Hosting 'Big Year' brethren

This past weekend, Holly and I played host to Eddie and Liam Ehrman - the father/son Big Year team that is making a run at the ABA record for North America. We met Eddie and Liam in Minnesota at the Sax-Zim Bog Birding Festival in February. It was there that we offered up our Houston-based digs for any of the 'Big Year' birders in attendance (There were several.) that planned a trip to Texas for spring migration. It was a short stay, but Eddie and Liam we able to add 30-plus birds, including some shorebirds that would be difficult to chase elsewhere. 

We paid a visit to Sabine Woods to get the Tropical Mockingbird. He was an easy mark on Saturday, but the horse flies made the stay a brief one. We also stopped in Anahuac for looks at White-rumped Sandpipers and Wilson's Phalaropes... then Smith Oaks for a few warblers before hitting Roll-over Pass and Bolivar Flats for good looks at Black Terns and Red Knots among others.

Holly bids 'bon voyage' at IAH to our Cincinnati connection.

Sunday, we drove out to Katy Prairie and were able to get our guests a few ducks and more shorebirds. Eddie also believed we may have found every Dickcissel on planet Earth! All in all, it was a great weekend with a pair of new friends. 

As for our count, we didn't do too shabby either. We added 10 new birds to our flickr stream. We're closing in on 300 and expect to reach and exceed that prior to heading out to Arizona in less than two weeks!