Twitching can be bad for your health – as today amply demonstrated. One of the hoped for trade-offs for missing out on the possibility of grabbing American Flamingo at Port Aransas was that it put us within easy range of the Corpus Christi Cattle Tyrant, which has been hanging around since before Christmas. We arrived at the stake-out – the carpark by Aka Sushi bar in the CBD – at just after dawn. Our particular focus was on the dumpster for the kitchen scraps, where the bird has been seen most frequently. Nothing in the first couple of hours so we headed to the near-by hot spot of Hans & Pat Suter Wildlife Refuge. Hardly any small birds but we did get to see a strong contender for Couch’s Kingbird and a reasonable selection of waders, both pelicans, Osprey and Caspian Terns. We then headed back to the dumpster for a second session. Thanks to a rare TomTom navigation mistake we took a detour through a local industrial estate, where we found a small colony of Monk Parakeet. Another two hours of fruitless searching for the Cattle Tyrant and we finally gave in – it was proving to be bad for our mental health by this time! A couple of hours drive south to Raymondville, our overnight stop, and location for a late afternoon session at Delta Lake. This produced yet more waders, Bullock’s Oriole and some nice lizards.

Today was a transition day with around 250 miles travelled – moving away from the Galveston coast inland to Corpus Christi. We called in on several sites to break up the journey. First was Lafitte’s Cove – a lovely ‘pocket park’ in a very well-heeled suburb – which we’d first visited with Bob & Sue. A reasonable selection of warblers, vireos and contender for ‘bird of the day’ – a fly-over Magnificent Frigatebird. We dropped in at Dos Vacas Muertas again, adding Bullock’s Oriole and Northern Parula to the trip list. Our final stop was another site found on our first Texas tour, this time the Neotropical Bird Sanctuary at Quintana. Another very birdy ‘lot’ surrounded by oil refineries. We drove the 160 miles to our motel in Port Aransas only to be told that our booking had been cancelled! It being Easter weekend we had to travel another forty miles away from the coastal resort to secure lodgings for the night! A move which has cost us a ‘banker’ US tick – American Flamingo. I’m not not a happy (Easter) bunny.

Old friends, familiar places. Today we began the long journey south around the Gulf of Mexico (America) – heading for the Rio Grande. Our first stop was Bolivar Flats where, on previous visits, we’d seen some pretty good birds. Today was no exception with a good selection of waders, gulls and terns. Wilson’s, Piping and Snowy Plover never fail to impress, as did the large group of roosting Black Tern. Once across the ferry to Galveston we called in at Corp Wood but that really was a struggle – very few birds indeed. Time spent around Magic Carpet Golf and the go-cart track failed to produced the hoped for Yellow-headed Caracara. An early check-in, quick siesta, and we were off again to explore a new site, Dos Vacas Muertas – which was excellent. A group of two dozen Indigo Bunting held a single, scarcer, Blue Grosbeak and there was a reasonable selection of warblers, flycatchers, vireos and orioles. On the beach heading for our hotel a dark backed gull turned out to be Lesser Black-backed Gull. A steadier day re-visiting old haunts but also exploring some new sites. We’re definitely getting into the swing of things.

Today we started birding in earnest – well High Island actually! We were up early (unsurprisingly as we adjust to the new time zone), breakfasted at MacDonalds, before heading past Anahuac NWR to High Island. The weather was certainly not classic ‘fall’ conditions but the gentle northerly and cloudy skies did produce a few grounded migrants in the various wooded reserves around the township. After lunch we made for the coast to check out our AirBnB and bird Rollover Pass. A good selection of shorebirds, terns and gulls, with two species of pelican and Black Skimmer thrown in for good measure. A final evening season back at Boy Scout Wood added a couple more birds, making our total 98 for the trip so far. Not too shabby.

Yesterday was a transit day, and boy what a day! We left Cromer at 07.00 and eventually arrived at our motel in Winnie, Texas, at 22.30 – including a six hour time difference. That meant we were on the go for 211/2 hours – no wonder we were knackered. The only birds which made it on to the list were Purple Martin and Killdeer as we taxied to the stand at Houston and a Rock Dove on the terminal buildings.

Today is our last in Norfolk before we head for Heathrow in the morning and our flight to Houston, at the start of another Great American Birding RoAd Trip (GABRAT IV). This trip is to celebrate Neil’s big birthday (three score years and ten) and consists of a month-long clockwise itinerary around the Gulf of Mexico (America), along the Rio Grande – through New Mexico – to south-east Arizona and then back west through the Texas Highlands to Houston. We’ve done similar trips a couple of times before but this is Neil & Nicola’s introduction to the amazing spectacle that is the Americas Spring migration! I’m thinking 350 for the trip is an achievable target? It’ll be dark when we arrive at our first destination of Winnie so I doubt there’ll be any birding news to report for Day 1 – but we’ll see.