Just returned from my first time birding High Island during spring migration. High Island Texas is a town on the coast just east of Galveston and South of I-10. This location has been on my must-do birding list for many years. Now that I live in Dallas and could drive in less than 5 hours, there was no excuse to put it off any longer. In this post I will give you my tips for birding High Island during spring migration including the High Island sanctuaries, Jocelyn Nungaray NWR and Sabine Woods refuge areas. The post will also cover the general area, food and accommodations.
Date of Visit: April 2026
Birding High Island − Spring Migration
Migration season has begun! When birds return from their winter habitats in Mexico and South and Central America, they have to make the long flight over the Gulf of Mexico to return to their summer playgrounds in North America. For many birds, this means flying 600 miles straight without stopping. When the reach the coast of the United States, they are exhausted and need to stop for rest and refueling.
If weather conditions are right, this means that it is possible to see hundreds to thousands of birds just dropping out of the sky as they reach coastal Texas and Louisiana, sometimes also Alabama. High Island Texas is known for being a key destination if you want to experience this phenomenon. Birding High Island during the spring migration is a must for any serious birder!
Birding High Island − Geography Overview
In the birding world, “High Island” refers to an area of the Texas coast that comprises the actual town of High Island, but also Bolivar Peninsula, Anahuac and a coastal area south of Port Arthur known as Sabine Pass. I’ve added Galveston as a reference point below.
There are several local and national wildlife preserves and refuges in this area that are set up for those who want to enjoy spring migration birding on High Island. Click on each refuge below for short descriptions of the habitat, types of birds you may see and time to allow for a visit.
Jocelyn Nungaray NWR (formerly known as Anahuac NWR)
This is a main attraction when birding High Island for spring migration. Located about 20 miles south of Winnie, TX. This NWR has a visitors center, several short and flat walking trails and a 2.5 mile drive-through loop on a marsh pond which is perfect for birders with less mobility and those who are just tired of being on their feet. Clean bathrooms available.
Birds: Marsh birds, some songs birds on trails, raptors in open fields
Recommended length time for a visit: Half to full day, maybe more.
Smith Oaks Bird Sanctuary
Smith Oaks is one of several small preserves that are in the actual town of High Island. This sanctuary is know for its “canopy walk” which is a short boardwalk at tree height level that leads to viewing platforms in a rookery. There are also easy and flat trails that go through the woods around the rookery. They have a drip set up at the entrance just beside the pavillion. Clean bathrooms available. A must do at dusk!
Birds: Typical rookery birds including egrets, spoonbills, cormorants and herons.
Recommend length of time for a visit: An hour if just visiting the rookery and the drip. Half a day if you want to explore the trails.
Boy Scout Woods
Boy Scout Woods is another preserve just 2 minutes from Smith Oaks on High Island. It’s tucked into a neighborhood but has a rustic visitors center at the entrance and clean bathrooms. There is a drip set up across from the visitor center with two sets of bleachers. There are several trails through the woods as well as a section of boardwalk that cuts out over a grassy field on the edge of the woods. Benches along the way for resting.
Birds: Song birds
Recommend length of time for a visit: An hour or so would allow you to explore a few trails and the boardwalk. Could suck up a half day if there is a lot of activity at the drip on on trails.
Eubanks Woods Sanctuary
A smaller, less crowded option that is essentially adjacent to Boy Scout Woods. I did not visit this on my trip. You would see song birds primarily.
S.E. Gast Red Bay Sanctuary
This small loop trail takes you to a very small lookout over a marsh. Good place to try if the other nearby preserves are crowded. I did this loop in less than an hour. Parking for 3-4 cars just outside the turnsile. No facilities.
Birds: Song birds, marsh birds.
T.O.S Hooks Woods
Another option close to Smith Oaks and Boy Scout Woods if the main preserves are crowded. I did not visit here.
Birds: Song birds
Sabine Woods
Sabine Woods is a preserve about 20 miles south of Port Arthur, 45 minutes from Winnie. There is a set of trails winding through woods and providing access to fields/grasslands and marsh. Several drips are set up throughout.
Parking is somewhat limited and is along the road just outside the entrance. No visitors center. Volunteers were there during season. Porta Potties only.
Birds: Song birds, marsh birds
Recommend length of time for a visit: Half day and pair it with Sea Rim State Park for a full day.
Sea Rim State Park
Sea Rim is just down the street from Sabine Woods. It is essentially a big parking lot bordering marsh and beach. Drive the parking lot and check out the various ponds/salt water marshes.
There is also a boardwalk at water level that winds through a marsh – no railings and fully exposed to weather. Also check out the road that goes into the maintenance yard on the opposite side of Highway 87 from the beach.
Birds: Marsh birds, shore birds
Recommend length of time for a visit: Maybe an hour or two when you need a break from Sabine Woods.
Bolivar Flats/Bolivar Pond Lighthouse
On the opposite end of the High Island area from Sabine Pass is the Bolivar Peninsula which runs west along Highway 87 from High Island through Gilchrist and toward the Galveston Ferry. Bolivar Flats is an area of mudflats that can be explored for shore birds during low or medium tide. The lighthouse pond is inland across the highway from the flats. I did not spend significant time here.
Recommend length of time for a visit: Bolivar Flats is best done at sunrise when the tide is out or halfway in/out. Dusk is the other option. Time needed depends on activity and your interest in shore birds.
Birds: Shore birds, potential for pelagics
High Island − When To Go
Spring migration begins in April with peak times typically being the 3rd week of April through first week of May. For the fall migration, target late September to mid-October.
You can’t predict the weather, but if you have flexibility for your birding trip to High Island, try to check the weather about a week out from your planned dates. Adjust if you can to hit it when there is a north wind or storms planned just inland that will slow the birds down. I visited when there was a light east wind followed by a strong south wind so birds that hit the coast likely kept going instead of dropping.
Birding High Island − Getting There
If you are driving your own car to go birding in High Island, you will either access this area from Louisiana by coming in on I-10 or coming in on I-10 from Houston and then turning south on Highway 124 in Winnie. Otherwise fly into one of Houston’s airports and rent a car.
From Houston’s airports, you have the option of taking the I-10 to Winnie or going down to Galveston Island and taking the ferry across to Bolivar Peninsula. Depends on where you are staying and whether you are trying to do some birding on your way in.
See my info below on how to bird High Island with an electric car for tips on route options including info on the Galveston/Bolivar Ferry. Pictures above taken while on the ferry.
Birding High Island − Where to Stay
You will want to plan at least 3 full days and as much as a full week to fully experience the birding of High Island during spring migration. There are two primary target areas for accommodations – Winnie or Gilchrist. Port Arthur would be distant 3rd option. If you have an RV, there seemed to be an abudance of options in each area.
Winnie is the nearest full-service town to the High Island area, about a 30 minute drive to both Jocelyn Nungaray and High Island. It is 45 minutes to Sabine Pass through Port Arthur or 60 minutes south to Bolivar Flats/Lighthouse Pond.
Winnie is the nearest place for roadside hotels ranging from very basic to standards like La Quinta or Hampton Inn. There are plenty of gas stations, restaurants (don’t expect fine dining – think DQ and diners) and grocery stores in this area. There is one mom-n-pop motel on High Island just outside the Smith Oaks/Boy Scout Woods preserves but definitely too basic for my taste.
Birding High Island in Comfort − Gilchrist
Anyone who follows the FritttaBlog knows I am an accommodation snob. I much prefer an AirBnB to a hotel, especially when I’m birding. By April, the sunlight is out from 6:45 a.m. to about 7:15 p.m. which makes for very long days. It is so much nicer to have a real home to return to with a kitchen for making quick meals instead of having to rely on restaurants for meals.
I also appreciate having a comfy couch to lounge on as I am unwinding and downloading the day’s pictures. I want a refrigerator that allows me to bring enough food to pack lunches for long days in the car and a way to get ice refills for the cooler. There are no food options anywhere around the sanctuaries (though I did hear a gas station just outside of Sabine Woods is now serving gyros so maybe check that out).
After much research, I chose to stay in Gilchrist while birding High Island during spring migration. Gilchrist is on the far east end of the Bolivar Peninsula. While I found a few AirBnB’s scattered around Winnie, the best selection by far were the beach houses on stilts on the peninsula.
This adorable little home was 2 bedrooms/2 full bathrooms, full kitchen and a living room. It was just 10 miles from High Island, 30 minutes from Jocelyn Nungaray and 30 minutes from Bolivar Flats/Bolivar Lighthouse Pond and the Galveston Ferry. It was a little over an hour from Sabine Woods, so when I made that trip I planned to cover the entire Sabine Pass area in one day.
Two of my friends decided to stay at the Motel 6 in Winnie. We compared notes, and I think I ended up spending the same as they did for 4 nights. NO BRAINER. And I think I got a much better night’s sleep being tucked up in my little beach house than they did between being on the side of I-10 and the issues with noise from other guests in their hotel.
Birding High Island with an Electric Vehicle
I decided to drive my Rivian R1S to High Island for this adventure. It did require a bit of planning because as you would guess, there are not a plethora of charging stations in a National Wildlife Refuge.
If you are coming from Houston or Louisiana by electric car, there are plenty of charging stations including Tesla Superchargers. Once you get close to High Island, you have only two options – Baytown or Galveston Island on the Texas side or Beaumont on the Louisiana side.
There is a lot of distance to cover for birding High Island during spring migration, so you will have to plan. Depending where you stay, Sabine Woods may not be possible with an electric car (without serious inconvenience) due to it’s distance from Winnie and Gilchrist.
Galveston Island Broadway Street – 30 miles to Gilchrist, 38 miles to Boy Scout Woods area and 56 miles to Jocelyn Nungaray (20 miles from Nungaray to Winnie).
Baytown Buc-ee’s – 38 miles to Jocelyn Nungaray if you drive direct and don’t go to Winnie first or 38 miles to Winnie (and then 20 miles from Winnie to Nungaray).
Buc-ee’s Dickinson Texas – 47 miles to Gilchrist, a better option than Galveston Island at least for the return trip.
Tesla Supercharger Beaumont (Walden Road) – 20 miles to Winnie, 55 miles to Gilchrist, 36 miles to Sabine Woods
My Strategy
See below for how I did a 3.5 day trip coming from Dallas. Plugging into the 110V at my beach house was KEY. I got +20 miles per night which saved me from having to drive to a supercharger over the weekend.
- Arrived at Tesla Supercharger Galveston Island Broadway Street at 4pm. Took an hour from dead empty to get 288 miles on my Rivian R1S.
- Drove 4 mile to ferry, then got off at Bolivar Peninsula and drove straight to Smith Oaks rookery (38 miles) to take pictures at dusk. Returned to my beach house in Gilchrist (9 miles). Drip charged on a 110V overnight, +20 miles.
- Drove to Winnie and hitched a ride with friends to Sabine Woods (26 miles) – I could not figure out a way to go there in my own car without significant driving time added to the trip to hit a supercharger again. Return trip to Gilchrist from Winnie, 26 miles. Drip charged on a 110V overnight, +20 miles.
- Drove to Boy Scout Woods area (10 miles) for half a day then on to Jocelyn Nungaray (additional 20 miles). Returned to Gilchrist (28 miles). Drip charged on a 110V outlet overnight, +20 miles.
- Drove to Jocelyn Nungaray from beach house (28 miles), returned to house in Gilchrist to pack up (28 miles) and took the ferry back to Galveston Island. I had enough miles to make it to the Tesla Supercharger at Buc-ee’s in Dickinson, Texas which was MUCH better than Galvestion Island. If you are heading back into Texas and your mileage works out, it is 38 miles to the Baytown Supercharger from Jocelyn Nungaray.
Birding High Island for Spring Migration − Numbers
I had a decent long weekend of birding with just over 60 unique bird sightings. I was there the 2nd weekend of April. The song birds where the thinnest with the shore birds and marsh birds being more predominant. I was expecting to see a lot more than I did so I would say this was 2 weeks too early.
Weather conditions also did not cooperate. We had easterly winds and good weather the first two days followed by 2 days of strong south winds. This is not ideal for a drop. The winds were pushing any birds that hit the coast further north past High Island.
Birding High Island for Spring Migration − The Birds
Time to get to the good stuff! Sharing galleries of my best photos from my birding trip to High Island and where I saw each one.
Fort Travis Seashore State Park (Bolivar Flats area)
Smith Oaks Bird Sanctuary & Rookery
Birding High Island − Sabine Woods
A few things to know about this area. It is a very ugly drive to get there. From Port Arthur, it is pretty much an industrial megacomplex all the way. Keep this in mind if you are trying to go to Sabine Woods early in the morning or leaving towards dusk.
Not sure exactly what times the shift changes for these plants are, but you’ll want to avoid being on the road during those times if possible. May be worth looking it up or at least using your GPS to route the drive time before you leave each way.
Birding High Island − Sea Rim State Park
Birding High Island − Boy Scout Woods
I had a VERY long day birding High Island at Boy Scout Woods and this is all I’ve got to show for it. Not even a decent photo. Grrrrr.
Jocelyn Nungaray NWR/Shoveler Pond Road, Willows Trail and Road to Hackberry Trail
Birding High Island for Spring Migration − More Than Birds
Of course, there is more to see than birds in High Island. Here are a few of my favorites from the trip.
Looking for more bird photos and information on where to find them? Check out my Birds page. I’ll be headed to BWIAB (Biggest Week in American Birding) in May and then I’m making my 6th trip to Costa Rica. Much more to come for this season!
