Texas: Black-capped Vireo & Golden-cheeked Warbler 2025

Please plan to arrive in Austin before 1pm on the first day. We will collect all participants from the airport and immediately set out to bird various hotspots around the Austin area. We’ll loop the Hornsby Bend water treatment facility to admire the myriad shorebirds, waterfowl, waders, and gulls. Huge numbers of shorebirds can be found here during a spring day, with 15+ species possible. A nearby Monk Parakeet colony is always a crowd-please and at a tiny city retention pond we may find Least Grebes at the very northern edge of their US range. Dinner is in downtown Austin. At dusk we visit the Congress Avenue Bridge and watch as a truly dizzying number of Mexican Free-tailed Bats streaming out from their roost – one of Austin’s most famous and awe-inspiring spectacles! This is the largest urban bat roost and as many as 1.5 million bats seen leaving their roost! The bat and the crowd of people watching is truly astonishing! Night in Austin.

We’ll rise early and venture out to Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge. A slow walk along the Cactus Rocks Trail should turn up nesting Golden-cheeked Warblers, as well as Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay, Black-crested Titmouse, Summer Tanager, and more! We’ll explore several sections of this vast refuge, including a visit to the Shin Oaks Observation Deck where we hope to find Black-capped Vireos on territory. There may also be Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Lark Sparrow, Blue Grosbeak, and Painted Buntings! After rounding up our two primary targets, we will head west to the dusty town of Junction. We should arrive in time to spend the afternoon birding around Junction and also visit South Llano River State Park for several hours before dinner. After dark we can listen for nightjars and owls as the sun sets. Night in Junction.

Today we can spend a few hours really enjoying South Llano River State Park and possibly get more opportunities with our two target species in addition to many other interesting species. Featuring multiple bird-blinds, flat trails, and great scenery, the park has plenty to see! Black-capped Vireos hop around their nesting territory, while Vermillion and Scissor-tailed Flycatchers hawk insects. Blinds provide up-close views of Rufous-crowned, Cassin’s, Lark, Black-throated, Lincoln’s, and Clay-colored Sparrows along with Orange-crowned Warblers, Verdin, Yellow-breasted Chats, Canyon Towhees, Varied and Painted Buntings, and Bell’s Vireos. In 2018 we were lucky to see an incredible hybrid male Varied x Painted Bunting! If we are lucky perhaps a Golden-cheeked Warbler or Black-capped Vireo will stop in for a bath! From there we will drive south to Lost Maples National Conservation Area which is a stunningly beautiful nature area protecting a large patch of old-growth maples and providing a breeding outpost for a number of regional rare species including, of course, Golden-cheeked Warbler and Black-capped Vireo but also White-tipped Dove, Scott’s Oriole, Louisiana Waterthrush, Acadian Flycatcher, Inca Dove, Canyon Wren, and Yellow-throated Warbler. For the remainder of the day we will drive back to Cedar Park, north of Austin. Night in Cedar Park.

We will spend a few hours in the morning prior to departures birding the Austin area and rounding out our trip list. Devine Lake Park, Lake Travis, and another visit to Hornsby Bend will likely be on the itinerary for the last morning. Please plan your departure for no earlier than noon if possible. Remember that this trip also works as an extension to our weeklong TEXAS: Rio Grande Valley in Spring tour! Combine both for 250+ species in 10 days!