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Current Bird (and nature) News
Rufous-capped Warbler - Basileuterus rufifrons jouyi
at Neal's Lodge, Concan TX, March '06
MOST RECENT UPDATE: October 4, 2024
(prior updates: September 27, 20, 13, 6, August 30. 23, 16, 9, 2)
(updated Friday evening)
~ ~ ~
FOS - first of season - for the first one back, any season.
First a short version of highlights of the month as we go.
October ~ Our only Mourning Warbler so far
this fall was the 2nd in front porch flower
beds. A Couch's Kingbird is with some
Scissor-tailed Flycatchers south of town.
A FOS Belted KIngfisher was at park the 4th.
September ~ Over FOUR INCHES of rain fell on
the 2nd and 3rd. The FOY Couch's
Spadefoot Toad called on the 2nd, two were
calling on the 3rd. Just needed to add water.
After several days of NE flow, it hit 60F or
lower on morn of the 8th, and about 55F on the
9th. Lowest temps since early April, in five
months. Seems the fall Ruby-throated Hummingbird
passage has peaked already, about Sept. 4-7 at
our place. On the 17th I heard a LONG-EARED OWL,
surely returning for its fourth winter here.
Saw my FOS fall Firefly evening of the 18th.
A FOS Great Egret was at the park on the 20th.
A GIANT WHITE butterfly the 22nd is maybe the
fourth I have seen in 21 years here. On the
24th I finally had two FOS migrant warblers,
a Yellow, and a Nashville. Our FOS Baltimore
Orioles (a pair) visited our birdbath the 24th.
Couch's Kingbird also here the 24th.
Kathy saw a FOS Blue-headed Vireo on the 27th.
~ ~ ~
splish splash I was takin' a bath!
male Golden-cheeked Warbler
Jump To Bird & Nature News
This page has the current bird and nature news from the area around
Utopia, the Sabinal River Valley (SRV), and occasionally elsewhere
in the area, such as Uvalde, Concan, Lost Maples, etc.
Often unusual sightings will be in CAPS. There will also
be occasional mention of butterfly (lep) or dragonfly (ode)
sightings when they are out and about (in season). Anything
of natural history of interest, bats to beetles, flowers
to fungus, may be mentioned.
In general for current Lost Maples sightings ebird seems to be
the place most folks put them. Go to ebird and search Lost Maples
SNA in Bandera Co., Texas. Same for Garner St. Pk. but which is
in Uvalde County. Often reports there do not include specifics
about where a bird was seen though. There is a Lost Maples
reports page here on the site, but which is not often real useful
for the latest current news. It is a good reference though. I
post my walk notes there. But we have not been going there
as much since the pandemic got going.
Pro Tip: Ignore the ebird Chihuahuan Raven reports at Lost Maples,
they are mis-ID'd Common Ravens which are common residents.
You would think with so many reports, ONE could be proven.
Guess again.
A quick note about Utopia Park. There have been some changes in
management and rules. It is now $10 per person per day to enter
No charge for Utopia or Vanderpool residents. Been gently suggesting
we need a one hour or two hour birder rate. They are receptive
to the idea but no action yet on it. They said if you parked
outside the gate and walked in only without using tables, swimming,
and just birded they would not charge.
You may want to scroll down to the date of the last update you
read, and scroll or read UP day-to-day to read in chronological
sequence, some references might make more sense that way. For
repeat offenders there is a link above and just below to jump to
newest update. There is a broken line of tildes (~) to denote
prior update breaks, usually with a low quality photo of some
sort to make them easy to spot. The 'quick take' monthly
highlights header above is archived within body of news as well
since it changes. Seperated by tildes as well, generally after
the monthly summaries.
For visiting cell phone users, often only AT&T works here, or Concan,
and many local areas Sabinal to Leakey, etc. Often around Hwys. 10 or 90
(Hondo, Uvalde) you can get other signals. Then wi-fi is available at
the Utopia Library, the store in Vanderpool had a sign saying they
have it there too. State Park headquarters may have it? Don't tell
them I told you. ;)
Please holler if you see something good locally!
THANKS! :) (local 830 Utopia landline WON~2349)
E-dress clickably linked at bottom of most pages: mitchATutopianatureDOTcom
Note on navbar at top of this page and the home page, and somewhere
around the chat picture below is a link to a new LINKS page that is a
quick handy way outta here. Who loves ya baby? It is a collection of
some of the links I will publicly admit to using, though a couple
with no small amount of trepidation. Space, weather, bugs, birds,
blogs, bird cams, and other stuff... Enjoy!
Jump To Bird & Nature News
I have been fairly good for several years now about posting
the weekly update Friday evenings. Since night life is so
exciting here. Usually this is just minor local (often yard)
notes from nearly every day. Some daily notes of what is
going on with birds, or butterflies, dragonflies, fish,
flowers, reptiles, triops, cerambycids, buprestids, or
bombyliads, and so on. Anything might get mentioned. Usually
just yard notes. Unless you got to be stationed at the park
all day, one site of observation locally is about as good
as another. The big picture only becomes amazingly fascinating
by filling all the little details in, one tiny bit at a time.
I have a strong interest in bird behavior and often will discuss
some aspect of that which I observed.
If you're in the area and see something, please don't hesitate
to let us know. For instance, we would be happy to post
Lost Maples SNA, or any bird news, if it were reported to us.
I love hearing from locals when they see something of interest.
Perhaps other visitors might better know where to look
for something of interest. E-mail link in next (pale yellow) box,
and at bottom of most pages. Local (eight-three-zero) landline WON~2349.
I can be at the park in 10 minutes, 8 if I was dressed with
shoes on, 5 if it is a Sabine's Gull, but I might
not be neatly dressed.
Some rudimentary maps of the area are at the bottom of the
"site guide" page, if you need help locating any
of the places mentioned.
There are now 20 (!) years and growing worth of nature notes here,
mostly in the bird news archives (Old Bird News) pages linked at the
bottom of this page in 6 month segments. You can fairly easily
check 10 fall or spring periods, etc., and get a good
idea of what goes on when, where, or how weak migration is here. :)
If you're coming in April, you can check several years out
and see when different species arrive. For instance for
Painted Buntings not till later April, earliest numbers about
the 18-20th, later is better, some years not till the 21-22 are
the first back locally. Often a few days earlier down in
lower altitude brush country (earlier still down on the coast) etc.
Adult males mostly depart territories and the area the first
week of August.
Be sure to check out the Bird List page, which is
updated (2022) with seasonal status and abundance for each species.
It lists all 350 plus species (!) known from the upper Sabinal River drainage.
The BIRDING SITES, HUMMINGBIRDS, BIRD LIST, LM REPORTS, SPARROWS,
BRUSH COUNTRY, WARBLERS, HAWKS, and the RARITIES pages have all
been recently updated! Most have lots of new pics added in the
last few years. The photo pages named by the year are the
weekly update photo break photos and text for each year. They
may be birds, bugs, flowers or a snake, though mostly birds.
Since 2017 the last six years have bigger better improved
images, and lots of the unusual or interesting stuff encountered.
With apologies, I am not interested in photos from other areas
for identification. Please please please do not send
unsolicited out of area photos. Contact your local
Audubon Society if you have pictures of a bird that you
would like identified, every area has one. From Houston
to Travis to Ft. Worth, Big Sky, Llano Estacado, no matter where
you are there are other local folks interested in your local birds,
and since you are (to have a pic that you want ID'd) you should want
to know them. :) Thanking you in advance.
Back to Top
Here are links to some new pages added in the last couple years:
Woodpecker Photos
Vireo Photos
Flycatcher Photos
Here is a master index page of 'Old Bird News' links:
Bird News Archives Index
It has links to all the 'Bird News' pages, in 6 month increments.
It is the 19 year plus bird news archive file.
*** This is the page for visitors with ideas, links, phones,
contacts, etc., about where to stay locally.
Where to Stay
*** Here is a page which compiles 18 years of observations
at Utopia Park. It is a long discussion about the how and why of
birds at Utopia Park, and is the home of the park bird list.
The Birds of Utopia Park
Here are assorted links of all manner, and a handy way outta here.
Mitch's Links
Here is a new page where moth photos will be tossed.
Moths of Utopia
Here is a new page of recent ode photos the last few years.
New Ode Photos (2.5mb)
* * BIG NEWS * *
The Butterfly Photos pages have all been updated! Finally!
Each group's page has new photos. Over a hundred new better
higher res butterfly pix have been added to this set of pages.
A massive overhaul and improvement that was years overdue, and
in the making.
Butterfly Photos
And now for something completely different ...
support page
~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ finally, current bird news from the greater and lesser Utopia area ~ ~ ~
BIRD & NATURE NEWS 2024
Notes without location cited are in or from yard which is a couple
miles south of town at edge of the river habitat corridor.
If it doesn't say where it was, it was in or from the yard.
Usually a few daily yard notes is all the drivel you get.
But you never know what that can lead to. Ready, steady, go!
Commonly used ABBREVIATIONS are:
To repeat since commonly used:
sps.=species; FOS=First of season (can be any season);
FOY=First of Year; FOF=First of fall;
LTA=Less than Annual;
UP=Utopia Park;
SLC=So. Little Creek Rd.;
dF=degrees Farenheit;
(ph.)=photo obtained; ad.=adult;
imm.=immature.; ma.=male; fem.=female; juv.=juvenile;
odes=Odonata = dragonflies and damselflies; leps=Lepidoptera (butterflies),
town=Utopia; the park= Utopia Park at SW corner of town.
WU = Weather Underground (sometimes local station readings referenced)
BanCo = Bandera Co.; UvCo = Uvalde Co.
Black-capped Vireo at Lost Maples
Just to have this handy again for reference, recent prior updates:
September 20, 13, 6, August 30, 23, 16, 9, 2, July 26, 19, 12, 5
Each week's update break is marked with a bad (often bird) photo.
You may want to scroll down to said bad photo (at last prior update)
and scroll up to read in chrono order day to day.
~ ~ ~ and now for the news ~ ~ ~
Oct. 4 ~ Low about 62F, feels great. Clear
and back up to near 90F after noonish. The
Mockingbird is still out there singing early
in morn. The Selasphorus Hummingbird is
still here, and likely a Rufous. Town run
and park check. Nothing there. Deadsville,
except for a FOS Belted Kingfisher..
Nearing 2 p.m. back here at hovelita I
heard the Couch's Kingbird just upriver
a bit from us. Two Canyon Towhee still
here. Kathy caught a bug I took a photo
of, it looked like a Reduviad, so it was
dispatched. Those are the kissing bug
that can carry Chaga's, aka Blood-sucking
Conenose. Hard pass here.
Oct. 3 ~ Low about 61F, KERV had 59. Clear
and the high pressure dome still seems
locked on us, no rain in the 10-day forecast.
No warbler around the front porch today,
musta left last night. No migrant motion
in yard today. Hot, but dryish. Busy desk
day. A new Selasphorus, probably another
Rufous showed up in the afternoon. Kathy
spotted a Sachem on the Blue Mistflower.
The rest of the butterflies were the same
few as our bloom fades. The Mockingbird
was singing again this morning, day three
in corral. No Chat, White-eyed Vireo,
Hooded Oriole, but might have heard a
greenie Painted Bunting.
Oct. 2 ~ Low about 62F. KERV had 57F, if we
did it was way before 7 a.m. Only migrant
noted in morn was a warbler in the flower
bed with Lantana and Blue Mistflower that
Kathy saw and it got away. I worked around
it several times and got nuthin'.
We had to go to Sabinal (20 miles) to get
the car inspected for registration. So
hit the Family Dollar store since there
for stuff we can't get here. We got
back just after 5 p.m. and lo and behold
a FPS Mourning Warbler was chipping from
the Lantana. Surely that is what Kathy
had this morning, a Mourning Warbler! It
is the only one I have detected all fall.
Probably the fourth one we have had
in the flower bed around the front porch.
In 2022 my only Mourning Warbler of fall
was at front porch flower patch on Oct. 2!
At twilight a Great Egret flew over calling.
<>br />
October 1 ~ OMG, October! The last quarter
is here. Low about 58F, which is fantastic.
The ten day forecast has us in low-90's F
straight across, continued high pressure and
no precip. We have lost much of the summer
Gulf humidity though, so way more bearable.
Before 0 a.m. I saw an immature Cooper's
Hawk fly off with a caught Cardinal. I presume
one of the hatch-year immatures. Heard the
Chat first thing at dawn. And one still
begging Great Horned Owl. There is way less
food out there and like the juvie Red-tail
the young are taking longer to become able
to hunt and be independent The Tawny
Emperor was around the water hoses again
today, as was a Peach or Fig Beetle Scarab
(the big metallic green ones) that Kathy
saw a couple days ago. A couple Scissor-tails
were vociferous in the big dead Pecan for
a while, including bursts of song. Very
neat.
~ ~ ~ September summary ~ ~ ~
Mostly hot and mostly dry this month.
There was 4.35" of rain here at
our place, all in a couple days,. So
most of the month was bone dry. Rain
does not do the same biological good over
the month when 4 inches at once versus
four one inch rains a week apart or so.
Drought stage is D3 at end of month, so
worse from recent D2 status. Water is
around four feet from going over spillway
(normal bankful) at the park pond.
Odes (dragonflies and damselfies) continue
at pitiful levels. I did not see ten species
again this month, and nothing unusual. Kathy
saw a male Roseate Skimmer on clothesline
here. The butterflies were a bit better,
but only at our watered flower garden around
house. There are almost no wild natural flowers
blooming out there. There were 31 species
for the month, very poor for September, and
individual numbers were way down. Scraping
for most things (no metalmark or blues, no
patches, only two individual hairstreaks, etc.).
One great rare type, a GIANT WHITE, was
photographed at our Lantana. There were a
few moths showing up at a porch light late
in month, more than all year actually. One
un-ID'd so far Cerambycid was photographed,
and is a new one for me here.
Birds were fairly poor of showing like
everything else. Worst fall migration evah.
It seems we get overflown by much when the
place is so dessicated and parched. My
fourth Canyon Wren at Utopia Park is very
good there without a rock in sight. The
return of the LONG-EARED Owl on the 17th
was amazing. Fourth year back here now.
A FOS Blue-headed Vireo was on the 26th.
A pair of Canyon Towhee spent the month
around the yard here. Ruby-throated Hummers
peaked early and only small numbers present
after Sept. 8. Up to four Rufous Hummer
for the fall by end of month.
Great was a Couch's Spadefoot Toad
calling here on the 1st, and two were
calling on the 2nd, after the big rain
event. We did get some nice cooler low
temps for a third of the month, but other
than during the rain event, most of the
high temps were 92-96F or so, very hot.
~ ~ ~ end September summary ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ back to the daily drivel ~ ~
Sept. 30 ~ Low about 57F or so, clear and
cool, it felt great. Still going up to low
90's F so very hot in the afternoon.
At least we can keep house cool all day
if we get down to lower 60's. Neww
was a Mockingbird singing. Sure would be
neat to know where they are from when
they show up. This one was around Purple
Martin, Robin, and Flicker for starters.
Still not hearing Summer Tanager, White-eyed
Vireo, or Hooded Oriole. The last ones
all seem to have departed. But did hear a
Chat and a greenie Painted Bunting, which
are good late dates for both. Heard a
couple Nashville Warbler over the day,
Kathy saw one at the bath. Saw a Gray
Hairstreak on the Frostweed, and Kathy
had a Tawny Emperor come in to water.
She saw it yesterday too. The rest was
the same. Lots of Queen on the Blue Mist
but little else. Some small moths on
the Frostweed. Kathy had a 17 count on
White-winged Dove near dusk.
Went to town for the garage ot install
that new switch, on the clutch pedal so
the car starts. Dumb place for a mechanical
switch that is only an alleged safety feature. I
I liked being able to start my stick shifts
in neutral without the clutch having to
be depressed anyway, and switch failure
would also preclude being able to push
start it, nimrod engineers. .
Sept. 29 ~ Low about 58F No migrant motion.
Except perhaps what I am not hearing.
As of late afternoon I have not heard a
Chat, a ?Summer Tanager, or a ?White-eyed
Vireo. The migrant motion is in the form
of long-staying territorial breeders,
departing. Yesterday there were a couple
Hooded Oriole visits, we have not seen
one yet today as of 4 p.m. The Selasphorus
presumed Rufous, is still here. Heard a
couple Scissor-tails at the airstrip a
hundred yards away. Lark, Field, and Chipping
Sparrow all still present. There are a
few Pecans but nothing you could call a
crop this year. But besides squirrels
using the roof as a freeway to access one
tree, there are at least two each of
Ladder-backed and Golden-fronted Woodpecker
on them.
Sept. 28 ~ Low of 55F or so was awesome.
No migrant motion in morn though. Clear
and got hot, about 93F or so, still hot,
though not as humid as in summer. The
Selasphorus Hummer is still guarding the
back feeder. Still maybe 10 Lark Sparrow
chorusing when I toss seed. Heard Canyon
Towhee and White-eyed Vireo. Not sure
I heard the greenie Painted Bunting or a
Summer Tanager today, heard both yesterday.
Heard one chat early at dawn. On the
Blue Mistflower there was a Pearl Crescent
and a Southern Broken-Dash. On the fading
Lantana a S. Dogface. Turned the porch
light on for an hour at 10 p.m. to which
there was a fair response, good considering
how bad it has been. Mostly just moths, but
several dozen including micros. Saw one
each Green Lacewing, and Antlion briefly.
A basic Field Cricket.
This is a female Hooded Oriole.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
Sept. 27 ~ Low about 55F here! KERV had 54.
Awesome. No migrant motion early though.
Town run but due to a car issue I could not
stop at the park other than a drive-through.
Part came in but they can't fix it until
Monday. After all the usual errand stops,
the one at Rosie's for tacos was most
fulfilling. Got home and a Scrub-Jay was
calling over in the corral! Sept. is when
young get pushed out of territories and
wanderers are seen on flat valley floor.
Kathy had 20 Queen at once on the Blue Mist Eup.,
and a couple hundred Snout came into water.
Yesterday afternoon and this morning until
11 a.m. or so there was no Rufous Hummer here.
A Selasphorus sps. showed late morning and was
here at dusk. It took over back feeder, and
I have not yet ID'd it. Selasphorus
number FIVE for the fall so far, prior four
were all Rufous, as expected.
Sept. 26 ~ The cold part of the dry cold front
that passed yesterday afternoon arrived overnight.
We had a low about 57F! KERV had a 55! Weewow!
There were a very few migrants in the yard
briefly this morn. So the day before, and
the day after the actual dry passage, there
were birds. Kathy saw a FOS Blue-headed Vireo
come to bath briefly. Seemed three Nashville
Warbler then came in. Which is four more migrants
than we had yesterday. Greenie Painted Bunnie
still here, as is the second fall male Hooded
Oriole. The Rufous Hummingbird was here in
the morning but left on the northerlies mid-day
or so. Heard Scissor-tails over at the airstrip.
A Thursday so OD'd on the desk and computer.
Today was the EQULUX. That is, 12 hour daylength,
and night length. At about 7:30.
Sept. 25 ~ I saw 68F at 7 a.m., so likely hit
67F or lower at the big dip. KERV had a 65!
Clear and cool. Wonderful. Still hear the Rufous
Hummingbird, a Chat, and two Canyon Towhee.
Thought I heard a White-tipped Dove, cannot
imagine what else it could have been. One
greenie Painted Bunting still here, appears
a hatch-year immature, and late. At least
one White-eyed Vireo still around yard.
Saw a hatch-year (or first fall) Hooded Oriole
at a feeder. Saw an Andromena moth (aka False
Underwing) on the Frostweed. Still hitting
the mid-90's F here daily. Make it end.
Some north winds for a bit in afternoon is the
tail dry end of a cold front eastward.
Daylength today is 12 hrs 2 minutes, which
is TWO HOURS shorter than at solstice 3 months
ago. Flushed something out of the Frostweed
patch that got away and was likely of interest.
It should be noted the 'big' day of
migration yesterday was the day prior to a
cold front arriving from the north. Which
was the north winds we got today. But there
were no migrants today. The stuff is moving
ahead of the front. Tomorrow we see if a
post-frontal movement.
Sept. 24 ~ Clear, low about 72-73F. KERV
had 67F Theirs and Boerne stations are next
to water and get evap cooled air, so as to
appear cooler than almost all of these towns
really are. Was clever Chamber of Commerce
move to sell the places. So anyway, fall migration
was on a Tuesday this year... Amazing in
the morning was two fall migrant warblers!
One Yellow and one Nashville. So there are
fall migrant warblers after all! Was in
town early for car stuff and a quick
look at the park saw nothing, but heard a
chainsaw. Kathy saw a male Vermilion Flycatcher,
which is likely a transient as ours left
months ago. Noonish a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
went through. Nice to see some migrant motion!
About 4 p.m. a few birds hit the birdbath
including a greenie imm. Painted Bunting and
a Nashville Warbler, plus an imm. or fem.
Hooded Oriole. At the same time there was
a Couch's Kingbird calling from the
Pecan, along with a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.
Is it the one that has been around off and on
all spring and summer? Or a new one? Was
able to sex the imm. or fem. Rufous Hummingbird,
it is an imm. male. Determined by its display
dives which only a male does. These included
the tail wagging whence the audio hum is cut in
and out by tail movement. The hits just keep
coming. Later afternoon Kathy spotted a female
FOS Baltimore Oriole at the birdbath, I got there
just in time to miss it, but a male dropped
down! Was almost like fall migration here
today. In butterflies there were likely
three or more Giant Swallowtail, but no
E. Tiger or Two-tailed. Only new item was
a very worn Olive-Juniper Hairstreak devoid
of any green, on Frostweed. Which is now
opening well. The one shaded specimen is
SEVEN FEET tall. Almost forgot, both early
first thing, and late nearing sundown, I
heard Orchard Orioles chucking.
Sept. 23 ~ Still holding steady with 75F lows.
Some overcast early. No migrant motion.
Kathy saw an (the?) adult male Hooded Oriole
take a bath. Too fast to get a pic though.
I heard the Hutton's Vireo Kathy
heard last week, uphill behind us in the
live-oaks. Heard Canyon Towhee, Summer
Tanager, White-eyed Vireo, and a few
Scissor-tails. Did not see any Giant
Whites today. Camera does not auto-focus
worth a dang, so threw 40 images away,
got a couple barely salvageable ones.
At least enough to prove the record.
About 6 p.m. a Selasphorus hummingbird
showed up. Number four of the fall, and
seems a Rufous as others, and I think
an imm. male.
Sept. 22 ~ Feliz equinox! It is fall,
officially, celestially, and astronomically.
The daylength is 12 hours and 7 minutes here
so not actually equiLUX yet, that is a few
days away still when night and day are both
12 hours. The sun is over the equator. We
are very near 7:30 a.m. for sunrise and set now.
Low was about 75F barely. Humid and overcast
with low Gulf stratus.
A Chat roosted in the thick stuff at the
front porch. I heard it clicking in there
way before sunup. Most of the Hooded Orioles
must have left last night, only a couple
vists today. Was non-stop yesterday and
the few days prior. Seems like it went
from 5 or 6 to one or two. Only a handful
of Ruby-throated Hummingbird left here now
too.
Same four Swallowtails on the Lantana:
an Eastern Tiger, a Pipevine, and two Giant.
The lack of small stuff is amazing. Skippers,
blues, hairstreaks, crescents, checkers and
patches, and metalmarks, are all but absent.
Some Queen and a Gulf Frit, plus the few
Sulphurs is it. Ooops, spoke too soon.
Noonish a GIANT WHITE showed up for a while.
I have only seen a few around Utopia here
in 21 years. Which includes the first
Uvalde Co. record Sept. 24 2005 up on
Seco Ridge. Amazingly it is butterfly
species number 100 for the yard list!
Quit paying attention to that as the last
few years of drought were poor years and
we have been stuck at 99 forever. Also
THREE skippers showed up in the afternoon!
Two Southern Broken-Dash, and one Fiery.
Kathy had a 5th swallowtail missing a chunk
of wing late in day. Also was a N. Mestra
and a couple Lyside Sulphur. Next day when
Kathy got pics off camera, it showed her
swallowtail to be a Two-tailed! So we had FOUR
species of swallowtail here today! Too
bad there was no Black.
Sept. 21 ~ Another balmy 76F low with the
low stratus and humidity accompanying it.
No migrant motion still. Usually September
has lots. It is dead as the vegetation.
The (non-native) Lantana continues to
bring butterflies. Today all at once I
had a Pipevine, 2 Giant, and an Eastern Tiger
Swallowtail. But no small stuff at all.
Still a herd of Hooded Oriole hitting the
back hummer feeder. Might be more than
there are of Ruby-throated Hummingbird left.
Still Canyon Towhee, Summer Tanager, White-eyed
Vireo, a Chat, at least a couple Scissor-tails.
About 3 p.m. saw 91F on shady front porch,
so 95 or so in sun. Kathy saw TWO Firefly
at dusk, doubling the number here.
This is the adult male Baltimore Oriole
that was briefly at the birdbath Sept. 24.
and a bonus pic...
Giant White (Ganyra josephina) Sept. 22, 2024.
Most of one anyway. Vagrant butterflies are often
torn and frayed. Probably travelled hundreds of
miles from Mexico.
Maybe the fourth one I have seen here in 21 years,
but only second photographed. The first one
Sept. 24, 2005 on Seco Ridge was the first ever
found in Uvalde County. Some occur annually a
couple hundred plus miles south in deep south
Texas along the Rio Grande from Sept.- December.
Remarkably this was our 100th butterfly species
for the yard list. Took 11 years, and the last
ten sps. took about seven or eight of that.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
Sept. 20 ~ Low of 76F is a drag. Overcast
and humid. Amazing we can be sooo humid,
and in such catostropic drought conditions.
Heard at least one Chat at dawn. Town run and
so a park check. One FOS Great Egret was
the prize migrant. Otherwise not much. A
Summer Tanager and two White-eyed Vireo are
both likely birds that summered there still
present, as ours are here at our hovelita.
Hooded Orioles were heavy on the feeder
all day. There were two Giant Swallowtail
at once on the Lantana. A few Large Orange
and Cloudless Sulphur dashing about, two Lyside.
One N. Mestra, a Pipevine. About 4 p.m. Kathy
saw a male Roseate Skimmer dragonfly when
she was spraying water on patio. First
one all year, I have not seen one at the
park. One of the most stunning 'bugs'
in America. Just after 4 p.m. I saw 92F
on the cool shady front porch, which
means 96F or so in the sun, hotter on
the back porch and patio. The concrete
patio is a heat multiplier in summer.
Kathy saw the male Hooded Oriole at the
bath for half-a-minute. So it must have
been very hot.
Sept. 19 ~ A low of 77F is a balmy one.
Two chats still making the clicking blackbirdish
'cht' notes back and forth at
dawn. At the Hooded Oriole party on
back feeder the adult male showed up,
or we caught it there. So it may well
be five of them here now. Ad male and
female, first summer male, and two hatch-year
juveniles. They do not have ten days
left here this year and is likely why
thy are fattening up on sugar, for the
big flight outta Dodge. The new U.S. drought
monitor update is out. We are back in D3,
extreme drought again. It was a nice couple
months in D2, just severe. Bandera Co.
mostly improved to D2 so that is good.
But we are regressing. It is parched
out there. Hardly any insects, and so
far migrant birds seem to just be overflying
us as there have been incredibly few.
Kathy saw a or the Firefly again tonight.
Sept. 18 ~ Low about 75F with low stratus
from the Gulf keeping it warm and balmy.
Was still clear at midnight, guess we were
lucky to see the eclipse. No migrant
motion in the morning. Kathy heard a
Hutton's Vireo which have been all
but absent since spring. I think one a
couple weeks or so ago is it in last four
months. Mid-day Kathy saw a N. Mockingbird
at the bath, a passage transient. A few
Hooded Oriole coming in to hummer feeders.
There are first-summer (year old) male, a
hatch year (few months old) male, what seems
a first summer and juvenile females as well.
Presume the ad. male is around still too.
Had a Scissor-tail go over. I saw 90F on
the shady front porch 3-5 p.m., so a few dF
warmer in the sun. Toasty. Had a quick
look of an orange butterfly that surely
was a Goatweed Leafwing. Saw my FOS fall
Firefly this evening.
Sept. 17 ~ Low about 67F felt great.
Clear. Forecast staying in the 90's
for the next week. A bunch of Tropical
Sage plants and flowers eaten last night.
The torn stems indicate deer. They are
being deleafed meticulously, and the entire
infloresence is eatern off the top. It
is a massacre. It would be a thousand
flowers now without this. I heard a
bunting buzz that sounded a Painted,
not Indigo. Wet and slurred, not dry
and mechanical. Otherwise sounded the
same out there in the heat, quiet. I am
going to miss that Lark Sparrow chorus
when they leave. Roadrunner, Ground-Dove,
a few Lesser Goldfinch. Was out watching
the eclipse, chasing that moonshadow, and
heard the LONG-EARED OWL calling. It's
back, fourth year! Last year it showed in
latest August.
Sept. 16 ~ I saw 68F at 7 a.m. so it
surely hit 67, KERV had 66 for a low.
Felt great. No migrant motion still
though. Sunny and hot, about 94F or
so for a high. The heat hates giving
up. Same stuff here otherwise.
Canyon Towhee, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher,
White-eyed Vireo, Summer Tanager and
Lark Sparrow all still around. Couple
Field Sparrow as well. More Broomweed
blooming out back. Some Frostweed is
starting to open up. The Blue Mistflower
Eupatorium is opening new blooms up as
are the few Tropical Sage that did not
get denuded.
Sept. 15 ~ Low about 76F, overcast and
balmy. Heard a Chat or two first thing
before sunup. Heard a or the Inca Dove
mid-morn. At least a few Hooded
Oriole, a White-eyed Vireo or two. A few
Ruby-throated Hummingbird. It is dead
for migrant motion out there. Very few
birds around in general. About 95F for
a high, still. For all the flowers there
ought to be more butterflies on the Lantana.
Sept. 14 ~ Low about 72F maybe, some low
stratus early. No migrant motion. Need
that first big fall front to get some bird
turnover going. Heard all the same stuff
as the last week. The Lantana is starting
another bloom cycle, so a few butterflies.
Saw a Giant Swallowtail, a N. Mestra, a
Southern Broken-Dash and a few Sulphurs.
On a climate note, we just hit the days
when the record highs for SAT are 99F,
that is, not a three-digit figure. We
had about 95F here today, hot and humid.
Looking west at sunset, Sept. 17, 2024.
The bigger hill at left is the one on north
side of the 1050 pass a few miles west of town.
and a bonus photo...
And in case you missed the incredible excitement,
here is a poor photo of the partial lunar eclipse
a few hours after the above sunset.
This concludes the report from the sky division for Sept. 17, 2024.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
Sept. 13 ~ Happy Friday the 13th. KERV
showed a 69F low, I only saw 72 here.
Overcast held heat in. It is getting
mighty quiet out there in the mornings.
Stillk hearing Summer Tanager, Chat,
White-eyed Vireo and Scissor-tailed
Flycatcher. No migrant motion though.
Town run and park check, deadsville,
nothing there. Water is about 40"
from going over spillway. At least
Rosie was there for tacos! It is like
going to Mexico.
Sept. 12 ~ Low about 64F or so, clear.
Heard a Gnatcatcher and an Orchard Oriole
early in morn. Nothing else though. Was
a Thrusday whence I am mostly stuck inside
at desk and computer. Was a hot one too.
Local WU stations show low to mid 90'sF.
Back to summer temps. Sure was a great
break for almost ten days. Heard a couple
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher over at river.
Did not seem like there were a dozen
Ruby-throated Hummingbird left here today.
Did not hear a greenie Painted Bunting
again today. Two Canyon Towhee still
around. Tropical Sage being decimated,
denuded, by whatever is eating them.
Which I can't seem to find.
Sept. 11 ~ Low about 65F, KERV had 64.
Clear. Hooded Orioles hit feeders at
sunup. Had to make a quick town run
early so spun through the park where
nothing, but a singing Yellow-throated
Warbler still going there. Here at the
casita there was an Inca Dove mournfully
calling 'oh no, oh no'. Otherwise
same gang with Chat, Summer Tanager, White-eyed
Vireo but not sure if I had a greenie.
Very few hummingbirds, they have flown
the coup. Last week seems early to have
had peak occur already. Did hear the
Summer Tanager sing late in day. Temps
warming back up to near normal early
September values, in the 90's.
Sept. 10 ~ I saw 64F at 7 a.m. before the
final dip. KERV had a 60F. Some low stratus
for a couple hours early, then sunny. Heard
a Summer Tanager singing a bit. Still a
greenie Painted Bunting here, seems one of
the same juveniles. Saw a chat, heard a
White-eyed Vireo. Hummingbirds are way
down since the Saturday blowout on the
northerlies. Seems all Rubies, and not
very many, a dozen or two. Hope we get
another wave of them. A nice chorus of
Lark Sparrow erupts, unseen in the Junipers
out back, when I go out and toss seed.
Got up to about 85F, but dry.
Sept. 9 ~ An amazing low about 55F or so.
Some local stations were cooler than that!
KERV had a 52 or lower! Coldest air since
April 6-7, the last time it was in the mid-50's
here, five months ago! Did not have any
migrant motion in morn though. Kinda
thought we would, since it felt like fall.
I think it is that big grasshopper that is
defoiliating the Tropical Sage as it tries
to bloom again. I can't find it though.
Turned light on again last night hoping it
would come back in, and it did not.
Still Lark Sparrows going off vocally well.
Heard a couple each Chat, Summer Tanager,
and White-eyed Vireo. Three of the longest
staying migratory breeders here. At least
two or three Hooded Oriole still here too.
It looked about 75 Red Turkscap flowers
on the patch.
Sept. 8 ~ At 7 a.m. I saw 60F, and it
usually dips another dF around 7:30, so
we likely were 59F! KERV had a 58!
Lowest temp here since April I think.
Within a dF or two of a record low temp.
Yer dang right we're excited!
May 13 was the last 61F low temp.
Hooded Oriole singing a bit early morn.
We had a fair look at the back feeder.
It is a first summer male, just getting
its first orange plumage below. Now
actually it is a second-fall bird, just
over a year old. Saw a Canyon Towhee on
one of the truck mirrors, must have been
Narcissus. Still one greenie here.
Only barely over 80F on the front porch
at 3 p.m., incredible, maybe 82 in sun.
Sept. 7 ~ Low of 69F at 7 a.m. so it
surely dropped another dF to 68. KERV had
a quick 66point something! Still NE flow,
so drier air. Heard a couple Orchard Oriole
in morning. Around noon heard a Dickcissel.
A few Hooded Oriole around, one singing a
bit, and Kathy saw a year old sub-ad. male.
Might be four here now. The rest seemed
the same gang. The 85F high was great.
We were in dire need of heat relief here.
About 7-8 Upland Sandpiper were heard
taking off at twilight, southbound. Also
had a Field Sparrow come into the tub pond.
Heard Screech-, and Great Horned Owl after
dark.
Turned porch light on and there was
actually a bit of insect response
compared to how bad it has been. A dozen
or more micro-moths of various sorts, a few
slightly larger than micro- moths, some
things I think were Mirids. Best was a
Cerambycid (Longhorn) Beetle of a different
sort, though not a fancy of color type.
One Green Lacewing, some small scarabs.
A big grasshopper came in and I think that
may be what is defoiliating our Tropical
Sage, instead of a deer. It needs to go.
Might have gotten some pics of some stuff.
Ruby-throated Hummingbird, immature or female.
The bill can appear longer than the head.
Note dark green back, snow white underparts.
Looks like peak fall numbers here this year were
about Sept. 4-7, which is on the early side by a week.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
Sept. 6 ~ Low about 71F, and still the
northeast flow, like fall. What a great
break from the heat it has been. One
Gnatcatcher in morn, otherwise no migrant
movement. Nice to still be hearing Lark
Sparrows go off vocally. One greenie
still. Town run and park check. There
was almost nothing there. Heard one
Yellow-throated Warbler. Water came up
maybe 8" at spillway, presume
more will show up within a week or so.
Great was Rosie being back from vacation,
so real deal tacos! That was a long
three-week dry spell. :)
And the people were joyous... Nothing
over the afternoon different. Heard
Field Sparrow. AT 8:08 p.m. heard a
dozen Upldand Sandpiper go overhead
southbound. They were low still, so
up-valley for the day in a pasture.
Sept. 5 ~ I saw 69F at 7 a.m., so it
likely got a smidgen cooler. KERV had
a 68F! NE winds are nice to feel too.
Heard an Upland Sandpiper high up just
after midnight. Two Canyon Towhee still
here today. Heard a couple Orchard Oriole.
One Gnatcatcher went through in afternoon.
At least one greenie Painted Bunting here
still. Flushed TWO cats. OMG, the
worst ever bird and lizard killers ever,
here!! Do you remember Bill Murray in
Caddyshack? That is where we are at.
Was a busy Thursday at the desk so not
much time outside. There are at least
50 Red Turkscap flowers in our little
homegrown patch. Heard Barn Swallows
overhead a couple times over the day.
Sept. 4 ~ Low about 72F, very humid but
so what when coolish. A little more rain
sprinkled overnight, a tenth and change.
Likely not much migrant movement overhead
overnight, so hope for something moving
by on the gorund. We did hear a singing
Yellow-throated Vireo from bed with morning
coffee first thing. Heard a couple Orchard
Oriole over the day. Over a hundred Ruby-throated
Hummingbird, and not sure about Black-chinneds
I photo'd a couple dozen in ten minutes
at the communal feeder. Blew 'em up
real good, on screen, and they were all
Rubies that I could ID, one was a possible
Black-chin. Heard three White-eyed Vireo
at once, a couple Chats, a Summer Tanager.
Kathy saw a green Hooded Oriole with a black
throat, so likely a hatch-year immature male.
Amazing to feel NE winds again, almost like
fall. The record high for SAT this date
is 111F! Was 82F here today.
Sept. 3 ~ Low about 73F, light rain began
about 6 a.m. and looks another rain day.
A low in west Texas and one on the coast,
whose chunrnings meet over central Texas.
As of 10 a.m. another half-inch for the
total, now a 4" event since yesterday.
Another quarter-inch in afternoon and early
evening, make it 4.25" for the event
now. Heard about four Orchard Oriole over
the day. Kathy heard a Gnatcatcher. At least
two, maybe three Hooded coming to feeders.
Likely a hundred Ruby-throated Hummingbird
here now. They exploded in numbers over the
last three days. Today a quart of fluid was
consumed. This evening there were TWO Couch's
Spadefoot Toad calling in yard. Awesome.
Never can get a light on them, or even
spot one at a pond in daylight. The
Leopard Frogs were in full roar, and
a few Barking Frog were, uh, barking.
It is really more of a chirp I would say.
Still two begging Great Horned Owl
juveniles. Heard a Great Blue Heron
flying at river near midnight, likely
got flushed from the way it was complaining.
Sept. 2 ~ About 74F for a low, very humid,
some sun briefly early gave way to overcast.
There was an imm. Blue Grosbeak around,
after a month without any, a migrant. Heard
a couple Orchard Oriole early. Got up to
about 80F before cooler air hit. After 1 p.m.
a rain cell found us from the upper level low
still over central Texas. By 2:30 it was
over 2"! Looks 54mm. Holy bovine!
Kathy saw a male Summer Tanager at the bath,
I presume our local breeder. In the evening
there was a FOY Couch's Spadefoot Toad.
calling right outside. Under the concrete
and stones of patio on side porch. I heard
the Rufous Hummingbird first thing this
morning, but then not all day, so suspect
it left before the rain got here. From
about 9:30 to 11 p.m., another big cell
found us and dumped another 1.5"!
So 3.5" of precip today! Amazing!
After dark there was a large termite
hatch as always when a good rain after
a long dry spell.
September 1 ~ And so we start climatalogical
fall! I saw 74F at 7 a.m., so likely got a dF
cooler. KERV had 72F. Very humid, and we
may get more rain. There was no sound of the
river early, so it was just a bubble of water
passing by for a few hours. Early part of morn
had a couple Upland Sandpiper dropping down out
of sky, and a couple or few Orchard Oriole.
A couple Hooded Oriole, one an adult male.
Rufous Hummingbird No. 3 of fall here on day
three now. Lots of Ruby-throated Hummers
here now, still a few Black-chinned. At
least two Canyon Towhee here. Two White-eyed
Vireo around, and at least two Chat. Saw 94F
in the early afternoon when some rain-cooled
air took almost ten dF off the top. But no
rain for us. I missed the twilight peak as
they take off, but after dark did hear an
Upland Sandpiper. It was 12 ga. clear that
dove season started today.
~ ~ ~ August monthly summary ~ ~ ~
In three words, hot and dry. There
was record heat, most days were just
under or above 100dF pending location
locally. There was less than an inch
of rain for us here (.9"). Drought
stage remains D2 but botanically it
is a five-alarm 'pants on fire'
dire straights. River did not run
all month for the most part, we heard
it the 31st for the first time in months.
All month water has been four feet below
normal at park pond spillway.
Insects have been accordingly pitiful.
Odes (dragons) were less than ten species
still, again. Odes need water and there
isn't much around. Red-tailed Pennant
still being seen at park. Best was a mosaic
Darner that surely was a Turquoise-tipped,
also at park. Our porch light hardly attracts
anything. Though a couple others did get
lucky this month. Shirley had 17 Polyphemus
Moth at the store morning of Aug. 7. Junior
photographed an Io Moth Aug. 11. Both are
great records. Great that locals let me
know when they see such neat stuff!
Butterflies were 30 species and nothing
unexpected, as expected. A Two-tailed
Swallowtail for a few days was great,
fair numbers of Cloudless and Large Orange
Sulphur have moved in. Snouts numbered
in the hundreds at once on peak days.
A Rounded Metalmark was great, finally
this year. A few skippers were nice
for a change, but very few. All 30 sps.
were at the well-watered mostly native
flowers around our front-porch.
Birds were as expected in drought times.
Far fewer than usual around, and most of
the migratory breeders depart in August
if they did not leave in July. A few linger
into September. There is a trickle of
migrants that are probably hill country
breeders departing, like Orchard Oriole,
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and Dickcissel.
But some long-distance migrants show up
like Rufous Hummingbird and Upland Sandpiper.
By the end of the month migrant Ruby-throated
Hummingbird outnumber the few remaining
(seemingly overwhelmingly imm. male)
Black-chinned leftover from breeding season
and still here. Scarce here lately so nice was
Aug. 23 at the park, a Greater Yellowlegs,
2 Bank Swallow and an amazing THIRD
Canyon Wren record there. The only
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron I have noted
this year flew over calling on Aug. 31.
Birds totalled about 65 species locally
for me.
~ ~ ~ end of August monthly summary ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ August update header archive copy ~ ~ ~
August ~ The first big excitement was on the
7th when Shirley at the store found the walls
out back covered in large moths. Which were
Polyphemus moths, and which she counted 17 (!) of
early in morn. At twilight on the 9th I heard
a couple FOS Upland Sandpiper overhead southbound.
Several more have been noted since, at twilight.
A FOS Dickcissel was on the 17th, a second on
the 21st. A second Rufous Hummer of fall was
here Aug. 18-21. Major heat Aug. 19-22,
hopefully that was peak. Dangerous out there
now folks, have water. A male Ruby-throated
Hummingbird was here the 23rd. Also Aug. 23
at the park there was a Greater Yellowlegs,
a couple Bank Swallow, and my third ever in
the park CANYON WREN. A tenth of an inch of
rain on the 26th was unfortunately noteworthy.
Another rain on the 28th varied wildly for
totals locally, but we had just over .75 of
an inch here. On the 26th our FOS (2) Killdeer
flew over calling. There are multiple sightings
of Rufous Hummingbird from the area curretly,
watch for a small mean rusty one.
~ ~ ~ end August update header archive copy ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ back to the daily drivel ~ ~ ~
Aug. 31 ~ Last day of climatalogical
summer. Low about 75F was not very,
but it was very humid. Early in morn
heard at least three Upland Sandpiper
dropping down out of the sky after a
night of flying. Heard the Rufous
Hummingbird, and an Orchard Oriole.
At least two greenie Painted Bunting
here still. Was a hawk-induced dove
flushing in the afternoon. At least
two Canyon Towhee around. Heard them
making a grosbeakish 'boik'
call much like the California Towhee,
and which I almost never hear here.
Early evening after having two green
Hooded Oriole, I heard one singing
in a Hackberry which I could not see
to age. If it was the ad. male that
has been around off and on, there
were three here today.
It got up to 94F before some rain-cooled
outflows found us in afternoon, but
only a spit here.
Based on the hummingbird fluid consumption
we got innundated today. This is migrant
Ruby-throated Showing up now, which will
build until the first cold front of
fall around mid-Sept. and poof! they are
gone. I saw ad. male Ruby-throated once when
I looked. More immatures, which appeared
Rubies, very short-billed and white below,
and sounding different that what we have
been listening to since March. Kathy
even noticed and commented on it. Their
calls are not identical as oft claimed.
Kathy is not a trained ear-birder like
I am, and she noticed the different
vocalizations without any prompt from me.
Kathy found a mammilian skull of sort
I need to ID. I am going with Opossum,
final answer for all the dough. Most
amazing today was hearing water running
in the river. The west side channel at
the 360 x-ing on Friday (yesterday) was all but
dry. The rainfall up-drainage or valley, finally
arrived here. We had been told there
was a bubble coming downriver a day or
so ago. Running water in the river! At
least it should act as a good
flushing out for it. Takes some
flow for us to hear it a quarter mile
away. Very likely a result of being
washed out, at last dusk, a calling
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron flew over!
Every week at the park I wonder why
I am not seeing one in July or August,
with all the mud edge habitat. In
the 'It ain't over until
it's over' department, about
9 p.m. I heard at least four Upland
Sandpiper go over, taking off for
the night flight. We are now 90 minutes
shorter of daylength than at the solstice.
Almost all the hummingbirds at your feeders now are
Ruby-throated. Immatures and females have white
underparts and throats, only the males have the
color in throat, which appears black unless the
light is at the right angle. This is an immature
or female Ruby-throated Hummingbird. We had a
hundred here this week, but today the 6th there
was a major departure on the northerly winds.
Aug. 30 ~ Low about 74F and humid.
Some scattered clouds. Heard a
Gnatcatcher and an Orchard Oriole
early, Kathy saw a green Hooded Orio on
a feeder. Another Gnatcatcher at
11 a.m. as I headed to town for stuff.
Water still dropping at park, at
least four feet below normal bank.
Heard Summer Tanager and Yellow-throated
Vireo, which was it for the place.
No people so far for the holiday
weekend, as no river to swim in.
Saw some Frostweed opening flowers
up in the woods. Hardly an ode
to be found and no butterflies.
Sure love when the month ends AFTER
the Friday update, giving me a week
to do that roundup. In the late
afternoon a third so far here at
our place this fall, Rufous Hummingbird
showed up. Kelly at the P.O. said
he had one yesterday and today upvalley
a bit in Bandera Co. and last Sunday
Kathy talked with Sarah who said she
just had one recently as well. Tis
the season to look for small rufous
pugnacious ones at your feeder. Just
after I posted the update Fri. eve,
at twilight I heard an Upland Sandpiper
flying over low heading south. It
spent the day in a pasture not far
north.
Aug. 29 ~ Another 74F low, overcast
and humid from the very welcome rain.
Heard an Upland Sandpiper go over at
7 a.m., and a Gnatcatcher. An Orchard
Oriole mid-morn. Before noon at second
seed toss I had two Canyon Towhee
in Mulberry by cottage at south fence.
Grabbed more seed and went to back where
I toss along west-north fence, and
heard another one. It seems like there
were three. At least one greenie
Painted Bunnie still here. Only got
to low 90's F, a big 10dF break
from last week. Cannot believe all
the yellow dropping Pecan leaves so
early. At least we had some rain
yesterday. Still under an inch for
August here. It is dessicated. Late
nearing sundown heard a Chimney Swift
overhead a couple times. Screech-Owls
around yard after dark.
Aug. 28 ~ Low about 74F, overcast and
very humid. Heard an Orchard Oriole
early in morn. May have heard two
Canyon Towhee. Still a Chat or two,
same for White-eyed Vireo. Chipping,
Lark, and Field Sparrow all still
around and with young. At least one
greenie juv. Painted Bunting still here.
The event of the day (as of noon) was
setting a record for altitude above
ground by a Roadrunner. It was up in
the top of the big dead Pecan, 35-40
FEET above ground. Bill clacking at
me when I went out to toss seed before
noon. That darn white cat is hanging
around, which statistically never lasts
for long. One of the rain cells found
us in the afternoon, so we beat the
heat again with another late afternoon
to evening in 70's! And we got a
little bit of precip out of the deal.
Around 8:30 p.m. looks like four-fifths
of an inch, or 2 cm (.80"). Outstanding!
THE big rain for the month so far here.
Aug. 27 ~ Low about 72F and overcast.
There is a tropical origin upper level
low over So.Cent. Texas. Not much to
it but enough to squeeze some rain out
the atmosphere. Hopefully some here.
Carolina Wren now the noisiest bird out
there in early morn. Still at least one
probably two White-eyed Vireo around.
Chats still here but not singing, just
chatting. Canyon Towhee remains. Saw
a couple ad. male Ruby-throated Hummers,
and a couple imm. type that looked
Ruby-throated as well. About 4:30 we
got the cool air from a raincell outflow
and there was rain all around us. Great
to beat the afternoon heat a second day
in a row. Some heat relief, if not rain.
Something is eating the leaves off of
the Tropical Sage out front. It is usually
fairly immune to such. I see no insects
on it, so think it is deer. Probably
since we water it, the leaves are high
moisture content. Dang deer. I am
surprised the Red Turkscap has done so
well, though much is fenced now, some
is not. They eat the flowers like candy.
Currently there are over a half-dozen
Cloudless and 3-4 Large Orange Sulphur
(all males) on it much of day. Heard
two begging Great Horned Owl still.
Aug. 26 ~ I saw 74F at 7 a.m., so it
likely hit 73, maybe lower. KERV had
a few 69F readings! Great was hearing
a cople FOS Killdeer go over southward.
First ones since spring. Kathy did not
see the Black Witch moth at Hattie's
this morning. I would have run up for
pics if there. Heard a Gnatcatcher and
a couple Orchard Oriole early. Almost
like fall migration. I expect we will
largely be overflown again this passage,
due to the dessicated appearance of the
habitat. Summer Tanager sang a bit.
There are some Cypress and Sycamore
along river that are turning rust color
of fall already, months ahead of schedule.
Some appear to be dropping leaves, others
dead or dying. Those are tapped into the
riverbed and are not making it! We have
some Pecans in yard with yellow leaves
already, over a month ahead of schedule at
minimum. Too hot and too dry for too long.
A couple showerlets passed by dropping
near a tenth of an inch of precip. Besides
a few hundredths, it is the only rain
all month so far. Near dusk heard a
Vermilion Flycatcher out front, which
I have not heard one of in a month, so
I presume a wandering bird from elsewhere.
Aug. 25 ~ Low about 75F, some low
stratus arriving shortly after sunup.
Didn't hear anything different
in several sessions outside early.
Except a Carolina Wren singing a song
with a different rhythm or cadence
than any I have ever heard. Amazing
that with a bird you hear all day
every day for twenty years, one day
you can still hear one sing in a new
different way. By knowing tonal quality
of the voice you know what it is,
even though an extra syllable is being
used in each repetition. Tonal quality
is what to learn. Just like people
speaking you learn to recognize,
regardless of the words used. Learn
the tonal quality.
Saw at least a couple ad. male
Ruby-throated Hummingbird, and likely
an imm. or two as well. Heard one
or two Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Canyon
Towhee and Roadrunner still here.
Still a couple greenie Painted
Bunting here. Saw that second feral
cat again. Afternoon clouds kept it a
bit cooler, maybe 95F or so, which is
unfortunately, much better. Below 90F
at 7 p.m. is a great change. The bird
of the day was a moth. Kathy is watching
Hattie's dogs and there was a Black
Witch moth in their breezeway this evening
at dusk. Can't buy one here, even
with peaches or bananas. In the evening
we twice had edges of rain cells nearby
sprinkle a showerlet, maybe a hundredth
of an inch each.
Aug. 24 ~ It was 78F at 7 a.m., but
I think dipped to 77 before it turned
back around. Way too high of a low
for me. Above 80 almost all night.
Wouldn't be so bad if we could
go swimming, but for third year the
river is too low of flow to be safe.
Except for tourists. ;) Not much
for bird action. The Canyon Towhee
was at the trucklet, so surely that
was what we have been hearing messing
with the mirror. We'll name it
Narcissus if it goes on much longer.
After 7 p.m. I heard the sound a
Cardinal makes when it is grabbed by
a hawk, and saw a hawk flying away that
looked like a Cooper's, with
something in its talons. Roadrunner
about again.
Cloudless Sulphur on Red Turkscap. Most of the
largeish yellow butterflies around lately are either
Cloudless or Large Orange Sulphur. Males are
easy to tell, Cloudless are lemon yellow, Large Orange
are Orange dorsally, and yellow orange below.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
Aug. 23 ~ Low about 77F or so. I see
sources saying yesterday and the day before
were record heat in SAT. Likely here too.
A bit cooler today, which means only a
hundred and a dF or two. Hope that was
peak summer this week. In the morning
I saw a FOS male Ruby-throated Hummingbird.
Though twice in last week thought I had one.
I heard the Canyon Towhee and Roadrunner here
in morn. Town run and park check.
Great was a Greater Yellowlegs on far muddy
bank at park pond. Haven't seen one
at the park in several years. Also less
than annual there were a couple Bank Swallow.
Better yet, was up in the woods, in the big
live-oaks, and once in the giant ancient
Cypress the other two were in, a CANYON WREN.
Anytime you get one away from breeding areas
and rocks it is a rare find. It sang the
speedy fast song a number of times!
The twp prior park records, and the record
we have on our stone chimney, are all
in AUGUST. The month to get one moving
around locally. Perhaps wandering young?
Heard Summer Tanager and a singing
Yellow-throated Vireo. Water is
dropping still, lots of muddy edge. Kathy
found a mint condition Black Swallowtail
male dead in yard. Probably roasted.
Aug. 22 ~ Low about 76F. At KERV it was 77,
and they only got below 80 at 6 a.m.! A
brutal hot day again. The birds were all
the same for the most part. Chased the
Roadrunner off the porch. Heard the C.
Ground-Dove. Couple Field Sparrow,
begging young Lark and Chipping Sparrow.
Heard the Canyon Towhee. Saw a large
yeller swallowtail butterfly, either
E. Tiger or Two-tailed. It was another
brutal baker. About the same as yesterday,
some local WU stations reading 105-108F!
Power went out for nearly a couple hours making
it even nicer. Apparetnly per Bandera Elect.
webpage, there were 40 of us lucky residences,
SW of town, 5:20 to just after 7 p.m. or so.
When it was a hundred and somethin'.
Aug. 21 ~ At 7 a.m. it was 71F, so likely
got down to 70, KERV had a 69F briefly.
Today is supposed to be peak heat day, and
another heat advisory as yesterday. Also
today, we are one hour shorter of daylength
that at solstice two months ago. Rufous
Hummer still terrorizing anything that
makes a move for its feeder. A Blue-gray
Gnatcatcher went through yard first thing.
Another Dickcissel was out in back
on the millet. At 3 p.m. some temps around
are 108 at Junction, 105 at Uvalde, 104 at
Hondo, and 103 at KERV, as well as at
several local WU stations. Down on the coast
Rockport was 97 with a heat index of 115!
Come on down, it's wonderful. At
4:30 p.m. I saw 101F on thet cool shady
front porch, had to be 104-5 in the sun.
KSAT hit 108F and said to be hottest in
11 years there. Had a bee swarm go over,
first one I have heard this year.
Aug. 20 ~ Low about 71F was outstanding.
KERV was 71 or lower from 7-8 a.m., and
briefly hit a 69.4. I see their station
shows 80F or below from 2: to 10: a.m.
to give an idea of that duration. Anyway,
Weewow! Coolest air in a while here.
First thing at 7 a.m. at least three
Orchard Oriole dropped into yard for a
few minutes. The Rufous Hummingbird
is still here, as is Canyon Towhee,
and a couple greenie Painted Bunting
that appear juveniles. Local WU station
over a hun dF in afternoon, with humidity
in low 20% area; there was no
additional heat index add-on misery.
I saw another (!) feral cat in the yard
at dusk, which looked a clone of the
one recently removed. Lots of folks
have unfixed barn cats, which lead to
local populations not in barns in
adjacent habitats. Feral cats are an
ecological disaster in action.
Aug. 19 ~ Low was about 73F, and felt
great briefly. Some local WU stations
were a dF or two cooler. I check at
7 a.m. when tossing seed, whilst KERV
low point has been 7:35 so I am missing
the final dip. Heard the Canyon Towhee
and the Roadrunner. In a.m. Heard a
Rufous Hummingbird out front, which is
the second one of the fall. Got a bins
look at it later in day. Not an adult,
it is a hatch-year bird, just a few months
old. It was going to the Red Turkscap
besides guarding the front porch feeder.
Aug. 18 ~ Low about 75F, maybe a brief
dip a few tenths lower. The summer
sub-tropical high remains locked on us.
August is likely the month with the
least amount of morning low stratus
from the Gulf, due to the heat dome.
Heard the Canyon Towhee and Hooded
Oriole is still coming to feeders.
Still at least two greenie Painted
Bunting here, not sure about the male
Indigo though. I did glimpsee a
hummingbird with a big black deeply
forked tail that was surely a male
Ruby-throated.
Aug. 17 ~ Low 76F, here we go again.
Heard the Canyon Towhee first thing
early. Seemed to be looking for that
nice lady with the hose. Late afternoon
I heard a FOS fall Dickcissel call a
couple times just off patio. Love
getting them in the yard. Begging baby
Lark and Chipping Sparrow around, and
Field singing when I toss seed. Several
Hooded Oriole visits were heard. Thought
I heard a Ruby-throated Hummingbird but
didn't get eyes on it. Later in
afternoon I heard some Barn Swallows
overhead southbound. At twilight I
heard at least 6-7 Upland Sandpiper
go over low, so just getting going,
and must have spent the day in a
pasture in the valley not far north.
Junior sent me this great photo of an Io moth,
on a wall Aug. 11. I have only seen one here,
and it was dead at the gas station. It is also
one of our silk moths, but of the smaller group
around a couple inches long. If you are local
to Utopia, I don't mind seeing pics of
anything neat you saw, if you think of interest.
A bonus Io blast from the past...
What a surprise it has for you on the hind wing!
This is the Io Moth (Automeris io) I found dead at the gas station.
on Aug. 13, 2021. Note similarity of dates, a clue on when to look.
The females are browner of forewing so less yellow,
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
Aug. 16 ~ Low of 78F is a drag. All the
same here in the morn. Hooded Oriole
female coming to feeder regularly must
be nesting nearby. Kathy had at least
a dozen Queen on the Blue Mist Eupatorium.
It is the best thing blooming here now,
though there is still some Red Turkscap
going, so still a few Sulphurs stopping
by. I saw a Questionmark. Town run
and a park check. It is dead there.
Water might be FOUR FEET below spillway
now and dropping fast. There is no pond,
only a little puddle on downriver side
of dam. We are in bad shape here folks.
In the woods only a few residents: a
chickadee, a titmouse, a Cardinal and
a Carolina Wren. That is all. Some
odes out over the water but only thing
different I saw was a Black Saddlebags,
probably the first all year for me here.
Kathy heard the Canyon Towhee in the
afternoon heat. Early evening when
she was spraying water about, it came
in for a shower from the hose! Have you
watered your Canyon Towhee today?
Aug. 15 ~ Was about 84F quarter after
midnight. Low was about 75F. Passing
80F at 9 a.m. No change on the ten-day,
same as the last ten days. Dog days.
Saw a couple greenies, that looked like
juveniles. Male Indigo still here,
but starting to drop blue feathers.
Would love to find one. On the Blue
Mist Eup. there was a Texas Powdered-Skipper.
Still a few Sulphurs around, mostly
on the Red Turkscap. Only a wee bit
of Tropical Sage left going. Kathy
had a small Giant Swallowtail. Smokin'
hot at 97F at 3 p.m., in the shade, so
surely a hun in the sun. Was still
90F after 9 p.m.! Heard the Roadrunnner
out there today.
Aug. 14 ~ More of same. Only thing
different was hearing a Canyon Towhee
out along front fence and near gate
at driveway. The rest was the same.
Hardly any birds, butterflies decreasing
except Queens at the Blue Mist Eup.
Birds are few, and without seed and
water here I suspect it would be
dismal out there. The numbers of
everything are way down. Pour the
heat on the drought and you get
not very much in wildlife. Begging
Great Horned Owl was out there, but
it is not around every day now.
Aug. 13 ~ Low of 75F, no morning low
stratus, go straight to heat. We
get a few bearable hours if not doing
any work out there. First thing at
7 a.m. I heard a begging young Common
Nighthawk go over southward. The two
pair that nested on the two knolls
near us for years have not done so
several years now. They come in and
count bugs and go somewhere else. Also
heard a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher early.
Another migrant heading south. Otherwise
it seemed the same. Hot as heck in
the afternoon, likely near a hun in
the sun. After 7 p.m. a greenie and
a bluey (ad. male Indigo) buntings
were on patio white millet. Today
was a whopping 90 seconds shorter of
daylength than yesterday!
Aug. 12 ~ I did not see any Perseid
meteors in a brief watch just after
midnight. Was barely clearing skies
then. Low of 76F this morning. Too
bad the flower bloom is fading so fast.
Did not last but a couple good weeks.
So hot the Tropical Sage is mostly
closed by noon. Lantana finsihing up
too. Not much for birds but the few
regulars. Upper 90's F or hotter
on the 10-day, no relief in sight.
Mulberry still dropping yellow leaves
despite getting regular watering.
Lots of Snout if you spray water about.
Nearing dusk a male Indigo Bunting was
on the patio. No male Painted around
for a few days at least now. While I
was watering flowers out front I heard
a bird messing with the mirror on the
trucklet as Kathy did yesterday. It
was on other side though so I could
not see what it was. If I had to guess
I would say Canyon Towhee.
Aug. 11 ~ A low of 79F is no low at all.
The Tropical Sage seems to have peaked
for this round of blooming. Saw the
Southern Broken-Dash again, and two
Elada Checkerspot. Butterfly numbers
are down though. The burst of flowering
was short-lived, likely due to the heat.
The Mealy Sages has some flowers open,
love that nice dark purple. Kathy saw
a bird messing with the mirror on the
trucklet, but in bad light. Maybe a
Canyon Towhee? I heard everything scolding
up the hill, and out pops a Roadrunner.
The Carolina Wrens especially make sure
everyone knows that dastardly thing is
about. I suspect they have seen it
take just-fledged wrenlets. It was
upper 90's F and relatively quiet
out there today. The critters must be
feeling as oppressed from the heat as
we are. Still nothing came into any
of the peach I put out. Untouched!
Aug. 10 ~ Low about 76F, not very, and
not very much for morning low stratus.
The sub-tropical high continues to win.
Just after midnight last night, I heard
at least 3 more Upland Sandpiper going
over high up, southbound. In the a.m.
here I heard a Hooded, and an Orchard
Oriole, the former likely our local
nester, the latter likely a transient.
Mid-morn there was a FOS Clouded Skipper
on the Lantana. Saw the Two-tailed
Swallowtail again. With it there are
four species of swallowtails visiting
our flowers now. It is so hot by late
morn lots of the Tropical Sage is already
closing up for the day. The small yeller
bumble is still here. What is a bird or
spider going to think when it tastes a
Gray Hairstreak that fed on Basil for a
week? Early afternoon there was a FOY
Southern Broken-Dash on the Lantana.
Great to see one again! Just at dark
heard a couple more Upland Sandpiper
heading south.
This is another of the Polyphemus Moth. Note
how much variation there is in the species.
Compare to last weeks photo. Some species
often all appear to be clones, others have
high variability, such as these moths.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
Aug. 9 ~ Low about 73F, no morning stratus
as the high pressure dome wins. We are
in another long run of daily hundred dF
highs. Dog days complete with cicadas.
In the morn there was a Two-tailed Swallowtail
on the Tropical Sage. Great to see.
Three Mestra at once now. Lots of Large
Orange and Cloudless Sulphur, and Snout.
Gray Hairstreak still hitting the Basil.
Heard a Canyon Towhee out by the gate.
Town run and park check. No birds, but
a heard Yellow-throated Warbler. A few
odes were mostly Blue Dasher, a Red-tailed
Pennant, and what appeared to be a
Turquoise-tipped Darner, though not a
positive ID. Just a most likely. Kathy
had the Roadrunner on roof of cottage.
Late eve heard the Canyon Towhee again.
At twilight I heard at least two FOS
Upland Sandpiper overhead, southbound
starting a night of flight. Another
sign of fall, long-distance migrants.
Aug. 8 ~ Low just under 74F momentarily.
We're under that high pressure dome
we love to hate in summer. Looks a hun
daily with no precip on the 10-day now.
Ugh. Did not see anything such as a good
bug this morning, around where I put some
peaches last night. I can tell one Mestra
is new as it is so much smaller than usual.
Heard the Roadrunner singing. White-eyed
Vireo remains the most dependable singer.
There was a False Duskywing around, which
actually I glimpsed yesterday. Better was
the FOY Rounded Metalmark, the first of
any Metalmark all year, on Blue Mist Eup.
Also saw Julia's Skipper again.
Kathy spotted a big beetle at front porch
which turned out to be the hollowed out
shell of a female Ox Beetle. I presume
wasp parasites?
Aug. 7 ~ Low about 71F was great, because
it was clear overnight. Got a call from
Shirley at the store about a bunch of big
moths on the walls out back. Before 10 a.m.
I made it down there to see more Polyphemus
Moth than I have seen in my life. Shirley
counted 13 when I was there but said earlier
there were 17! Amazing! One of our big
fancy Silk Moths, like Luna and Cecropia
(last week's photo). Always great
when on Wednesday I know what the photo
break is gonna be. What a beautiful moth.
Thanks Shirley for the call!
Then it got hot. Over a hun in the sun.
Local WU stations were showing up to 103 and
105F. Kathy heard a bunch of scolding with
the only predator about being a Roadrunner.
They go after juvenile birds especially.
Hooded Oriole at feeder. Heard one bar of
Indigo Bunting song. Heard a little Summer
Tanager song in morn, from the big dead
Pecan right out front. Butterflies rermain
the most action though. The same things
so far, but building numbers of sulphurs,
and way more Snouts come in when Kathy
waters now. Saw a Julia's Skipper
and late Kathy had a Duskywing.
Aug. 6 ~ Low was 73F, not much for morning
low stratus. We have high pressure moving
in, and temps up. The Tropical Sage continues
to expand its blooming, and the butterflies
continue building. There were at least ten
Large Orange Sulphur, including a few pale
morph females. It is great to just stand
in the middle of the patch with them all
bouncing around and dashing about oblivious
to lunks. Saw one Lyside Sulphur, and a
different Gray Hairstreak on the Basil.
A few Cloudless Sulphur, Kathy saw a Hackberry
Emperor. The (small almost all yellow) Bumble
Bee is still here. I thought I heard a
Black-n-white Warbler zzeet a few times.
An hour before sundown Kathy spotted a
male Orchard Oriole coming into the tub
pond right out office window.. Screech-Owl
calling in yard right after dark.
Aug. 5 ~ Low of 72F is nice, unfortunately.
Not much for morning low stratus. Hardly
anything singing out there now. Kathy saw
an ad. with juv. Chat outside kitchen window
again. A couple weeks now this has been
going on. She also had an ad. male Painted
Bunting out that window. Butterflies were
good. Black, Pipevine, and Giant Swallowtail,
probably three Giant. Maybe three N. Mestra.
The Gray Hairstreak was back on Kathy's
Basil flowers. White-eyed Vireo might be the
sps. singing most now. Field Sparrow singing
a little bit. A couple each begging juvenile
Lark Sparrow and Painted Bunting are around.
Another out-of-sync Firefly with a bad circadian
clock last night late. Have not seen the other
lone single one since July, presume this is a
new one.
Aug. 4 ~ There was a showerlet overnight,
maybe .1" (a tenth) of precip, washed
the dust off the leaves and made the ground
dampish. Clouds held the heat, low was
76F, with very high humidity. After the
July rain, the Tropical Sage and Lantana
have both gone into bloom cycle mode.
Which is getting a fair butterfly show
response. There are two pale morph female
Large Orange Sulphur, besides the 5 males.
There were two each of Giant Swallowtail,
and N. Mestra at once. Nice was a
Julia's Skipper since have not been
seeing any small stuff. Looked fresh.
A Gray Hairstreak was on Kathy's Basil
which is flowering. That is gonna be a spicy
one. Second day with nary a bar of Indigo
Bunting song. So they and the Painted have gone
silent. It is no longer the season for
bunting song. About 7:30 p.m. we got an
outflow boundry taking the oppressive
out of the heat and humidity. Looks like
it rained up-valley a bit, and more over
in Frio Canyon, we just got a spit or two.
Aug. 3 ~ The low of 71F was fantastic.
It didn't last. No low stratus,
the clear skies is why it cooled more.
KERV had about 70! Had an Orchard Oriole
out in yard about 9 a.m., likely a transient
considering the date, and that I have not
had the first-summer male that had been
around for a couple weeks. The rest was
all the same. It got very hot, probably
a hun in the sun, was 96F in the shade
at front porch. Screech-Owl in Pecan over
birdbath after dark, begging Great Horned
Owls still out there but moving around
a lot more. Looking for mom and dad
with a cotton rat. Almost forgot, there
was one of the small mostly yellow Bumble Bee
on the Tropical Sage, nice since we have
not been seeing them. Today our sunrise
and sunset were 7 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. on the
dot.
This is a Polyphemus Moth. On the right wing
the thin dark marks are shadows from grass blades,
not a field mark on the animal. This is one of
a large gathering at General Store Aug. 7.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
Aug. 2 ~ Low about 76F, good low stratus
layer first few hours. White-eyed Vireo
is now the most vociferous singer left
out there. The occasional Mourning or
White-winged Dove still goes off, a wren
once in a while, but pretty quiet. Town
run and park check. Nothing there. No
people in town, no birds at the park.
Saw a Leaftail sps. dragonfly, a Red-tailed
Pennant, a few probably Swift Setwing.
Kathy saw what was likely the Elada Checkerspot
I saw a few days ago, still around. The
N. Mestra is still out there too. It was
at least 95F in the afternoon. We had one
adult male Painted Bunting on the seed late.
August 1 ~ Low of 74F, some low stratus.
I can't get over the quiet out there
in the mornings now, it sounds like a morgue.
A good bird was had, just after midnight
so just a few minutes into August. I heard
the first Yellow-billed Cuckoo in a month.
Local breeders are gone, Is this a passage
transient, or local bird out wandering around?
Might be my first Aug. record? I know I have
an August cuckoo locally, but a Black-billed,
about the 5th or 6th maybe, at Lost Maples in
about 1996. So though Yellow-billed is a
low-density breeder mid-April to early July,
anything outside of that narrow window of
presence is very rare here. The rest was
the same gang all day. Again saw five each
Cloudless and Large Orange Sulphur, pretty
neat zooming and bouncing about sulphur
show at the flowers around front porch. No
Painted Bunting song, though a couple
juveniles were here late in day. Kathy saw
a stream of Snout butterfly yesterday afternoon
mostly over in the corral. I saw a Giant
Swallowtail on the Lantana late in day.
~ ~ ~ July summary ~ ~ ~
It was surprisingly wet, with an amazing
5.5" of rain! On the heels of a wet
June, it is great. Brought the river up
a little, but barely, still mostly not
flowing. Water is 3' befow going over
spillway at park pond. Drought level is
still D2. Due to the rain days there was
a quarter of the month with temps below
the usual burn, so a break from the heat.
Insects continue to be mostly absent. Odes
(dragon and damselflies) were less than ten
species. Pitiful. Red-tailed Pennant are
still at the park pond. Not seeing any
Orange-striped Threadtail. For butterflies
it was about 22 species of the expected types.
A N. Mestra or two showed up, and later in
month the first Cloudless and Large Orange
Sulphurs arrived, as well as some Snout.
Birds were as unremarkable as everything
else. The Couch's Kingbird that has
been around since March was here with a
Scissor-tail July 5, male displaying as if
a pair. A Canyon Towhee was here on the 17th.
An adult male Rufous Hummingbird was here
July 27-30. Lots of the migratory birds
that are only present a few months to breed
here depart in July, from Yellow-billed Cuckoo
to Ash-throated Flycatcher, most warblers,
many things. By the end of the month there
is almost no dawn chorus singing. It was
about 65 species for the month, mostly
from yard.
~ ~ ~ end July summary ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ July update header archive copy ~ ~ ~
July ~ this space available... Oh lookie
here on the 5th we have a taker... what
appeared a mated pair of a Scissor-tailed
Flycatcher male and a Couch's Kingbird
(presumed female) was in our Pecan. Heard
a Canyon Towhee on the 17th. By mid-month
some migratory birds are departing already,
like Purple Martin, the adult male Black-chinned
Hummingbirds, as well as surely a majority
of the Golden-cheeked Warblers, are gone
already. July 22-24 we had about 4" of
rain! The first long-distance migrant of
fall migration was an adult male Rufous
Hummingbird here the 27th to 30th.
~ ~ ~ end July update header copy ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ back to the scheduled drivel ~ ~ ~
July 31 ~ Low about 76F and mighty balmy.
No Rufous Hummingbird today, it left day 4.
Did not hear a Painted Bunting singing all
day. Of course hardly anything is now.
The sounds of spring and summer are over.
Now it is just occasional bursts from something
or other. Nothing from the Chat now either.
If the Chats go again they will start back up.
They were still with their one young a day or
two ago. The begging Red-tailed Hawk and Great Horned
Owls are all still doing so. Great to have
a small cloud of Cloudless Sulphur out front
on the Tropical Sage. With the Large Orange,
they both flushed out of it when I went to refill
and refresh birdbath, so roosting in the patch.
In afternoon there were five of each Cloudless
and Large Orange Sulphur. So they are building.
The N. Mestra is still here.
July 30 ~ Low of 74F again, humid with some
low stratus. Painted Bunting have really dialed
back their singing, only heard a couple short
bits of song today. Most adult males will be
gone in ten days or less. Indigo dialing it
back as well, but still going some anyway.
About 94F or so in afternoon, with highish
humidity. Models showing a couple days of
Saharan dust haze ahead. Still a few
Brown-headed Cowbird here, which is a late
stay for them. Still hear a couple or three
House Sparrow. Butterflies were something
to watch anyway. At least four each of Large
Orange and Cloudless Sulphur, as well as Queen.
Only thing different was an Elada Checkerspot.
At dark Kathy saw the congregation of Harvestman
again on back of shed near mulch pile. Maybe
a hundred she said. They cluster up together,
there is motion amongst them, so noise on the
metal. Not sure if these are a breeding
aggregation or what. Several years ago once
I saw an area with 500 in a few clusters in
a square meter or less.
July 29 ~ Low about 74F, some low stratus
for a few hours. There was a shower pre-dawn
and about .1" of precip. Got up to low
90's and very humid. The ad. ma. Rufous
Hummingbird is still guarding a feeder. Field,
Chipping, and Lark Sparrow all still singng.
Hearing at least a couple House Sparrow, which
is not pleasant. I consider not hearing them
a treat. A couple Eur. Collared-Dove were
out back as well. What is next, a Starling?
Saw male and female Hooded Oriole one of their
visits to the feeders. Chats sure are quiet.
Sulphurs are the bulk of the few butterflies
at our few flowers. Saw at least a couple
Lyside, two Cloudless, and at least three
(at once) Large Orange Sulphur. A few Pipevine
and one Giant Swallowtail, some Queen, a
Gulf Frit, some Snout, and a N. Mestra. A
skipper blasted by for sps. number TEN today,
but no ID onn what type. For ten sps. to
be great reflects how poor it has been.
July 28 ~ Low about 74F, very humid, a bit
of on and off low stratus. Some clouds off
and on all day, a couple spits from the sky
but no real precip here. Still a couple
Large Orange and at least one Cloudless
Sulphur visiting the flowers. Also a Lyside
or two, a Pipevine Swallowtail, several Queen,
but very little else and no small stuff.
Almost no odes around yard all year, only
a very few seen. For that matter none of the
usual assortment of flying insects late in
day. Probably why the hummingbirds have
largely departed. No food but the feeders.
The ad. male Rufous continues as front porch
feeder overlord. Does not seem like a dozen
Black-chinned here, no adult males, probably
almost all immature males.
July 27 ~ Low about 73F, some low stratus
for a short while. Hot and humid, the usual.
Saw the ad. fem. Hooded Oriole at the back
office hummer feeder. Sure seems like it
must be nesting nearby, as a daily user, in
July. Heard Field Sparrow sing, they must
still be nesting nearby as well. Best was
the first long-distance fall migrant of the
year, an adult male Rufous Hummingbird.
Right on time. Took it about 10 seconds to
take over the front porch feeder. Cannot
help but wonder if it is one that has been
here before. Kathy saw a Four-lined Skink
on the back porch.
Having done the compulsory annual photo of a 'greenie'
type Painted Bunting last week, this one is clearly elective.
This one is so bright limish green above, I think it is an
immature male, about a year old. Absolutely not a juvenile,
but could be a female. They are the only green bunting in
America. Just make sure it has that conical seed cracking
bill like a sparrow. BTW, that is a white millet seed, aka
bunting honey. Photo taken June 21.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
July 26 ~ Low about 73F, some low stratus.
Town run and park check. The water came up
almost a foot from the rain, so now just under
three feet below spillway overflow, instead
of nearly four feet. Major improvement.
Not good to swim it yet, except for tourists.
No odes, and no birds. The woods were silent.
Nothing around pond or upriver and on island.
Deadsville. So was town, only saw a couple
RV's. But Rosie was back this week,
so, tacos! Here in afternoon saw Cloudless
and Large Orange Sulphur on our flowers.
Later two Large Orange at once! Doubling
the number i have seen this month.
July 25 ~ Low about 73F, coolish, not much
for low stratus. I think the atmosphere
is fairly worked over by now. The trough
seems to be moving off to the east. Kathy
saw the ad. and juv. Chat still outside.
I heard a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher or two,
and a Roadrunner cooing. Heard three Summer
Tanager calling at once, likely a family
group. Three different widely separated
White-eyed Vireo are in earshot. Barking
Frogs still approving of the moisture.
Heard E. Screech-Owl after dark right over
the birdbath, which they surely use regularly.
Need an infrared gamecam. Was a swamped
day at the biz desk, Thursday ya know...
Did see a Cloudless Sulphur on the Tropical
Sage.
July 24 ~ I saw 71F at 7 a.m., scattered
low stratus. Late morn another rain cell
found us, and 11mm (just under a half-inch)
more prercip for the tally. Which is now
at 4" for the event, since Monday
evening, so far. And 5" for the month
so far! An adult female Hooded Oriole
was on the hummer feeder out back.
Maybe about 88F in the sun in afternoon.
Daylength is 20 minutes less than at solstice,
and losing over a minute per day now.
Kathy had a big beetle that was probably
a Fig or Peach Beetle type Scarab.
July 23 ~ It rained off and on much of
the then noisy night. Looks like 55mm,
or 2.2" for the total since 9 p.m.
when the event started last night. More
is inbound shortly. The Chat sure has
quieted down in a major way. I presume
they will still nest again with the rains
so hopefully will get back to chatting.
Mid-day mostly we got another 34 mm of
rain! About 89mm for the event since
last night, or about 3.6" WEEWOW!
That was the excitement for the day,
precipitation! Looked like the worst
drought-stricken parts of Bandera, Kerr,
and Kendall Co. all got a good dose too.
Only thing different was a few Barn Swallow
going south at dusk. Heard a Field Sparrow
sing, as I tossed seed. The high of about
76F is fairly amazing. The Barking Frogs
were happy at dark.
July 22 ~ Low about 74F maybe. Some low
stratus, but spotty. There was an outflow
boundry mid-day, but we had no precip here.
About 3 p.m. was 89F, so a bit cooler, if
you can call it that. Then we got some cooler
outflow from nearish rain so spent late
afternoon around 84F, a good 10F off the top,
at least. Did not hear Ash-throatted Flycatcher
again today, they are outta here. Still
baby Bewick's and Carolina Wrens around.
And the begging Red-tailed Hawk. Later
a male Indigo Bunting was on the patio for
white millet. Dispatched a vermin yesterday,
so out by far corner of yard were Black and
Turkey Vulture and Kathy saw a Caracara.
A rain cell found us around 9 p.m. and
dropped about 20 mm, or .8" and it
was starting again at midnight when I
unplugged.
July 21 ~ Low about 74F, with barely any
low stratus early, another hot one inbound.
But change starts this afternoon, they say.
Was about 97F in afternoon and humid, when
some rain cells moved by closeish. WE got
a couple hundredths maybe, but the outflow
took it down to 82F! What a treat! Some
rain would have been nice, but we beat the
heat again. Nothing different for birds,
the same stuff is all still around. A Hooded
Oriole was at back hummer feeder. I do
not recall hearing an Ash-throated
Flycatcher, will listen closer tomorrow.
Way fewer hummingbirds out there now.
The lack of bugs and flowers has caused
a major early departure of them.
July 20 ~ Low about 73F, maybe 72 briefly.
Not much for low stratus and a cooker in
upper 90's F again. Forecast has a
weeklong period of rain chances and cooler
temps starting about Monday. We need the
water, and some cooler temps would be nice
too. Heard a great racket on the steel roof,
sounded like about 8 reindeer, but since it
was July I knew it was not that. At times
you could hear it sliding on the fairly steep
pitched roof. It was the Roadrunner!
I probably flushed it away from that hummer
feeder when I walked out. Daylength now is
losing over one munute per day.
The compulsory annual photo of a 'greenie' type
Painted Bunting. Limish green above, often more olive-green and greenish
white below. So, a female or juvenile, or imm. male
up to a year old or so, all look fairly similar. They
are the only green bunting in America. Just make sure it
has that conical seed cracking bill like a sparrow.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
July 19 ~ A low of 68F was fantastic, and
due to that rain yesterday afternoon.
The pleasant was short-lived though. Was
95F or higher in afternoon. Town run and
park check. Water levels dropping so much
we are in dire straights here. Probably
10 years since it has been this low. Soon
pond will be FOUR FEET below spillway overflow
(normal). Did not see any odes, they are
in bad shape too. Still singing were
Yellow-throated and White-eyed Vireo, and
Summer Tanager. No herons or such yet,
despite lots of pond-edge showing now.
Probably lots everywhere. There were a
few Snout butterfly at the park.
July 18 ~ Low about 75F, some low stratus.
A front and trough went across midwest this
week, the tail end of which made it into
north Texas. Which spun off a big outflow
boundry a couple hundred miles long which
made it across the Edwards Plateau. Weird
for mid-July. We had thunder as it went
over and maybe .45 or so, near a half-inch,
of rain. Not to mention it took it down
to 73F! Peak heat only recovered to 83F.
Incredible. I saw 7 Queen at once on the
Blue Mist Eup. A brutal Thursday at the
biz desk. Did hear an Orchard Oriole a
couple times, early and late, which sang
some partial song fragments and I suspect
the first summer male that has been around.
Also heard the Black-n-white Warbler sing
still.
July 17 ~ Low a balmy 76F, some low stratus,
so humid. Another baker. Hearing at least
one Scissor-tailed Flycatcher in corral or
at airstrip. Ground-Dove and Chipping Sparrow
singing, as opposite as possible. I see a
Skeleton-plant flower. Kathy found a N. Mestra
late in day that looked roosted up for the
night down in the Blue Mist Eupatorium.
Thought I heard a Purple Martin. Kathy flushed
a feral cat outside, again. Hunting our birds
and lizards among other things. They eat
Painted Buntings no doubt. Begging juv.
Red-tailed Hawk still - check. I heard what
surely was a Canyon Towhee on the rocky slope
behind us. Gave two different calls a few
times but I didn't see it. Seemed like it
must have been at seed along the fence
where I toss it.
July 16 ~ Low was about 74F, with low stratus
early for a few hours. Then comes the heat.
Still hear Ash-throated Flycatcher around,
and it seems two Indigo Bunting singers.
Maybe only a couple male Painted Bunting singing.
I saw a FOY Large Orange Sulphur, right
on time. Kathy saw a more lemon yellow
one like yesterday, likely Cloudless Sulphur.
July is usually when both show up. I also
saw a Vesta Crescent. Otherwise the same
gang. Got to upper 90's F, very hot.
July 15 ~ Low about 74F, muggy of course.
Kathy is still getting her baby Chat
outside the kitchen window in the tangle.
Through window and scrren in the dark
tangle there is no light for photos.
Back to the mid-90's F in the
afternoons, sure was a great break last
week. Today is the first day since
last Thursday when I got bit that my foot
doesn't hurt. Was one Red Harrvester
Ant. Those things can light you up, it
was still swollen yesterday on day four.
They have not been the major problem
this year as the last ten walking off
with a pound of white millet daily.
Kathy saw a big all yellow butterfly
go by, most likely a Cloudless Sulphur,
it is July now. She also said she had
a large number of Snout come into water,
which is the first of that this year.
A couple to three weeks after 3 rain
events that totalled over six inches.
Snout are rain chasers. Be interesting
to see if we get a major wave this year.
July 14 ~ Low about 75F, the cool nice
morning break thingie is over. Sure was
nice while it lasted. Still overcast
all day again, so only 85F or so which
is 10F off what it normally is these days.
The Black-and-white Warbler on territory
locally that visits near-daily sang in
the Pecan over birdbath. Won't be
hearing that much longer, sure is neat
out the window. As of mid-July other
things still singing e.g. nesting or
territorial here, are, Indigo and Painted
Bunting, Lesser Goldfinch, Chipping Sparrorw,
Summer Tanager, White-eyed Vireo, Yellow-breasted
Chat, House Finch, N. Cardnial, Carolina Chickadee
and Wren, Bewick's Wren, Black-crested Titmouse,
Mourning, White-winged, and Ground-, Doves.
Maybe Eastern Bluebird, they certainly are
still here and acting like they have another
set going. Roadrunner and Black-chinned
Hummingbird also still here going. Though
only a few adult male Black-chinned Hummingbird
left, most are gone.
Gone are Purple Martin, Yellow-billed Cuckoo,
and Blue Grosbeak. The Ash-throated
Flycatcher are just about to leave, chasing
everything else. Yellow-throated Warbler
are still at park, but I do not hear one
here now. Up- and downriver a bit, but not
here. Brown-headed Cowbird were fewest
ever this year and will also soon be gone.
There is at least one young Ladder-backed
Woodpecker around. Of course the Red-tailed
Hawk and two juvenile Great Horned Owl are
still begging. Chucks are here but silent.
Not hearing the Vermilioin Flycatcher pair
in corral, and Scissor-tails go by near-daily
but not sure if it is nesting nearby.
July 13 ~ One last low about 69F, man
this has been great the last few days.
Actually about five of last seven days
we somehow beat peak afternoon heat,
counting today. A large area of light
rain was south of us covering all of the
northern brush country, but we got the
cool air from noonish on, spit on a few
hundredths, and was about 80F! Incredible.
Bunch of poor folks in east Texas still
without power from Beryl!
Heard Yellow-throated Vireo singing early,
a local unmated troller methinks. Kathy
saw the Black-and-white Warbler at the bath,
I presume the same summering first spring,
now first summer, male. After dark a
big sphinx moth came into my pipe tobacco.
It buzzed all around my head touching me
a few times, taking hits of that sweet
and apparently irrestible golden cavendish
aroma. Quick turned porch light on but
it never came in. That 'one neat
trick' brought the Lassaux's
Sphinx right in. I think this was a
Manduca sps., e.g. a Tomato Hornworm type.
While we are on birds in air at birdbath... this is one
of our local pair of Carolina Chickadee. It watches
bigger birds bathe and when they explode flapping
throwing water all over, it quick flies down to hover
in the shower as water goes flying. Seeing how much
energy it can burn getting wet, when it can just
land and sit in the water? When Kathy is watering in
the yard and they are around they will show up for
spray as well. Just loves a shower I suppose.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
July 12 ~ Another totally approved low,
of 68F felt great. Some low stratus early,
and mid-level in afternoon, so not as hot.
Plenty humid though. It was all the
same gang. Too swamped to look. Town
run so a park check. To no avail. It
was deadsville. No Martins overhead.
Water dropping like a rock, lowest level
and flow in a decade probably, based
on shrinking park pond. The island is
not. No odes either. Drought stage may
only be D2, but we are FOUR FEET behind
in rain. Kelly at the P.O. said he has
most ever numbers of juvenile Cardinal
at his place, loving his sprinkler.
Water is better than food for attracting
birds. Lots of things that don't eat
seeds come in that otherwise wouldn't.
Late afternoon there were some rain cells
to our south, which sent us an 80F outflow
boundry at peak heat. We have been
very lucky the last week with beating
peak heat a handful of days. Saw our
Lonesome George Firefly out there again,
day 7 all by its self. Saw the Mestra again.
July 11 ~ An astonishing low of 67F
was fantastic! Best we felt in nearly
two months. KERV had a 65 and change.
What a difference five dF can make.
Buried at the desk as a Thursday.
Heard a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.
The rest all seemed the same to me.
I saw a rerport that the radar return
rings of Purple Martin fall roosts are
starting to show up at Houston. Time
to check Austin radar at dusk and dawn.
Saw my FOY N. Mestra (butterfly) today.
July 10 ~ After the rain yesterday
afternoon we had a spectacular low at
about 69.5F. KERV had a 68! Amazing!
Feels SOOOO good. It is the little
things. We did have another brief
showerlet, maybe a half a tenth of an
inch (.05-) of precip. But kept us
below 80 for the first three hours
of the afternoon. Very nice. Hear
a Scissor-tail over by airstrip. The
Gulf Coast Toad is still around the
birdbath, and growing well. Heard
Bluebirds and a Martin. Saw the lone
Firefly (day 5) again. Also confirmed
what I had been thinking for a couple
weeks, but not nailed down, there are
TWO begging Great Horned Owl fledglings
around. Sometimes it takes a while to
make absolutely sure of things, especially
in the dark.
SPECIAL NOTICE !! ~ APOLOGIES if you
visited after morning of July 9 to the
10th when the site was hacked and some
foreign stuff showed. Apparently was at
the webhost server. When we were able to
get back, the server cloud copy they had
was missing the prior birdnews update.
We fixed it, and got up the next morning
to find the update not there again. Now
fixed again, and hopefully for good. SORRY!
July 9 ~ Low about 73F felt better.
No morning low stratus though. Spent
an inordinate amount of time dealing
with the hijacking of the incredibly
sought-after utopia nature website.
I doubt anyone that reads the site could
read what was there!
A shortwave trough moved over in the
afternoon which rained over a lot of
the Edwards Plateau. We got an INCH!
ZOMG! Cooled it down to mid-70's F
for peak heat, so which, we beat. Pure
awesome. Kathy saw the male Indigo
Bunting on the patio. That bird is so
ginchy I cannot get a decent photo of it.
After about 10 days of silence as often
after a rain in July, at twilight the
nearby Chuck-will's-widow was calling.
Great to hear it again, and after rains
is almost the only time I hear them after
early July. This year they shut up in
latest June.
July 8 ~ About 76F for a low. Beryl is
making landfall near Houston, hope they
come out unscathed in east Texas. You
could not tell here save an occasional
puff of an easterly. Both Hooded and
an Orchard Oriole were around in morn.
Kathy had a Black-n-white Warbler at
the birdbath. I had a Scissor-tail
call from the big dead Pecan in the
afternoon. Kathy had the juv. Chat
outside kitchen window in the tangle.
Another hun in the sun afternoon here.
Indigo Bunting singing over in draw
the last week plus. If the same as
in spring, as seems, then it disappeared
for an entire week and returned. Which
seems odd for a mated bird. Maybe they
ran off with a set of fledlings? Never
saw any here and we usually do. Nor has
it ever left for a week, even between
nestings. You lose your mate quickly
methinks.
July 7 ~ The low of 71F was outstanding.
KERV had some 69 readings! Wonderful
rain-cooled air. Hot and humid, with
some high thin debris clouds from Beryl,
and occasional easterly winds. It has
turned more northward towards middle or
upper Texas coast and we will be lucky
if we get anything out of it. The Common
Ground-Dove has been calling a lot lately.
I heard an abbreviated Blue Grosbeak song
which I suspectd was that first spring
male that has been around. For the third
night I watched a lone Firefly with a bad
circadian clock flying around blinking,
to no response since spring flight was over
weeks ago, and fall flight won't start
for 6 weeks or so probably. Have not heard
a Yellow-billed Cuckoo since July 2.
July 6 ~ Low 76F, some low stratus for half
the morning. Heard the Hooded Oriole around.
Did not see anything different. Kathy saw
the colorless juvie Chat again outside the
kitchen window getting fed by adults.
She also had 10 Queen at once on the Blue Mist
Eupatorium. In the afternoon there were some
rain cells around much of the Edwards Plateau,
but mostly north of us. We got spit on, but
were happy with the outflow which took it
from 96F in the shade to 84, right at peak heat.
Actually got down to 78F! A thrilling break.
In the outflow gusty winds one of the big dead
Pecan branches came crashing down on the
porch roof, while I was out on porch. It
then fell onto lots of our flowers around
the porch. Got all of it off the flowers
into bare area, will water good and see how
bad the damage is tomorrow. Late evening
heard the Couch's Kingbird calling over
in the corral! Our FOS 'fall migrant',
a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, went through in the
afternoon. Done breeding and heading south.
This is a White-eyed Vireo diving into the birdbath.
Vireos are mostly splash-bathers, not waddling in
as most birds will. Only diving into the water and
splashing as they do. You can see the pale iris,
yellow lores and sides. It is kinda hard to catch
in the act.
~ ~ ~ last prior update beloiw ~ ~ ~
July 5 ~ About 76F for a low, and some low
stratus from Gulf until abut 11 a.m., whence
instant hot and humid as the sun breaks.
A great odd couple of birds was in the
top of the big dead Pecan about 11 just
before I headed out for my town run.
A male Scissor-tailed Flycatcher was acting
like it was trying to get its mate to
choose this as a nest site. The other bird
was a COUCH'S Kingbird. I presume
the one that we have seen monthly since
March. These two species have been known
to hybridize before. Had to walk in to
park as they were setting up for the big
firework show tonight at dark. Did not
detect the Acadian Flycatcher, for the
first time in about two months. I think
last week when I heard what sounded like
it feeding a young was the last of it.
Still singing were Yellow-throated Vireo
and Warbler, Summer Tanager, and below
spillway an Indigo Bunting. Some Chimney
Swift over town and park. Water is
dropping fast and hard still.
July 4 ~ Happy Indepence Day, aka national
beer and hot dogs day. And water recreation
where available. Wish we had a running
river. Third summer in a row without our
walk-to swimming hole being in safe zone
IMHO. Water is too warm and flow too low.
Another just about a hundred dF day.
Saw a male Hooded Oriole come into back
office hummer feeder a couple times.
Maybe it and that female have hooked
up nearbyish? Would be great. We had
a pair here for years, which one spring
did not show up. We have had visitors
since, but not a local nesting pair
using it regularly. Did hear Martin
today, they will be gone soon.
July 3 ~ Low about 76F and not much for
morning low stratus, prepare to bake.
Kathy had a juvenile Chat right outside
the kitchen window being fed by adults
in morn and evening. It has no color
below, and virtually none above. Just
a sordid dusky dark above and light below
bird. I had it in front porch tangle.
Heard a Field Sparrow sing out back.
That Chipping Sparrow is sure a perfect
trill. There is at least one juv.
Ladder-backed Woodpecker around. Had
a bunch of biz work and smokin'
hot out there anyway. Begging Red-tail
still whining all day, as is the juv.
Great Horned Owl over in corral. Which
seems a great place to lead and leave
it. There are lots of cotton rats
around. It HAS to be able to learn
how to get them there. Hasn't
stopped the begging yet though.
July 2 ~ Low of 76F, briefly some low
stratus from Gulf in morning. Pretty
hot out before noon, by afternoon a hun
in the sun. Heard the Orchard Oriole
singing again. Wish it would come
in to the bath. Would love a pic of a
partially chestnut first summer male.
Heard the Hooded Oriole chatter. After
not hearing it (presuming our local
yardish breeder) for several days, I
heard a Yellow-billed Cuckoo in the
Mulberry, so it is still here, or came
back by to say goodbye. Also hear
the Roadrunner cooing uphill behind
us where it somewhere nests. There are
very few Lesser Goldfinch around, maybe
just one pair here, they never recovered
from that major hail carpet bombing we
had in May a few years ago. Kathy saw
an Eyed Elaterid out back, first one
this year. She also saw a W. Ribbonsnake
on a trip outside. About 7 p.m. I heard
an Inca Dove out front.
July 1 ~ Low of 73F felt great after the
run of 78's we have had. Flowers
around the porch are doing well, as we water
them, but the rest looks fairly dessicated.
Birds were the same, heard an Orchard Oriole
sing in the afternoon. Heard some juv.
Painted Bunting begging. Saw a swallowtail
that I will just call an odd Black for
lack of a better guess. About 98F in
late afternoon. Today we hit 14 hours
for daylength, so have lost a couple plus
minutes since solstice, and almost losing
a half-minute per day now.
~ ~ ~ June summary ~ ~ ~
We had two rain events in the otherwise
bone dry month, but which were good ones
totalling 5.5" for us here! Meanwhile
water tables at park pond went down, from
just over 2' below spillway to THREE
feet below spillway overflow. Drought
level remains D2. FIVE inches did not bring
the water table up. It is parched and dire
out there. Trees are dying.
Insects well reflect the dire situations of
our habitats and ecosystems. Their numbers
continue to be astonishingly few. Only
minimal dragonfly and butterfly numbers.
Still scraping for odes (dragonflies and
damselfies). Three new for the year species
seen: Red-tailed Pennant, a Prince Baskettail,
and Widow Skimmer were nice to see. I saw
only 8 species over the month. Pitiful.
For butterflies, there was nothing unusual,
as expected, we typically do not get vagrant
types in spring, that is a summer and fall
thing. Flowers are all but non-existent
away from water, and butterflies are hard
to find, save at watered flowers. If we
did not have watered flowers here we would
hardly be seeing any butterflies. Looks like
31 sps. for the month.
Not insects but arachnids, we did have two
Wolf Spiders in the house in sinks going after
water (repatriated to great outdoors) this
month. They used to be abundant. There has
been a full-blown wholesale crash of spiders
here along with the insect crash, of course.
There was one group of numbers of Harvestmen
(the outdoor daddy longlegsish thingie) seen here.
Birds were as expected for the most part. The
only rarity was a female MacGillivray's
Warbler June 3rd. My first June record for one.
An Acadian Flycatcher again was territorial
at Utopia Pk. the last two months and may have
nested. No nesting Pewee there this year.
Mostly it is just the breeding birds getting
a clutch of young out. Overall numbers are
way down, and fledgling productivity seems
low. Another year, about the fourth in a row,
of mostly one or two fledglings per nesting cycle.
Over the month dawn chorus went from a mild
roar to nearly non-esistant. Much is finished
and done for the season already. I saw
about 65 sps. locally over the month.
~ ~ ~ end June summary ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ June update header archive copy ~ ~ ~
June ~ A tardy MacGillivray's Warbler
at the bath on the 3rd was very unexpected.
A Bullock's Oriole at the park on the
7th was a surprise. June 9-11 we got a
whopping 3.5" of precious holy RAIN!
Almost 2" MORE fell on June 19-20 from
Alberto. Usually this inspires most of the
breeding birds to nest another round, if
they had not bailed already (some have).
Daily heat indices of 100F are typical
all summer, be prepared. A Common Grackle
was at Utopia Pk. June 28, first one I
have seen this year
~ ~ ~ end June update header archive copy ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ back to the daily drivel ~ ~ ~
June 30 ~ Low 77F, a bit of low stratus
in morn. Upper 90's F in afternoon.
Hot and humid. Getting mighty quiet out
there for birds. I hear new baby begging
Chipping Sparrow, seeing juvenile Lark
Sparrows. Summer Tanager and White-eyed
Vireo still singing well. There was a
dragonfly seeming to be attempting to
oviposit on the wet sidewalk. It looked
like a Pale-faced Clubskimmer which I
had not seen yet this year.
June 29 ~ Another 78-98F temp spread day.
So, nothing changed. Brutal out there.
I can't believe how the Frogfruit
has a fair bloom going, and nothing is
on it. Should be covered in all the
small butterflies like skippers, hairstreaks,
blues, and such, nothing there.
Did not hear a Chuck or a Chat after dark.
Our local pair of Carolina Chickadee in birdbath.
~ ~ ~ last prior udpate below ~ ~ ~
June 28 ~ A chilly 77F for a low.
Dawn chorus is dead. Some things go off
here and there but the wonderful mild roar
is over. It is mostly one at a time now.
Town run and a park check. Singing there were
Summer Tanager, Yellow-throated and
White-eyed Vireo, Yellow-throated Warbler,
and in the live-oaks north of woods the
Acadian Flycatcher. Which sounded like
it was maybe with a young? Could not
see it, but it seemed it and a second bird
making similar call were together. Best bird
was a male Common Grackle. First one I have
seen this year. The usual nesting pair on
the island does not nest when the island
is not one. Same for the Green Heron pair.
I have not seen them either this spring.
Saw a male Widow Skimmer dragonfly again.
Water still going down, the 5" of rain seems
to have done nothing for the water table.
Next week the big Utopia firework show is
set for the 5th, on Friday. The fourth
will be the parade. Which is a Utopia
doo-dah parade. Everyone is welcome to
do anything they like. Old cars to
decorated ones, and hopefully not too
many trombones. Kathy saw a Hackberry
Emperor on kitchen window screen again.
She also flushed a Roadrunner off the
back porch under the hummingbird feeder
stalking for a victim. That means there
are very few lizards out there to eat.
June 27 ~ Another 78-98F temp spread day.
Heat index over a hun. Sticky and not
particularly pleasant. Oh for the beach
or mountains. Some low stratus a couple
hours in morning. A Celia's Roadside-Skipper
landed on my ankle out on back porch this
morn. I guess that is close enough to count
it? Not hearing cuckoo, which likely means
it is done and gone. They leave immediately
after fledging their young, often by late
June, and that is that. By early July they
can all be gone locally. Where do they go?
Saw an Elada Checkerspot in the afternoon.
Heard a Martin family overhead, and near dusk
a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher went over.
June 26 ~ Ran about 78-98F for a temp spread.
Hot and sticky. Stuck at desk working and
just as well. The female Hooded Oriole is
around, and ginchy as they are. There was
a Gulf Coast Toad at the birdbath early
first thing. Did not hear a cuckoo today,
again. A male Indigo Bunting is singing
over in the draw, but no Blue Grosbeak around.
Heard Yellow-throated Warbler visit the
Pecans. The Tropical Sage is getting a
bloom cycle underway so a hundred or two
flowers open around front porch is nice.
Lantana doing another bloom cycle too.
June 25 ~ Low a hair under 77F, balmy, and
a brief showerlet to make sure humidity
was topped up. A Hooded Oriole hit a hummer
feeder earlyish but could not sex it due
to bad light. Kathy saw it later morn,
said it looked a female. Otherwise the
same gang. Chuck-will's-widow are
fairly quiet already. Just a little calling.
They go mostly silent here by end of first week
of July. Begging Red-tailed Hawk still
going. Some baby begging Carolina Wren
too. A juv. Cardinal is losing the dark
bill and has pinkish color in basal half
now. Heard the Black-and-white Warbler
a few times. Did not hear a Cuckoo today.
June 24 ~ Low of 76F is nearing balmy.
Sure getting quiet of birdsong. Barely a
dawn chorus left already. If we get another
round of nesting from the rains it could
pick back up. Mr. Bell singing in the
Mulberry over cottage. It was the same
avian gang as is the June passerine program.
Some family groups with begging babies is
always nice. Bluebirds still noisy and
around. Best was near 5 p.m. Kathy spotted
an oriole at the birdbath. I got a look
through bathroom window and screen. It
was an adult female Hooded Oriole. No way
you could get window open for pics without
it flushing, darn it, as sun was on bath.
Have not been seeing one on hummer feeders
but they can be pretty furtive.
June 23 ~ I saw 70F on the front porch
at 7 a.m., and it felt great. Earlier KERV
had some high 60's! We may have before
I got out there. What a difference a
few dF makes. Lark Sparrow, Carolina and
Bewick's Wren are three of the
birds singing most around yard. A few
morning looks and listens turned up
nothing of note. Note over the next several
days we saw a ad. female Hooded Oriole around.
So, that could well explain the mystery
song yesterday. It was a female Hooded Oriole.
Lots of female songbirds sing and we know very
little about it. Kathy had a Bordered
Patch butterfly today.
June 22 ~ Ran about 72-92 for the temp
spread today. Kathy caught another big
wolf spider, this out of the bathroom,
and set it free outside. I think they
were coming in for water and then did
not find their way out. Mr. Bell still
singing and was in yard doing so. Love
that song. Neatest thing was Kathy spotting
a Gray Fox which drank at the birdbath.
The big mystery of the day was an oriole
I heard sing in the late morning and
again in late afternoon which I did not
recognize. I know my oriole songs beyond
well and this was none of the usual normal
songs. Both times I went inside for bins
and camera, and never heard it again once
I got back out armed. The rest of the
daily show was the expected. Heard
Roadrunner, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and
Ground-Dove.
The compulsory annual photo of a male
Painted Bunting in the bird bath. No
better way to attract more birds than
watering them. Even a sprinkler in
bushes or a tree can be very effective.
This bath is a large garden pot drain dish.
Change the water daily if using a bath.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
June 21 ~ Full moon today on the heels of
the solstice. Low about 72.5F, and a few
more hundredths of an inch of precip from
passing showerlets overnight. Near 90F in
the afternoon. We luckily dodged several
days of heat and got a much-needed break.
If one of those parent Red-tails doesn't
come by and feed that young (which sounds
like pleading steel rail wheels) soon,
I am going to have to shoot a squirrel
and feed it myself. Town run and a quick
park check. They were doing a sound check
for the rodeo this weekend, so was loud.
Best was a couple Red-tailed Pennant dragonfly.
They surely must be on-site emergences now.
They were rare here 20 years ago, far less
than annual, becoming regular in last five
years. Birds singing in the woods were
Yellow-throated and White-eyed Vireo, a few
Yellow-throated Warbler, Summer Tanager,
and with much less vigor than the last
month, the Acadian Flycatcher. Heard
a B-n-w Warbler. The 5.5" of rain
the last 12 days has not caught up with
the water table drop, which is still THREE
FEET from going over spillway at park pond.
It has gone down near a foot so far in June.
Maybe some will filter down next week? I
hear a Vermilion Flycatcher singing over in
the corral here at hovelita, maybe they
will nest again now. Fourth day with
no Firefly, they are over until the
fall flight.
June 20 ~ Happy solstice! Astronomical
(or celestial) summer is here, the sun
is at its furthest north bringing the
longest daylength. Of course we have
already had a way over a month of summer
temps here. Which is why I like climatological
summer better: June, July, and August.
Farmer's Almanac for the win.
The main band of light rain from short-lived
Tropical Storm Alberto started yesterday
evening and lasted until pre-dawn. Total
was 3cm, or 1.2". We lucked out.
Eastern Bluebirds singing up a storm
makes me think they are going to try
another round of nesting. The rain
the last dozen days will induce
lots of birds to nest again this season.
They know there will be flowers and bugs.
There are some Junipers and Hackberries
with fair amounts of green berries on
them, a good sign from the spring. I saw
my FOY flowers of Red Turkscap, Indian Mallow,
and those low peachy un-ID'd things have
come out now too. Only saw about 82F in the
afternoon for the second day, what a great
break. About 4:30 we got another couple
rain cells from leftover Alberto moisture
and heating. Totalled about 17.5 mm or
just under .75 of an inch. Making the
two day and event total 47.5 mm or 1.9"!
And making for 5.4" in the last 12 days!
To say it is a relief is a gross understatement
when you are three feet behind. It was a
'slow soaker' so there was little
to no runoff.
June 19 ~ Low about 74F, overcast and
rain from the tropical system in the
Gulf of Mexico is supposed to make it
here this afternoon, eve, or overnight.
Thick clouds will keep it 10dF cooler
anyway. Light rain started around 7 p.m.
and brought temps down to about 70F.
Wonderful. Heard the B-n-w Warbler,
and a Blue Grosbeak sang nearishby,
Cuckoo-cooed, and heard fledgling
Lark Sparrow begging. As does the juv.
Red-tailed Hawk still. Tomorrow the
daylength will be 2 seconds longer.
Being a glutton for punishment, I tried
to take some pix of the awesome violet
of the Wooly Ironweed flowers. You
won't believe this, but Canon
auto-focus screwed all six shots.
I might grow to hate this camera.
Saw a Gray Hairstreak on Tube-tongue.
June 18 ~ A low of 72F was induced by
a pre-dawn showerlet. About a half a
tenth of an inch (.05) maybe. At 3 p.m.
it was 90F on the front porch. The
first spring-summer male Black-and-white
Warbler took a bath early in morn. Got
a chigger yesterday, after not having
a single one all spring so far. I told
Kathy that rain would bring some out.
Believe it or not, no one had complained
about their absence. If only we could order
summer rain, hold the chiggers.
Too many piggy juv. House Finch
around lately, that need to learn how
to forage for wild seeds. Near end of
day an ad. male Blue Grosbeak was on
patio, and then an ad. male Indigo Bunting
tried to land on white millet tube!
Have not seen or heard either in about
a week. Are these new birds? If you
leave for a week you lose your mate so
not something they do when there is
time to go another cycle still left
in the season. Oh for some color bands
on these birds. A freak feather somewhere,
some way to differentiate and get us
past unknowing speculation.
June 17 ~ Low of 75F, some low stratus,
a brief spitting, exactly when I went
to toss seed at 7 s.m., of course.
Did hear cuckoo out there today, so
still around. Heard a distant Blue
Grosbeak, and the Bell's Vireo over
in the corral. The Ash-throated Flycatchers
got a couple young out and have been over
in corral lots last few days. Kathy
caught a big Wolf Spider in the kitchen
sink, which was repatriated to the great
outdoors. There were a Dun and two
Celia's Roadside-Skipper on the
Wooly Ironweed, which is blooming well now.
What an awesome electric purple that is.
I fenced it this year so unlike the last
two it did not get massacred by deer
early in season, so a good bloom again.
Kathy saw a couple male Painted Bunting
out back from office window late in day.
No Fireflies tonight, I think they are
done for the spring flight. Which was
weak at best, a very poor showing for
them.
June 16 ~ The standard, low of 75F,
some low stratus for a few hours early.
Then mostly sunny and 96F or so with
heat index over a hun.
Kathy spotted an odd skipper out front
and Canon SX40 auto-focus screwed my
six shots. WORST AUTO FOCUS EVER: Canon!
A veritible Microsoft of auto focus.
The engineers involved should commit
hari kari. Fifty years ago for a hundred
bucks you could buy a camera that focused
on anything. Now with modern technology
there is a $500 camera that can't
focus on anything! Heard the Bell's
Vireo over in corral. Kathy also saw a
Questionmark. Heard some Martins overhead.
Too hot and sticky out there. Still
can't believe I am not hearing
Blue Grosbeak and Indigo Bunting. They
both normally sing (nest) into August.
When we are drought-stricken LOTS of
birds only nest once. Especially the
migratory breeders. Whereas many of the
resident breeders have already gone
twice. But with albeit low fledge rates.
One or two young is the rule, three an
exception. Two juvenile Raven were
begging for an hour over in the corral.
June 15 ~ Half way through the first
month of climatalogical summer. Low
of 75F, high above 95. Little bit of low
stratus for a short while in morn and
very humid and sticky.
Heard a Bell's Vireo singing in corral.
Bird of the day was an Empidonax flycatcher
Kathy saw. It disappeared before the
resident empiphylliac could get a look.
Have no idea what to make of it.
Begging Chipping Sparrow still doing so,
and besides the juv. Red-tailed Hawk,
there is also a begging Great Horned Owl
around. Kathy saw a couple Blues, the
butterflies, probably Reakirt's.
Makes me want to hear Butterfly Bleu,
Iron Butterfly, Metamorphosis album,
got the vinyl, 50 some years ago. Some
Blue Mistflower still going and some
Queens still on it. Not much for
butterflies though, and less for
dragons - none.
This is a Nashville Warbler this spring.
Usually our most common migrant warbler
in spring. Yellow underparts including
throat, olive upperparts, gray head, big
white eyering, no wingbars or tailspots,
and sometimes you can see the rufous in
the central crown feathers.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
June 14 ~ Low of 75.5F, not very. Some
low stratus off and on, barely. That
3.5" of rain this week was a
biological life-saver here, things were
in critical condition. Red-tailed Hawk
flew right over begging. I think it
was going to land in the big dead Pecan
until it saw me. Town run day so a park
check. Singing were: Acadian Flycatcher,
Summer Tanager, Red-eyed, Yellow-throated,
and White-eyed Vireo, Carolina and
Bewick's Wren, Titmouse (B-c), and
Chickadee (Caro). Purple Martin and Northern
Rough-winged Swallow over the pond. In
passage transients there was one Black-and-white
Warbler, and across the river I heard a
Golden-cheeked Warbler chipping in live oaks
across from furthest north end of park.
Post-breeding wanderers. My FOY Widow
Skimmer was nice, what a beautiful dragonfly.
June 13 ~ Low was 74F, some low stratus
early and some clouds scattered late
afternoon, but probably 95F and heat
index over 100. Come on down, it's
lovely. A busy desk day, and with
added phone issues for more fun. Did
not see anything different. It is the
silence of Indigo Bunting and Blue
Grosbeak that is killin' me. It
sure got a lot quieter out there in
the last week. Two of the best blues,
and best singers we had. Yellow-throated
Warbler was around a bit. The big
outflow boundry two days ago knocked
down the martin house. I had already
done so once to remove an in-process
House Sparrow nest, no martins, so
am leaving it down for now. Kathy saw
a beautiful bright male Hooded Oriole
at the back hummer feeder. I saw a
dull brown False Duskywing.
June 12 ~ Low was 71F, not bad, and
there was a brief pre-dawn showerlet
of about .1", a tenth of an inch.
A parting shot from the over-performing
upper-level low. The cell last night
got severe right after passing us, to
our SE. Well now we have gone three
days without the yard singing male
Indigo Bunting. It is absent. Like
the Blue Grosbeak. If they fledged
young we'd see that here, the female
and some juveniles. The males disappeared,
dare I say in this case, out of the blue.
They or their nests were predated, the
latter far more likely. Two of my
favorite singers, and the most beautiful
blues in the yard, lost in one week.
I would say that I would bet June is
THE month that the most bird nests are
predated in the United States. Begging
juv. Chipping Sparrow around. Heard a
Yellow-throated Vireo, but it went
though yard quickly. Eurasian
Collared-Dove singing, if you can
call that that, out back. Please
go away.
June 11 ~ A low of 71F is nice, if
only it could do that all summer, we
would be fine. Clear so go straight
to the warmup. Sure a lot less bird
singing going on out there already.
Plants look better today.
I see a couple FOY Texas Bindweed
(a smaller magenta morning glory)
flowers opened. Some skippers like
it, will keep eyes out, there have
been almost no skippers this year.
Never seen anything like it in 20
years here. The cumulative toll of
15 of last 20 years in drought, as
well as much of the 90's before
that. You can only have so many bad
years in a row, or so close together.
Had a Skipper land on my knee after I
wrote the above about skipper scarcity.
It was my FOY Clouded! Should complain
more about the bad conditions, obviously.
At 3 p.m. on front porch it was 91F,
so a few dF higher in the sun. About
5:p another thundercell (!) found us
and in about 45 minutes dropped about
42mm more of holy rain! About 1.7"!
WEEWOW! An incredible 3.5" in the
last three days! A week ago, studying the
weather forecasts, you would have never
guessed it. Couple Chucks in a calling
duel over and up the draw not to far.
Either yesterday or today we hit the
14 hour daylength mark. We will only
add a couple minutes and change before
it turns around.
June 10 ~ Pre-dawn we had another
thundercell go over! Apparently we
have an over-performing upper-level
low that seemed to me to be fairly
disregarded, until it couldn't
be. It is always OK to wake the
drought-stricken with rain. The low
was a chilly 66F, which felt amazing.
It was another INCH of rain! We have
now 1.8" (45 mm) with the .8 last
night and this inch. This was so badly
needed. It is parched out there.
Had a neat moth land on my hand, so
no way to come inside for camera and pic.
Heard an Orchard Oriole sing a bit
early, poorly, so surely that first
spring male I saw a few times recently.
Also heard a Golden-cheeked Warbler
chipping, and zzeet notes from the
Black-n-white. No ad. ma. Blue Grosbeak
to be heard. Aaaaaarrrrggghhh! Male
Painted Bunting on seed out office
window, I suppose consoling me. What
do they think? They were watching it
sing every day too, and know it was
in the middle of nesting like it is.
The Rio Grande Leopard Frogs are roaring.
A small sphinx moth buzzed me whilst
I was smoking my pipe.
June 9 ~ Low about 74F, low stratus
held heat, but kept sun away early.
And which lasted most of day, we were
a few dF cooler than yesterday. The
bad news is I did not hear the ad. male
Blue Grosbeak all day today, or yesterday.
The sudden departure probably means its
nest was predated. Major bummer. I heard
a poor quality song that was surely the
blue headed first spring male that has
also been around. But the ad. male is
gone. Disappearing mid-cycle is either
nest predation, or it got predated.
Bummer. Heard Eastern Bluebird out there
in morning. Kathy saw the Cuckoo almost
come into bath but it chickened out. A
Black-n-white came in. Study of the pics
show it to be a first spring male, surely
the one I have been hearing sing lately.
A Yellow-throated Vireo made some splash
bathing dives at the birdbath. Saw a female
Hooded-Orchard Oriole there briefly too. A
big and welcome surprise was a fairly
unpredicted thundercell between 9 and
10 p.m. that dropped .8 of an inch
(20 mm) of precip here~ And took
15-20 dF off the temps in short order!
RAIN! It smelled soooo good. Sounds
like the Barking Frogs are thrilled.
June 8 ~ The low about 72F was great.
Dreamy after the hun+ heat indexes.
Clear and hot early. At 4 p.m. on the
front porch 96F, so a hun in the sun.
Just two weeks or so to solstice and the
longest day. Of course climatalogical
summer is here as of June 1, and it
feels like it. In morn heard Great
Crested and Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.
Birds were the same otherwise, nothing
new or different. Tis the season to
hide inside in front of a fan. No
flowers out there save what we planted
and water. Still Lysides and Queens,
the odd Sleepy Orange and Red Admiral,
but not much else. Kathy saw a teneral
damselfly in the cattails of the tub pond.
Which could mean there was an emergence
there!?!
This is a male Yellow-breasted Chat.
They sing all day and night, but the
noises are often not very 'song-like'.
Honks, chatters, whistles, squawks, all sorts
of sounds, many not very avian sounding.
They are in their own family, related
to nothing closely, a one-off gene pool.
Can be nearly common in riparian habitats
along the river corridor. Upperparts are
olive, this photo in shade under overcast.
They are the only species I have seen
take Red Harvester or Leaf-cutter ants here.
We sometimes have duelling counter-singing
constests, one on either side of yard, because
one is not enough of a racket.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
June 7 ~ Low about 74F with no morning
low stratus from the Gulf. So, hotter
faster. Our big old male Mulberry tree
has leaves turning yellow and dropping.
The drought is bad. Kathy flushed a
feral cat out of the front porch flowers
where Chats go daily. Town run and a
park check. Best was my FOS Bullock's
Oriole, which is actually pretty rare in
the park (LTA-less than annual). Surely
an unmated bird moving around. Acadian
Flycatcher still there singing. A
Yellow-throated Warbler sang a song I
never heard. The first half was our
normal (abnormal) song here, but finished
with an accelerating trill recalling
Wilson's Warbler. Weirdest Y-t
Warbler song I ever heard. Some Swift
and Checkered Setwing and a Red Saddlebags
in dragonflies. Something at least.
The Sneezeweed is finishing up blooming.
Chimney Swift and Purple Martin in town.
In that lot behind Big Ern's there
are singing Bell's Vireo and Summer
Tanager, both I suspect nesting. Rosie's
tacos are still just as good as ever. At
4 p.m. five local WU stations were reporting
98 to 102F. Just before 5 p.m. I spent
10 min. outside, 96F on shady front porch.
Singing were Roadrunner, Chat, Carolina
and Bewick's Wren, and Indigo Bunting,
House Finch, amd Cardomal. Heard Summer
Tanagers calling, and probably the
Black-n-white Warbler. The hummers kept
fighting as usual, and the Red-tailed Hawk
is still begging over at the river.
Kathy thought she had a Beezlebub Bee-eater
Robberfly.
June 6 ~ Clear for a change this morn,
and low about 72, but likely dipped more
after I looked. A local WU station had
71F and KERV a 70F. Didn't last but
a few moments though. Saw 95F on cool
front porch, surely a hun in the sun, and
hotter on the patio. Was a desk day as
Thursdays are for me. Kathy late in day
saw the juvie Black-n-white Warbler come
into bath again. That slaving away in
the kitchen really pays off, eh?! I have
yet to see it, she has seen it four times.
Did see a male Summer Tanager come into
the tub pond. The Money-Penny-Dollar-whichever-wort
is doing great in the pond this year, and
the Cattails not too bad. Still 90F at 9 p.m.!
A big sphinxmoth buzzed me after dark when
I was smoking my (tobacco) pipe outside.
Manduca sized.
June 5 ~ A low of 80F is too dang high.
Humid with low stratus as recently. Not
exactly fresh feeling out there. Mid-day
I heard the zzeet of a warbler, Black-n-white
is most likely zzeeter now, but it sounded
kinda Yellow to me. Did not see anything
so just a zzeeting warbler sps. Another
cooker of a day, at 3 p.m. 94F on the cool
front porch in the shade. Near a hun in
the sun, and heat index over that. Just
three months to go. Hope we make it.
If the morning stratus holds it is bearable
to noonish. If you don't mind being
sticky. Birds were the same gang, heard
the Yellow-throated Warbler out there.
Love the dedication to singing of Indigo
Bunting. They are indefatigable. Kathy
had a Setwing on the clothesline, likely
a Swift, the default yard setwing.
June 4 ~ A low of 77F does not bode well.
Overcast early to about mid-morn. I heard
a begging juvenlie warbler uphill in the
live-oaks behind us. Sounded Golden-cheeked
or Black-and-white juvie (which are indistinguishable
to me), but was absolutely not Yellow-throated.
About 3 p.m. Kathy saw the juv. Black-n-white
Warbler at the birdbath again, third day
in a row. Also then it was over 100F, local
WU stations showing 101-103F. Heat index is
worse. I saw 98F on the cool front porch.
Heard three coooers out there: Roadrunner,
Cuckoo (Y-b), and Ground-Dove. In the
afternoon, it sure gets quiet in the heat.
Did not cool down as usual. At 11 p.m. it
was still 90F!
June 3 ~ Low of 76F, overcast and humid.
Nothing has changed. Kathy spotted a
warbler at the bath which I got bins on
too. It was a first-spring female
MacGillivray's Warbler! Only Mac
we saw all spring, my first June date
for one, and surely my latest spring
migrant warbler date. Wished I would
have grabbed camera instead of bins!
Late morn the first-spring male Blue
(headed) Grosbeak came into bath quickly.
It has new blue feathers on throat and
breast it did not have a couple weeks
ago. The blue of head is working its
way posteriorly. Heard Bell's Vireo
again around perimeter of yard. When
I go out on front porch the Chat often
flushes out of the thick foliage all
around it. Probably grabbing some of
the Lyside Sulphurs on the Lantana and
Blue Mist Eupatorium. Still a handful
of Queen on the Blue Mist too.
June 2 ~ Low of 75F, overcast and humid.
Will be low 90's F, but heat index
around 100F, a bit oppresive to me. In
the very frustrating department in morn
I had a singing warbler outside I could not
see. which I think it was a Bay-breasted
after coming in and listening to some songs.
It was one of the types I told Kathy it
might be before I looked the songs up.
It went through fairly quickly, I heard
about six examples of song very well.
Late in day Kathy saw the juvenile warbler
at the bath again, it is a Black-and-white.
So out of the nest and wandering on own
now. Otherwise it was the same gang.
June 1 ~ OMG, in a month we will be
half way through the year! Low about
72F, KERV had some upper-60's F
from rain-cooled air. We heard a Bell's
Vireo singing from bed with that first cup
of coffee. Mid-morn a Great Crested Flycatcher
was trolling around, surely an unmated bird.
It was encouraged to leave by the courage
of an Ash-throated Flycatcher. After
7 p.m. Kathy saw a juvenile warbler at
the birdbath, Black-n-white or Yellow-throated.
Just a couple Chucks in earshot, used to
always be a handful. Not hearing the
Common Nighthawk either so wondering if
they have come in, counted bugs, and
moved on to nest elsewhere as they have
a couple times in some recent drought
years. Like the Scissor-tails do.
~ ~ ~ May summary ~ ~ ~
It was on the hot and dry side. The
1.6" of rain we had south of town
a couple miles is less than half normal
for the month. The drought stage is
stilll D2 (severe), and water is still
two feet from going over spillway at the
park pond. Certainly some record breaking
high temps were had as well, and lows were
often in the mid-70's F.
In odes (dragonflies and damselflies)
there were hardly any to be found. A
few at the park pond, but it is dismal
for them in general. Now, I cannot believe
how abundant they were 15-20 years ago
when we were in a wet cycle. I used to
see more in my yard in a day, than I see
in a month here now. I am seeing none
in the yard. I saw 5 species this month.
Butterflies were also slow, with just
the most common things, but in very low
numbers save Lyside Sulphur. I count
about 36 species for the month, of the
statistically most expected types.
You need spring rains, ergo flowers, for
insects. March was a third of normal
and May less than half. Fairly cancelling
out that April was average.
Birds were about as expected for being
way down overall in drought springs.
The later migrants go through, especially
flycatchers, the later breeding arrivals
fill in, and the early breeders get the
first set of young out of the nest in May.
Though I wasn't out scouring as usual,
a meager 53 species was all I saw in May.
Far fewer warblers then when in wet cycles
for instance, here in yard and at the park.
Fewer migrants of all sorts. Also no rain
ponds so no shorebirds. We are being
overflown. The numbers of breeders are way
down too.
The Couch's Kingbird continuing
since March is great. A three-day
Catbird in yard was nice. A Yellow-bellied
Flycatcher calling at park the 17th
was good as easy to miss any spring here.
The Acadian Flyc. is back on territory
at the park again this year. Did not
see Am. Redstart or Black-throated Green
Warbler, any Grosbeak but Blue, missed
Olive-sided Flyc., easy stuff we should see.
Also not seeng Zone-tailed Hawk as usual.
Turkey Vulture are all but absent around
our place. It is weird out there.
~ ~ ~ end May summary ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ archive copy May update header ~ ~ ~
May ~ Started off on the 1st with FOS
Least Flycatcher. Late on the 2nd a FOS
Catbird was calling. May 3 Kathy saw a
FOS Wilson's Warbler at the bath.
At the park I saw FOS Northern Waterthrush,
FOS Great Crested Flycatcher, and at the
UvCo 354 pasture a few FOS Dickcissel.
Three tardy FOS on May 4 were Orchard Oriole,
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, and Chimney
Swift. A Catbird was here the 6th. A
Catbird was at our place May 6-8. On the
8th, noonish a FOS Swainson's Thrush
took a bath. May 9 was my FOS Baltimore
Oriole. The 10th brought a FOS Eastern
Wood-Pewee. My FOS Western Kingbird was
on the 11th in yard. A FOS Warbling Vireo
was singing here the 15th. A couple FOS
at the park the 17th were Empidonax, about all that
is left that has not gone through already.
One calling Yellow-bellied Flycatcher high
in the Cypresses, and on the island a singing
Willow Flycatcher, in the willows. The
first Bank Swallow I have seen in a few years
here flew over yard southbound on May 24.
A singing Couch's Kingbird was in our
big dead Pecan on the 30th.
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ end archive copy May update header ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Jan. 1 through June 30, 2024 will be here: Bird News Archive XXXXI
2024 - Jan. through June
(Jan. through May so far)
~ ~ ~
Bird news July 1 through Dec. 31 is here: Bird News Archive XXXX
July through December, 2023
January to June 2023 is now at:
Old Bird News 39 Bird News Archive XXXIX
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Links to all 19 years of archived bird news pages below.
Broken into 6 month increments. One day I'll quarter it
out by season as well, so all of each season are together,
perhaps making say, searching springs easier.
Odd numbered archives are January through June.
Even numbered archives are July through December.
(except a couple when the split missed, prolly due
to excessive amount of drivel in spring)
Here is a master index page of them:
Bird News Archives Index
Index page with links to all 'Old Bird News' pages.
Birds
Utopia Birds
Birding Sites
Bird List
Bird Photos
Bird Guide
Reports from Lost Maples
Winter Bird Count
Butterflies
Butterfly Photos
Butterfly News
Butterfly List
Rare Butterflies
Dragonflies
Critters, Bugs, & Stuff
Lost Maples
Garner State Park
Local Site Guide