The Binocular Site
Bolivar Flats, Texas
Bolivar Flats, the Horseshoe Marsh, and the Bolivar Peninsula together make up Port Bolivar, and are known as the Bolivar Birding Sanctuary.
Sandy beaches, salt marsh, and mud flats make an abundant home to hundreds of thousands of birds yearly.
Here many of the largest groups of migrating shorebirds in North America stop, including more than 10 thousand American Avocets. The salt marsh delivers up a rich smorgasbord of worms, clams, shrimp, and fish, making Bolivar Flats a delicious stop for shorebirds.
Bolivar offers Sharp-tailed and Seaside Sparrows, Western and Least Sandpipers, Short-billed and Long-billed Dowitchers, and Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs. Also find Long-billed Curlews, Whimbrels, and King Rails.
In December through January the greatest number and range of shorebirds are present, whether they are migrating or settling down for the winter. April offers brightly colored, breeding Western and Semipalmated Sandpipers, Dunlins, Dowitchers, and Sanderlings, all numbering in the thousands, along with the odd Pectoral or White-rumped Sandpiper.
June is perhaps the quietest month at Bolivar, with only a few shorebirds staying to breed, such as the Willets, Black-necked Stilts, Wilson's Plovers, Black-bellied Plovers, Sangerlings, and Short-billed Dowitchers.
The Texas state bird is officially listed as the Northern Mockingbird and you can find a checklist of birds to watch for while visting Texas here.
Photo credit to Bill and Mavis, used with permission under the creative commons license. You can learn more about the wildlife, habitat and birds you can see while visiting Bolivar Flats and find an introduction to the birds, plants and geology of the region here.If you've visited Bolivar Flats, please take the time to share your experience and any tips or insight you have about this Texas birdwatching location below.
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