Most people know that in the Lone Star State, aka Texas, summers can absolutely sizzle. Which is why, when you go to plan your next Texas vacation during those warmer months we have some advice: think water. Thanks to Uncle Sam, this southwestern state has some terrific places besides the beach to...

Southwestern Texas has a reputation for getting downright toasty during summer months, and Big Bend National Park is no exception. But it’s not all desert heat come those long lazy days of summer, nor is a little winter snow impossible come January. In fact, the weather in this expansive national pa...

Fort Phantom Hill is a deserted ruin that happens to be rather beloved by birds. Of course, being a deserted ruin situated by a lake does help. A couple of other lakes, state parks, and zoological gardens provide Abilene with plenty of bird habitat. If you look hard and close, you might see rare f...

Amarillo's close proximity to several state parks, and state parks with very interesting geography, makes for a lot of birds, and a lot of birds of varied species. Waterfowl, shorebirds, woodland species, songbirds, and raptors all flock here. The Common Raven and Townsend's Solitaire are ...

Perhaps the real draws of Austin birding are those very-rare-elsewhere Golden-cheeked Warblers and Black-capped Vireos, but birds of all types gather here in droves, and not only in the state parks and preserves. Some of the other rare birds you might see here (if you're lucky) are the Norther...

Beaumont / Port Arthur's coastal marshlands are prime territory for waterfowl and shorebirds, gulls and cormorants. The rare Masked Duck has shown up here. The remnants of Piney Woods foliage also draws eastern woodland birds, and Beaumont may be the best place along the Texas Gulf Coast to fi...

Big Bend National Park, with an incredible 450 species of birds within its borders (if not all at the same time), is the best National Park for birding, easily. Like the Rio Grande Valley, it has uniquely occurring species which can be found nearly nowhere else in the United States. Some of these sp...

The Central Coast can be a little bit of bog and a little bit of beach and the birding is necessarily varied. The rare Swainson's Warbler has been spotted near Sargent Beach, an eastern woodland species along with such finds as the Eastern Bluebird. And waterfowl rarities like the Oldsquaw, the Paci...

Corpus Christi's bays are often crowded with shorebirds and waterfowl, but landbirds and raptors can occur in surprising numbers. Particularly, Hazel Bazemore County Park is famous for its massive hawk migration in September and October. The sky darkens with more hawks than could be counted in a lif...

Dallas, like Austin, is also home to the Golden-cheeked Warbler and the Black-capped Vireo, but it doesn't have quite so many . . . a handful, really. What Dallas has is crowds of species of waterfowl, shorebirds, and both western and eastern woodland birds.Some of the more dramatic shorebirds inclu...