Coastal Bend

This unique count will allow participants to enter sections of the refuge and local areas not generally open to the public. Besides Whooping Cranes, results in previous years included Green-tailed Towhees, Harris's Sparrows, Burrowing Owls, Mountain Plovers and a Rough-legged Hawk! Who knows what will be observed this year! This year's compiler is Allison Griffin. The co-coordinator is Laura Bonneau, laura_bonneau@fws.gov. Please contact Laura if you would like to participate.

Saturday, December 20, 2025
This count is centered in the west part of town and contains some of the premier birding sites in Nueces County, part of Nueces Bay and several ranches in San Patricio County. It has one of the higher species counts in Texas. The compiler is Larry Jordan, lawrencemjordan@hotmail.com . This count is traditionally held on the first Saturday on the count window. This year anyone interested in participating needs to contact Larry well before the count.

Sunday, December 14, 2025
This count is centered in the east end of town and includes all of the Flour Bluff peninsula, part of the Laureles Division of the King Ranch, northern Padre Island, southern Mustang Island and several miles of the Laguna Madre. The compiler is Larry Jordan, lawrencemjordan@hotmail.com. This count is traditionally held on the first Sunday on the count window. This year anyone interested in participating needs to contact Larry well before the count.

Thursday, December 18, 2025
This is a unique fun count surveying riparian forests near the Coast. The count is usually sponsored and the CBC will likely provide you access to property not available otherwise. This count was designed by Mark Elwonger and Brent Ortego to maximize the number of lingering neotrops. It contains 15 miles of the lower end of Guadalupe and San Antonio Rivers. It has many miles of waterways, riparian woodlands, marshes, brushlands, and grasslands. One of the exciting aspects of attending the count is to be able to access the private ranches in the McFaddin community. We have access to 3 ranches totaling 14,000 acres. There are also thousands of acres of other land south of these ranches in which we have access. If you would like to view these properties, go to Google Earth and view the land between the Guadalupe and San Antonio Rivers near their junction between Green Lake and Tivoli, TX. This count is traditionally held on the 1st Thursday of the count window. If you would like to attend, contact Brent Ortego, brentortego@hotmail.com or 361-827-4691 cell. Resources: Count circle map (static image), Interactive map (Google Earth required).

Saturday, December 27, 2025
The Jackson-Calhoun County CBC is centered near the community of Weedhaven, which is just east of the town of Port Lavaca. The circle includes bays and estuaries along the Lavaca River and Carancahua River watersheds, riparian areas along Cox Creek and Keller Creek, pasture and crop land, some limited thorn scrub and feeder-watch opportunities. Formosa Plastics and ALCOA graciously allow us access to their amazingly productive properties near Point Comfort. The Formosa Tejano Wetland near the town of La Ward features prominently in the Count as do a number of private ranches. This count is always held on December 27th and usually ranks in the top 5 in total species in Texas. To participate, please contact the compiler, Bob Friedrichs at bird.fried@gmail.com or 925-998-7052. Come on out and join the fun and a delicious BBQ countdown dinner!

Monday, January 5, 2026
This count which is centered about 25 miles south of Padre Island National Seashore headquarters will survey birds on wind tidal flats of the Laguna Madre, grasslands behind the dunes and gulf beaches. This is one of the special CBCs in Texas. Birders survey extensive wind tidal flats to count large numbers of shorebirds and waterbirds in Kenedy County. Past counts have reported in excess of 100,000 shorebirds. Many large flocks of Redheads are typically flushed during boat run to the CBC. Count entails a 25-40 mile boat run across the Laguna Madre. Birders will then be deployed to survey about 2 miles of wind tidal flats each on foot. Birders will need knee boots, spotting scope and lunch. Count will last from 7 am until about 5 pm. People interested should contact Beau Hardegree for more details. beau_hardegree@fws.gov; 361/533-6054. Compiler Brent Ortego, brentortego@hotmail.com or 361-827-4691 cell.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the count - come celebrate with us! Some of the highlights from previous years are Masked Duck, Green Kingfisher, Yellow-throated Warbler, Cassin's Sparrow and Lark Bunting. Compiler: Barbara Rapstein, Barbraps@rocketmail.com . This count is usually held on the last Saturday of the count period.

Monday, December 15, 2025
The Port Aransas count is always held on the first Monday of the CBC window. We appreciate any who would like to join us for the count. Please contact the compiler, Joan Holt (joanholt@utexas.edu), in advance if you'd like to participate. We set up the count areas before the count and do not meet the morning of the count. Because we do this you need to contact me early so that I can find an area where your expertise is needed.

This count is centered around Powderhorn Wildlife Management Area, and includes Port O’Connor, Indianola, Matagorda Island, Magic Ridge, Matagorda Bay, Powderhorn Lake and Espiritu Santo Bay. To participate, please contact the compiler Dan Walker (daniel.walker@tpwd.texas.gov ) for more information.

Sunday, January 4, 2026
Our area includes Live-oak Peninsula south to Estes, all of Port Bay, a narrow strip south of SH 188, Bayside, Mission Bay and most of Copano Bay. It consists of urban areas, marshes, open water, grassland, oak mottes, farmlands, mesquite and other brushy areas. Please contact compiler Claudia Dorn at catbirddorn@gmail.com to sign up and for further information. This count is scheduled during the first weekend in January.

Monday, December 22, 2025
The Victoria CBC is one of the longest, continuously running Counts in Texas. It is open to all participants regardless of skill level. It includes Riverside Park, Saxet Lakes, most of Victoria proper and multiple private ranches west and north of Victoria. The CBC circle is in the transition zone between post oak savannah, coastal prairies and South Texas brushlands and as such provides various habitats and thus species diversity. Feeder watchers within the count circle are encouraged to register and report sightings. To participate, contact the compiler, Bob Friedrichs, at 925-998-7052 or email at bird.fried@gmail.com

Friday, December 19, 2025
This count is held at the Welder Wildlife Foundation Refuge near Sinton. Meet at 6:30 AM at the Welder Wildlife Foundation Main Gate off of Hwy 77 north of Sinton for assignments. If you would like to participate please contact Angie Arredondo at aarredondo@welderwildlife.org.