Rockport Birding & Hogs Bayou Alligators

In 1935, a woman named Connie Hagar moved to Rockport, took over a small tourist motel on Little Bay, and started walking. She walked nine miles of Texas coastline every single day for the next 35 years. This is her route. The Rockport Birding Circuit passes the sanctuary she built at Little Bay, where roseate spoonbills, reddish egrets, tricolored herons, and snowy egrets nest in concentrations that are unusual even for the Texas coast. The colonial nesting colony here gathers because Connie Hagar spent years creating conditions for it and because the bay's shallow water and protected coves provide exactly what wading birds need. Reddish Egrets are the headliner — one of the rarest herons in North America, with roughly 2,000 breeding pairs on the entire continent, and a significant percentage of them nest here. Watch one hunt: it runs, staggers, opens its wings like a canopy, and spins in circles. It looks like it's lost its mind. It's one of the most effective hunting strategies in the bird world. Hogs Bayou sits at the south end of the circuit, where the Lamar Peninsula meets the estuary. The alligator corridor here is easy to miss if you're not looking for it. Look for logs that have eyes. This episode pairs with the Rockport Birding Circuit driving tour.

Published July 13, 2026