting tree of a few little blue herons and a single cattle egret. 

May 1

While Pappa Quail was busy taking pictures I admired the large, twisted old oaks of the Smith Oaks Sanctuary.  

May 1

I noticed a turtle digging a hole in the middle of the trail. She was a female turtle and she was urinating on he ground to soften it, then digging hard with her hind legs. She would later lay her eggs in that hole. I told that to the Audubon Society volunteers later, and commented that the middle of the trail wasn't perhaps the best choice for turtle nesting. They laughed and said that humans were the least of a threat to the turtle eggs - that raccoons or skunks would dig up all the eggs by nightfall. They said that the turtles aren't being very selective when it comes to nesting places. Still, some of them do survive, we saw plenty of pond slider turtles all over the place. 

May 1

There was another winged creature of interest right at the wall of the building where the volunteer table was. It was a very large and beautiful hawkmoth. 

May 1, Pink-spotted Hawkmoth

There wasn't a storm-induced fallout event during our week but the Smith Oaks Sanctuary was a lovely place to go visit (twice!) and do birding. It is definitely a must see place for bird lovers, especially in the spring.