Lake Somerville

© Bert Frenz, 2001

This page provides additional directions and supplements a Spring 2001 article appearing in Texas Birds magazine.  The following directions circle the lake, clockwise, starting and ending at the dam. 

Completing the circle
F.M. 60 continues northeast from Big Creek toward Lyons.  At Lyons, continue east on Texas Hwy. 36 to Somerville and return to the dam. If you took the shortest route around the lake and bypassed all of the birding spots, your odometer would read about 50 miles. A wiser use of birding time would make a 1-day trip of the eastern areas (Welch, Overlook, Yegua Creek, Rocky Creek), another day trip of the western areas (Nails Creek, Flag Pond, Lake Somerville Trailway) and a third day of far west and north (Somerville WMA, Birch Creek, Big Creek).

Species List

Common Loon, Pied-billed Grebe, Horned Grebe, Eared Grebe, American White Pelican, Brown Pelican, Neotropic Cormorant, Double-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, American Bittern, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Reddish Egret, Cattle Egret, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, White Ibis, White-faced Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Wood Stork, Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Greater White-fronted Goose, Snow Goose, Ross's Goose, Canada Goose, Wood Duck, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Mallard, Mottled Duck, Blue-winged Teal, Cinnamon Teal, Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Canvasback, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Osprey, White-tailed Kite, Mississippi Kite, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Golden Eagle, Crested Caracara, American Kestrel, Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, Prairie Falcon, Northern Bobwhite, Virginia Rail, Sora, Common Moorhen, American Coot, Sandhill Crane, Black-bellied Plover, American Golden-Plover, Snowy Plover, Semipalmated Plover, Piping Plover, Killdeer, Black-necked Stilt, American Avocet, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpiper, Willet, Spotted Sandpiper, Upland Sandpiper, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, White-rumped Sandpiper, Baird's Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper, Dunlin, Stilt Sandpiper, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Long-billed Dowitcher, Common Snipe, American Woodcock, Laughing Gull, Franklin's Gull, Bonaparte's Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Herring Gull, Thayer's Gull, Caspian Tern, Royal Tern, Common Tern, Forster's Tern, Least Tern, Black Tern, Black Skimmer, Rock Dove, White-winged Dove, Mourning Dove, Inca Dove, Common Ground-Dove, Red-crowned Parrot (escapee), Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Greater Roadrunner, Barred Owl, Short-eared Owl, Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Belted Kingfisher, Green Kingfisher, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Acadian Flycatcher, Alder Flycatcher, Eastern Phoebe, Vermilion Flycatcher, Great Crested Flycatcher, Western Kingbird, Eastern Kingbird, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Loggerhead Shrike, White-eyed Vireo, Blue-headed Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue Jay, American Crow, Purple Martin, Tree Swallow, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Bank Swallow, Cliff Swallow, Barn Swallow, Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, Bewick's Wren, House Wren, Winter Wren, Sedge Wren, Marsh Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Eastern Bluebird, Hermit Thrush, American Robin, Gray Catbird, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, European Starling, American Pipit, Cedar Waxwing, Orange-crowned Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Northern Parula, Yellow Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Pine Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, American Redstart, Prothonotary Warbler, Swainson's Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Mourning Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Hooded Warbler, Wilson's Warbler, Canada Warbler, Summer Tanager, Scarlet Tanager, Eastern Towhee, Chipping Sparrow, Field Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Le Conte's Sparrow, Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Harris's Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Lapland Longspur, Northern Cardinal, Blue Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Painted Bunting, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark, Western Meadowlark, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, Common Grackle, Great-tailed Grackle, Brown-headed Cowbird, Orchard Oriole, Baltimore Oriole, Purple Finch, House Finch, Pine Siskin, American Goldfinch, and House Sparrow. (232 species).

Report your sightings -- please report you sightings to Bert Frenz for inclusion in his RBA and his TOS - Region VI quarterly report.

Return to:  Birding in Central Brazos Valley

This page was last updated December 27, 2004.