~ ~ ~ and now for the news ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
June 2 ~ Low about 70F, just like June. The
low stratus here for the first four hours or
so. Kathy had a quick look at a male Golden-cheeked
Warbler in the Pecan over the bath. I might
have heard it chip across the road a minute
or two later. Now is the time for the post-breeding
wandering birds, and hopefully some juveniles.
Town run day. A Red-eyed Vireo was singing at
the 360 x-ing. The Acadian Flycatcher continues
singing at the park. Might be a pair. A baby
begging Cowbird was there but I did not see
what was feeding it. Eastern Wood-Pewee is
also still there and likely nesting. On Main
St. had a Zone-tailed Hawk, and across from
the store, a singing Yellow-throated Vireo.
Someone said water went over the spillway at
the park pond for two days. At least
there was some flushing. Later afternoon here
I saw my FOY Desert Checkered-Skipper on our
driveway Frog-fruit patch. Must be June.
June 1 ~ Low about 67F, overcast with the low
stratus the first few hours. Have not had
the Couch's Kingbird in a month but the
Lesser Goldfinch is still doing a good imitation.
The Yellow-throated Vireo has been around more,
maybe got a mate and is nesting in the corral?
Hearing begging House Finch, Cardinal, Lesser
Goldfinch, and Lark Sparrow fledglings.
Two big dove flushings were a couple dozen
White-winged, and obviously an unseen raptor.
Obviously unseen he said. The rest was the usual
cast of characters. A Red Admiral landed on my
leg early to start the butterfly list for the
new month. Still hearing the just-fledged
Red-tailed Hawk beg, for a month now, and the
parents have only been coming back every few
days if that with food.
~ ~ ~ May summary ~ ~ ~
Wettest month in at least a year, maybe two or
three. About 8" for us is fantastic and was
way beyond much-needed. We made it up to D2 for
drought stage, a big improvement. River is now at
normal bankful and park pond is filled to spillway
for first time in over a year. Temps were fine,
about average, no early major heat waves, and no
late freeze. March and April were below normal for
flowers, which continued in May, but we should get
a bit of bloom in June now.
Insects remain depressed from years of drought.
Very few dragonflies are out yet. Butterflies
are a bit better, but stlll way below normal
numbers. It will take a few wet years to catch
up and recover from a few years of extreme to
exceptional drought. Firefly numbers are down
too. Maybe saw 5-6 species of odes (dragonflies
and damselflies), pretty pitiful. Butterflies
are far below normal numbers so far, and we are
still scraping for some diversity. They were
about 30 species for the month, a very weak May.
Birds were fair but seemingly very depressed in
numbers overall. Both breeding species, and
transient passage migrants seemed down in numbers.
Fewest Nashville or Yellow Warbler of any spring
in the last twenty. Did not see Tennessee, Mourning,
Black-throated Green, or any Parula Warbler, Eastern
Kingbird, and other usually regular species. No
shorebirds since no flood ponds, and didn't
even hear any going over at night. Looks to be
about 90 species for the month locally.
Save one bird, nothing rare or unusual that we
saw though some others saw some goodies nearishby,
as at Lost Maples and Concan. Where armies of birders
in spring, they enjoy near daily coverage by lots of eyes
scouring miles of trails repeatedly. See ebird for
those reports. Our best bird was a brief glimpse
of a Hooded Warbler, which are far less than annual.
There were singles seen this spring at other local
birded spots like Junction, Lost Maples, and either
Concan or Park Chalk Bluff. We had three American
Redstart here which is a high total for a spring
in one spot here. A singing Rose-breasted Grosbeak
is always good, not a sure thing every year here.
Nothing at the park all spring is shocking to depressing.
In the woods there is no understory due to drought,
and what a difference it makes. One Catbird one
day in the Mulberries on the island was it.
Recapping precipitation by month this year so far:
Recall Dec. 22 was dry at .7 of an inch. For 2023:
Jan. had .65; Feb. 2.25"; March 2.5";
April 4.5"; and now May with about 8".
So a foot in April and May is awesome to astounding
considering the drought regimen we have been in.
We are at about 18" for the year Jan.-May now.
Hopefully this signals a change in regimen, from
the dry cycle to a wet one.
~ ~ ~ end May summary ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ back to the daily drivel ~ ~ ~
May 31 ~ Low about 67F, overcast, the usual
for the time of year. As we settle into
several months of climate sameness.
At least the real heat has not arrived yet.
We dodged most of it this spring so far,
a great side-effect of a rainy one. Dawn
chorus is starting for some at 6 a.m. now,
ya gotta get up early! Best alarm clock
there ever was. Can't beat nature.
Cardinal and Chat were mostest first, and
Chuck-will's-widow though the Chuck
is of course finishing its shift. White-eyed
Vireo, Summer Tanager, Indigo Bunting and
Ash-throated Flycatcher are all soon to
follow. Then add Carolina and Bewick's
Wren, and finally Painted Bunting which is
always at the tail-end of it all getting going.
Late in day got an ovipositing female Buckeye
for the monthly butterfly species list. Just
under the wire.
May 30 ~ An amazing rain-cooled 58F for a
low temp is great. KERV was below 60 from
midnight to 7 a.m., remarkable for the date.
They had 56F! Could well be the last of
that until September. Here we had instant
fog when the first bit of sun warmth hit
after dawn. With migration behind us the
wee bits of avian excitement here will be
mostly any breeding successes of our locals.
In butterflies saw Texan Crescent and Giant
Swallowtail, Gulf Fritillary and Sleepy Orange,
and one Gray Hairstreak on Tropical Sage.
The Am. Germander smells fantastic if you
stand by the big patch of it, has a real sweet
pea thing going on to my nose. Some of
the fast small gray E. Treehole mosquitoes
out now, the flip side of the double-edged
rain sword. Kathy heard an Eastern Wood-Pewee
over at the river at the end of the day.
May 29 ~ Low about 67F, mostly overcast.
High in low 80's, pretty nice for the
date. Had a couple Northern Rough-winged
Swallow go over, and later a couple Barn,
plus the daily Purple Martins. Saw my FOY
juvenile Cardinal. Cuckoo is in yard alot,
must be nesting very closeby. Still seeing
an Elada Checkerspot out front, besides the
usual Vesta Crescents. Still no skippers
yet seems unusual. Probably right after I
wrote that, a Texas Powdered-Skipper showed
up out front. Hopefully the efforts to
de-Aphid one of the Frostweeds worked
yesterday. The tallest one, had hundreds
on the top three leaves. One Ladybug was
nearby appearing gorged. From just after
6 p.m. to after 7 p.m. there was a thundercell
which dumped a half inch on us. This bumps
us over the 8" mark for the month here!
Near dusk a couple Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
flew over, whistling.
May 28 ~ Light showers from about 2-4 a.m.,
some thunder, and by dawn 17mm of holy precip.
About five-eighths of an inch. Low about 66F.
A bit damp out there. Great to be beating
the heat, while getting some water. We are
now just under 8" for the month, and have
chances this afternoon and evening for more.
One of the Frostweeds has a bunch of aphids
on it. Likely unrelated there was a Buprestid
beetle on it too. Saw my first couple flowers
of our Red Turkscap open, and the first Frog-fruit
flowers. Must be near June. One of the times
all the White-winged Dove flushed I caught a
glimpse of a raptor crossing the patio into
the corral. Expecting a Cooper's Hawk,
it did not appear to be one, it struck me as a
small Buteo. Uniform brown above, wings and
tail wrong shapes for an accipiter. Not a
Red-shouldered either. In the afternoon heat
(about 80F) a few butterflies out. I saw a
Giant Swallowtail, a Queen, a Questionmark,
a FOY Phaon Crescent on the Frog-fruit, and
a FOY Hackberry Emperor. All in a brief bit of
sun.
May 27 ~ About 68F for a low, overcast early,
then partly sunny. Got up to about 84F, a
nice late spring day. The big Memorial Day
opening weekend of summer. We will hide out
here and hopefully miss all the hominids. Did
have Yellow-throated Warbler sing a few weak bars
late in afternoon here. Yellow-throated Vireo
was around too. I hear Purple Martin every
day overhead but the nearest nesting I know of
is at the golf course across the river. Saw
a Questionmark probably laying eggs, on Hackberry,
and saw Elada Checkerspot again. The Am. Germander
is in full bloom and with those native bees on
it getting nectar. Dull green eyes, black and
white abdomen, fast and hyper-active, nectar
eating, not pollen gathering. Kathy got a
Cerambycid out of the window this evening. I
grabbed a docushot. Turns out to be another
Elytrimitatrix undata, of which we photo'd
one last year on May 21. So in the same week.
As in 'like clockwork'.
Methinks this is a Meloid, e.g., a Blister Beetle
(perhaps Nemognatha lutea), of which you can look but you
better not touch. Their bug juice burns, bad.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
May 26 ~ Maybe about 67F for a low. Anything
below 70 is great from mid-May to mid-September.
Very humid and wet out there, but no more precip
after yesterday afternoon's downpour. Did
the town run thingie. Looks like water was over
the 360 x-ing yesterday. One probably last check
for spring migrants, but sooo late down here
below 30N, not likely. I look anyway. The
354 Pecans had no migs, but still maybe
four Dickcissel singing along the road just
east of 187. Must be some females or they would
have left. No Kingbirds along the fencelines
for the 3 miles I checked, both ways. At the
park in town, the park pond is full and it
looks like water must have gone over the
spillway in the downpour yesterday. It is right
at the lip for the first time in about a year,
maybe more. No migrants there either, but the
Acadian Flycatcher is still singing on territory.
Maybe it has a mate? That would be great. It
is only an acre of decent forest. The island
is one again, also for the first time in a year.
The Eastern Wood-Pewee are likely nesting just
north of the park woods in the tall Cypresses
along river.
May 25 ~ Low maybe 66F briefly, partly
cloudy and humid. Nothing new or different
in birds or butterflies. But some weather in
the afternoon whence some NW flow brought a
serious thunder cell which was completely
unpredicted. Finally a NOAA update said,
as you hear thunder, 'the models totally
missed this'. Our rain chances were none
this morning. Only Del Rio was to get some this
evening. Between 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. we got
a whopping 2"! Kathy saw ball moss
flying sideways off the trees. That stuff
is pretty well anchored. It doesn't
just blow or brush off a tree. There was
a, well, to use modern rocket science parlance,
an unscheduled partial disassembly of one
of the PVC greenhouses. They are unglued,
so like legos, snap it right back together.
Pretty sure we were hearing the river roar
for a brief bit around 3 p.m., wow. Means
it was so much so fast that lots ran off.
The drought monitor update today has us
at D2, and the rest of the county save
a, our, triangle here at the NE corner is
at D1 now. Much of Bandera Co. made it
into D2 now too, the western two-thirds
or so. At least the hydrology is showing
signs of improvement. We are now at or
over 7" (!) for the month here.
The biology will still take years of
good times to recover.
May 24 ~ Low about 64F, party cloudy
early, but not for long. I think the
Summer Tanager might be nesting in the
big dying Pecan right out front. They
are in it, in one particular area, an
inordinate amount of time. Great to have
it and Blue Grosbeak using the tree as
a singing post. Weird how the Indigo
Bunting eats here, but only sings out of
the yard across road, except sometimes
in flightsong as it leaves. There is
an Eastern Phoebe around a bit. One of
the Chats used the tub pond again for
a bath. Some waxwing briefly out front.
Lots of Tropical Sage coming up strong
due to all the rain, which is great as
blooms until November. Hummers and some
butterflies love it.
May 23 ~ Clear and mid-60's in
wee hours, upper 60's and overcast
by dawn. The gulf flow got here. One
Cardinal was singing just after 6 a.m.,
sunup is about 6:40 right now. A nice
late spring day. Less than a month to
solstice. Only adding a minute per day,
and its dropping fast now. Mid-day there
was a FOS calling Alder Flycatcher in the
yard Pecans. Might be the last FOS I get
this spring? Unless a Yellow-bellied shows
yet. Good look at a Tawny Emperor butterfly.
Got up to low 80's F, and humid.
May 22 ~ Low of 60F is great for the date.
Partly cloudy, and wet out there. A day
of drying will do it well. The birds
made short work of that first morning seed
toss. No migrant motion, methinks that
party is all but over. Maybe we will
get a late Empidonax yet. I would say
it was probably the weakest spring migration
I have seen here. Numbers of Yellow and
Nashville Warbler, our two most common
migrant warblers, were way below normal
and usual. I did not see a Black-throated
Green Warbler (though Kathy probably had
a quick glimpse of one). Starting to
seem I missed Mourning Warbler as well.
Those two I may have missed once each
in the prior 19 springs. Most years
we see multiples of both. Did see a
nice fresh Questionmark butterfly at the
mulch pile out back. A couple Black-bellied
Whistling-Duck flew over early evening.
There have very few the last few years
of drought except at the ranch where
they feed corn to domestic geese, a
few miles East of town. Lots of the
usual stock tanks, and river, have been dry.
May 21 ~ Overnight some drizzle and
light rain, maybe a tenth of an inch
or so by dawn. Was near 70F much of
night but nearing dawn dropped to 66F
or so, and began lightly raining. Have
biz work at the desk to do anyway. It
kept coming until about 3 p.m., by which
time we were at about 1.25"! Later
I measured 34mm. After yesterday's 17mm,
makes 2" for the weekend event!
Pretty soppy out there. And green.
No migrant motion detected, and not much else
either. Just the closestby gang of breeders
was it. A fine bunch they are anyway, even
if wet. Saw an Olive-Juniper Hairstreak on
the Lantana. We are going to have good June
flowers, and chiggers. And second broods
from everything that does that, which is
most of it. Maybe hit 70F about 4 p.m., wow.
A couple Barn Swallow bolted over late.
They flew like migrants on the move, not
local birds. The sun broke out a bit at
last hour plus of light which inspired a
great round of singing from everything to
finish the day. Barred and Great Horned
Owl were calling after dark.
May 20 ~ The front and rain got here
after midnight, woke us up with thunder
after 2 a.m., and a half-inch of precip.
Low was about 63F and felt great. A bit
more rain over morning brought us to
about 17mm for a total. A little over
five-eighths of an inch. Outstanding.
For drought, we are now in D2, with D3
just east of town. Heard the Orchard
Oriole again this morn first thing.
Some begging House Finch around, been so
for a week, in case I forgot to note it.
No migrant motion around yard. Kathy saw
a snake in the flower bed, of which I only
saw plant motion as it jumped. Did not
sound like the usual Ribbonsnake, fairly
uniform with no bold pattern or color. Was
probably a new species for the yard had
we been able to ID it. Might have only
reached about 74F here today. Hearing
the pair of Cuckoo (Yellow-billed here)
moving around and calling back and forth,
through yard a couple times or more daily.
Great birds to see, and hear regularly.
Elada Checkerspot (Texola elada), ventral. Of the two long thin curved orange
lines, the one on right is the outer margin of hindwing. Everything left
of that is the forewing ventral. Dorsally similar to common Vesta Crescent,
orange and finely checkered with black.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
May 19 ~ Overcast, low about 69F, muggy.
The warm day in front of the cold front
tonight. This morn Kathy found the Sphinx
moth I heard buzz my ear two evenings ago
(Wed. night) here at the desk. I told
Kathy when it happened so she would keep
her eyes out for it. We saw no trace all
day yesterday or eve when a light is on.
Got docu shots of it and returned it to
the big ol' world. Hope it does not
mind a Pecan trunk, I did not have a Walnut
tree handy. Not positive, but I think a
Walnut Sphinx, of which I see one almost
every year so are probably fairly common here.
An Orchard Oriole singing out by road early
sounded like a first-spring male to me.
Town run day. No migrants at the 354 Pecans.
No E. Kingbirds on the fencelines, or any
Scissor-tails for that matter. The park
had no transients either. But the Acadian
Flycatcher was still singing. A few times
I heard it trill, which is usually only a
sound I hear when there are two. Maybe it
attracted another? Would be great if they
nested there. Otherwise pretty slow, and
water still near a foot below the spillway.
A fair bit of Sneezeweed now in bloom. Saw
my first bit of Dodder at the 360 x-ing.
On Justicia as nearly always here, Am.
Water-willow.
Our Blue Mistflower Eupatorium has again
been ravaged by caterpillars. I still have
not figured out which beastie is doing it,
but they have destroyed it. The last two
years we dodged the bullet on them, our luck
runneth out. In a week, all but shot. It
is about as big a bummer as can be, magic
butterfly flowers that they are. Got up
to about 88F this afternoon. The cold front
sounds good tonight. Hope we get wet.
The Blue Grosbeak put in a long singing
session from the big Pecan early evening.
May 18 ~ A low of 60F was great. Clear,
and not a sign of any bird migration.
An excellent dawn chorus is the thing now.
Sure would be nice to see that Coral Snake
in the sun and open. Before it got too
hot I changed the oil filter on the trucklet.
This Mazda is one you have to get on the
ground and reach up from below. Made
me realize the last bunch of cars we have
had were all from the top removals. Saw
what was likely a Goatweed Leafwing blast
past. In the mid-80's F at 3 p.m.,
feels like summer is coming. Some clouds
arrived from the west later afternoon and
kept it from getting hotter. Supposed to
get a cold front and rain tomorrow night.
Finally about 7 p.m. I had a transient
migrant bird, a Lincoln's Sparrow,
which is the first in a week, and a nice
tardy date. A few Waxwing still around.
The adult Red-tailed Hawk have just been
coming to feed their fledge every few days
or so, for a couple weeks now.
May 17 ~ Clear and sunny for a change.
Low was a fantastic 58-59F. Nearing the
last of that for several months. Got up
into the mid 80's F in the afternoon.
Good for drying out. Heard a C. Nighthawk
before sunup. Did not see any passage
transients, no migration motion. The party
is about over. Neat are some Scissor-tailed
Flycatcher stopping in the big (dying) Pecan
in front yard, nearly daily it seems as they
make rounds. It does not seem they are set
on a site or they would be on eggs already.
Noisy is great in this case. They were
there an hour, saw the female sally out
on a sortie to take a hapless passerby.
Pick my tree, pick my tree! In early eve
while sun still up I saw a Coral Snake
was on the sidewalk on side of house.
It saw me and bolted. They sure are
ginchy about people. It was a couple
feet long, like the one I last saw here
about a year and a half ago. Like skunk
or Ringtail, they live here, and you never
see them.
At dusk the pair of Scissor-tails were around.
The male dashing about I presume impressing
the female. I have mentioned before how
they can make a mechanical noise with their
tail feathers. A whooshing fluctuating or
reverberating sound somewhat akin to a nighthawk
boom, though made with tail feathers not wings.
And it sounds like woo woo woo woo woo. Usually
I detect this when a male is doing full-360
circle loop displays. But, they can also do
it in level flight, though it would take a high
speed camera to figure out what exactly is
going on. The male flew low over my head
at highest speed and accelerating. It
zigged and zagged hard left and right, 90 deg.
square-cornered turns, as it went by gaining
speed, already at blazing (Scissor-tail) speed,
and the tail did its quavering whoosing sound
as it cut back and forth left and right hard.
It seems like distal part of abdomen is being
quivered as it does this. The sound has an
odd flutter or wow to it (in audio terms).
It was slightly gaining altitude, but for
the most part this was nearly level flight.
So they do not need to dive for speed to
make this mechanical sound with their tail
feathers. They can do it under their own
power In fairly level flight. This is the
kind of thing you experience when you spend
time around species, instead of just seeing
them. Actual old-school bird watching.
May 16 ~ A low of 64F, and no more precip
after the late afternoon showers yesterday.
Nice and wet out there. Time to start
facing facts, most of migration is past us
by mid-May. We get some stragglers, mostly
first-srping birds, and some flycatchers
the last half of month, but the bulk of
the push is past us, by early May really.
First and second weeks if lucky we get a
last couple splashes of some fallout when
weather to ground them. But aside of those
couple days it is already markedly slower
for transients. After mid-month it gets
real thin real quickly. I saw no transients
today. Two beetles were FOY and the best
beasts. A Dicerca Buprestid (cf. obscurus),
and an Eyed Elaterid, both of which are regular.
Also saw a Questionmark butterfly. In the
afternoon we did get some more rain, light,
but for a few hours and totalled about
14mm, just over a half-inch. We had .75
yesterday, and 2" a couple days before
that, so are over 3.25 for the event the last
few days. Outstanding! Did get up into
the low 80's F before the rain got here.
May 15 ~ We might have hit 69F briefly.
Great dawn chorus out there at 6:30 a.m.,
it is roaring. I don't know how
anyone can sleep through it - LOL. Had
a Dickcissel fly over calling early.
I did some weed-whacking for an hour
just before it got wet out there. Late morn to
about 1 p.m. some rain cells found us and
we got another half-inch to add to the
total. Every bit helps. And we don't
have to water. Seeing 68F at 1:30 p.m. is
amazing. I see an Elada Checkerspot out
there, probably the one I got a great
underwing (ventral) pix of last week.
A fair bit of Tropical Sage and Am. Germander
are both opening flowers now right off
the front porch. There were a couple
more rain cells that gave glancing blows
later afternoon, another quarter inch.
So .75 for the day total. A big win.
But no migrants.
May 14 ~ The rain moved east and we had a
dry partly clear night, with an amazing low
of 58F! A House Wren was singing in the
stick piles out front in the morn and
afternoon was the only migrant in yard.
After breakfast late morn we checked the park.
No transient migrants there but a couple
trollers. My FOS Acadian Flycatcher was
singing in the woods, where they have been
territorial in some rare years for a couple
or few weeks in past, but yet to see breeding
there. A Great Crested Flycatcher was also
up in the woods. Some baby Carolina Wren
and Yellow-throated Warbler out of nest,
heard an Eastern Wood-Pewee which may nest.
Another Great Crest was out front of the
park on Cypress St., a Bell's Vireo
at the deco garden at park entrance, and
a Dickcissel across 1050 in the pasture
with Mesquites. At the 354 Pecan patch also
no transient migrants. Anything grounded
must have bolted when it cleared last night.
Still some singing Dickcissel. A few singing
Bell's Vireo, one Red-eyed singing,
a Great Crested Flycatcher, Yellow-billed
Cuckoo, heard Scissor-tailed Flycatcher,
Painted Bunting, Chat, all breeders. At
the 360 x-ing there were no migrants in
the Pecan patch there either. A few singing
breeders were Eastern Wood-Pewee, Yellow-throated
Warbler, and Vireo, Red-eyed and White-eyed
Vireo, Blue Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, and
heard Chimney Swift overhead, plus heard
baby Carolina Chickadee. There was some
FOY Cedar Sage and Rock Flax in bloom there.
May 13 ~ It started raining around 10 p.m.
yesterday evening (last night) and severe
thunderstorms went over in a couple rounds.
So very wet and mucky out there today. Low
was about 61F and might have reached 72F when
some diffused sun tried to poke through.
We got a whopping TWO inches! Awesome!
Despite it being World Migratory Bird Day,
it was dead for transient passage migrants
through yard all day. Though of course lots
of our breeding species are migratory and only
here a few months to nest.
After 6 p.m. late in day Kathy had a quick
look at a female Am. Redstart leaving the bath.
I was out looking for it in yard and a FOS
Broad-winged Hawk flew over very low. I do
not get them every spring, so a LTA, and good.
Saw some FOY Scarlet Pea flowers along the driveway.
Took advantage of the soft ground and pulled maybe
50 Malta Star Thistle in the driveway. Shoulda
grabbed gloves on the way. I presume it serves
some purpose, in Malta. Saw my FOY Pincushion
Daisy out back. Kathy said she saw some Blue-eyed
Grass flowers two days ago (the mini-micro Iris).
After midnight when I laid down I discovered I
had harvested the chigger from hell out there.
This is a female Lazuli Bunting. Not sure we
have a female pic up so here ya go. I suppose
somewhat sparrowish in appearance. There is just
a bit of blue edging on wing and tail feathers.
A vestige of the males breastband is present. The
wingbars are broad, not narrow as in female Indigo
if or when they show them.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
May 12 ~ A low of 72F is not very low.
Was clear at midnight, at dawn overcast
and very muggy. A major rain event progged
to be on tap for the weekend, starting tonight.
One of those late spring somewhat stationary
lows that pour for a few days. We could
use a foot which would go a long way to
catching us back up to nearish normal.
Not to mention a couple shorebird flood
ponds for anything late going over.
Town run. On 354 there are still three
singing Dickcissel just east of 187.
Only migrant at the Pecan patch was one
female Yellow Warbler. At the park in
the Mulberries on the island in the woods
there was my FOS Catbird. Great to not
miss that this spring. Did not see any
Eastern Kingbirds on fencelines and so
starting to worry about missing them this
spring. Maybe one more week with chances.
When I returned, right after I got out of
car I thought sure I heard a couple squeaks
of a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and then nothing.
Saw a fair bit of Coreopsis in bloom, were
a few a week ago, and my first of the year
flowers for Sneezeweed and Mexican Hat.
May 11 ~ Low of 70F with some mist on it.
Not much for migrant motion. An Orchard
Oriole early, a Willow Flycatcher on corral
fence, and later a heard Yellow Warbler.
Otherwise just the breeders, which since I have
not given a rundown lately... Blue Grosbeak,
Indigo and Painted Bunting, Yellow-breasted Chat,
White-eyed Vireo, Cardinal, Ash-throated
Flycatcher, Eastern Bluebird, Carolina Chickadee,
Black-crested Titmouse, Bewick's Wren,
Yellow-billed Cuckoo, House Finch, Lesser
(Black-backed) Goldfinch, Chipping, Lark, and
Field Sparrows, (edit- add White-winged, Mourning,
and E. Collared Dove), are most of the closest
yard-adjacent stuff. Further away I hear Vermilion
Flycatcher, Yellow-throated Warbler, Great Crested
Flycatcher, Yellow-throated Vireo, Ladder-backed
and Golden-fronted Woodpecker, and the begging
baby Red-tailed Hawk. Most days seeing some
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher and Caracara. Two
species nesting in yard last 8-9 years but we
have recently lost them are Carolina Wren and
Eastern Phoebe. And too many Black-chinned
Hummingbird. One Carolina Wren just found us
and seems to be hanging a bit so far. Edited
to add: an additional five nocturnal species
are present calling nightly: Eastern Screech-,
Barred, and Great Horned Owl, plus Common
Nighthawk and Chuck-will's-widow.
It seems the Ruby-throated have mostly all
cleared out already. Some years some seem to
stay and breed, not apparently this year, or
last. Likely not enough gnats flying in drought
times. I think there has been a wave of the
first crop of juvenile hummers the last prior
week and change. They were real thick for
a bit over a week, and now thinner.
May 10 ~ Was clear and about 60F at midnight,
overcast and misting at 65F at dawn. Another
tenth of an inch of precip. From the desk
early heard a couple measures of song and then
chips from an American Redstart, but didn't
see it when I went out, and no more audio clues
to help me find it. After 10 a.m. there was a
FOS Warbling Vireo singing around the yard. I
do not get one every spring, so LTA - less than
annual, and a good bird. They are surprisingly
scarce here. Heard a Yellow Warbler later in day.
Begging baby Red-tailed Hawk for several days
now, about 5 maybe. Sounds like another year
with just one young, third in a row. Not a
replacement rate. Heard some juvenile Eastern
Bluebird calls, sounds a couple of them got out
of the nest. Kathy heard an Eastern Wood-Pewee
calling over in the draw at dusk. Had a great
Common Nighthawk boom very closeby at twilight.
May 9 ~ A bit after midnight some thunder
cells found us and I see this morn we got
about an inch in an hour. Was lots of
lightning. We also had a 60F low from it!
Which was almost as good as the water.
Hope some birds got knocked down, but it
was already cloudy all over all day so
stuff was probably just moving on the
ground anyway. Just hope something finds
the house, since work to do at the desk.
Always make sure the drip is going good.
The drip is your best friend. It does not
work as well when it is too drippy out.
As today was here. From noonish to 3 p.m.
we added another half inch, so 1.5" now.
One Yellow Warbler was my migrant haul for
the day. Good thing there are lots of
cool breeders around. Just 75F at 4 p.m.
is amazing.
May 8 ~ Some rain went by to the south
late in the evening yesterday, which just
spit on us, but we got a rain-cooled low
of 65F out of it. Which was great after
not feeling that for a few days. Dawn
chorus is going great at 6:30 a.m. already.
I saw 89F in the afternoon, a bit sticky.
No migrant motion through yard. We had
a few more spits of rain around dark,
there was some to east and north of us.
Had work to do at the desks anyway.
The Chat used the tub pond, it came up wet.
Cattails and the small lily doing well,
grabbed some Money-Dollar-Penny wort
and another un ID'd emergent the
other day as have to replace every spring.
Heard the Scissor-tails nearby again.
Two cuckoos calling lots back and forth,
surely the nearby nesting pair that is
often in yard. Not seeing daily in yard,
or hearing, the usual closeby Yellow-throated
Warbler. Nearest probably 400-500 feet from
here. I hear a distant Great Crested Flycatcher.
Hope it gets a mate, did not seem to last year.
May 7 ~ Low of 73F is not whatsoever low.
We were awakened by a couple less than
mile away lightning bolts at 5:30 a.m.,
but only got spit on for precip. Early
morn whilst sitting up in bed with first
cup of coffee I heard a Baltimore Oriole
outside, a FOS. Late morn an Opossum was
out back seeming to be hunting sunflower
seeds. It is missing much of its tail,
having only a 3-4" stub. Nothing to
hang with which would seem like a major
handicap for a prehensile-tailed Opossum.
Noonish there was a flock of ten or 12
Cedar Waxwing, first I have seen in a
couple weeks or more. Usually we get one
last little push early to mid May when the
Mulberries ripen. Maybe from birds that
wintered southward? I always get the sense
that the winterers depart, we have a couple
or few weeks with few to none in April, then
a wavelet shows up on the ripe berries. Or
are they the same, go somewhere else for a few
weeks, and return? Saw one female Yellow
Warbler depart the bath. Mid-afternoon Kathy
spotted our FOS Lazuli Bunting. A female
in the birdbath brushpile, of which I got a
shot I needed.
May 6 ~ Low maybe 70F if we were lucky.
Overcast and muggy Back to that again!
Late morn Kathy spotted our FOS American
Redstart at the birdbath. It was a first-spring
male. A Nashville came in between Redstart
visits. Otherwise a slow day for migration
motion, heard one Yellow Warbler go through
in afternoon. The rest was the breeders.
Got warm, about 88F or so in shade, a bit
steamy in the thick overcast. We have tons
of stuff to do here, so work it is. Hoping
the bath draws in more good stuff. The male
Indigo Bunting came in for a quick splash,
which it only very rarely does, but I was
unable to get a pic before a female Cardinal
flushed it, dernit. Painted is a daily user,
Indigo very rarely uses it, and Blue Grosbeak,
just about never. Usually eating enough
insects provides enough moisture for many
species. More seed eating requires more
water, so the difference is likely a clue
to differences in diet.
A pair of Eastern Phoebe prospected under the
eaves around the house and cottage a bit but
moved on. We have not had them in the yard
since we lost the resident pair that was here
8 years. Just a brief bird in passage or two.
I looked and the old nest is gone without
a trace. Without their maintanence it fell
off. I never saw them do anything to it,
but obviously they were keeping it glued to
the stone wall. Kathy had four Carolina
Chickadee at the birdbath at once, which
means the pair got two young fledged from
their first nesting of the season. A low
brood count, likely due to a lack of bugs.
This is a first spring male American Redstart.
The first black feathers of an adult start to
show in first spring. Note solid black over the
bill and in lores. Probably where a female would
first look to ID a male. A couple black feathers
on breast confirm it. Also note slightest salmon
tint to breast patch, not pure lemon yellow as tail
and wing. Some orange (adult male) feathers coming in.
My hypothesis is that first spring males do not
randomly molt adult feather tracts in, but first
molt in the ones that might lead to getting to be
able to breed this year. Which are those key feathers
a female uses to ID a male and give the bird a two-second
chance. First spring Blue Grosbeak get blue on head
first. Some first spring male Painted Bunting have
some salmon on underparts, others some blue in head.
Something to show the females they are a male. Black-capped
Vireo head molts in the black head at nape last, where
least likely to be seen and matter. And so on, a bunch
of examples exist.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
May 5 ~ Feliz Cinco de Mayo! Beer and tacos
seems an appropriate way to celebrate. ;)
No migrant motion through yard in the morn.
Two Lincoln's Sparrow were here already,
but getting latish, the two Clay-colored Sparrow
might have been around, had one a couple days ago.
Town run and nothing in the park woods either.
At the UvCo 354 Pecans there was one female Yellow
Warbler. Now 3 Dickcissel singing in the field
on north side of that road. I doubt they will stick
but so nice to hear now. A few Chimney Swift
over town, hardly any Barn Swallow and very few
Purple Martin it seems. Hopefully we will get
a weather system or two before migration is
over. Next couple weeks is last chance, much
if not most is already past us. Weather will
knock down all the tardy stuff at the uh, tail
end of it. Got hot this afternoon, I saw 91F
on cool front porch, was mid-90's F in the
sun. Uvalde had 99F, Hondo 97, Junction 98F.
A burner of a day, and with humidity. It's
wonderful, come on down. Summer starts early
here.
May 4 ~ Low of 67F is not very, overcast and
humid, better get used to it, just five months
of it ahead. Kathy heard a Common Nighthawk
first thing early. She had a male Yellow Warbler
mid-morn, then shortly before noon she saw
a warbler with a yellow cheek coming in above
bath, which disappeared without showing.
Either Golden-cheeked, or maybe more likely
now, a Black-throated Green. Which has been
unseen for us so far this spring. Normally
we get a few, or a handful. It looked like
3 male and 1 female Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
in a noisy gaggle in the big Pecan briefly.
Seemed 3 males competing for one female.
Which is not a good sign methinks. Mid-day
finally saw my FOS Bronzed Cowbird, which is
late for a FOS on them. After noon a male
and a female Painted Bunting bathed, a third
bird came in, also a greenie, was a first-spring
male, and the FOS of those for me. Still a
pair of Eur. Collared-Dove around, could do
without hearing them just fine. Got up to
about 85F in the later afternoon, then a
few sprinkles happened toward end of day.
Heard a couple Nighthawk booms, the FOS of
that. The new drought monitor report today still
shows us on the D3-D4 line, extreme to exceptional.
That big rain last week seems to not have even
dented the big D4 area that is the SE quarter
of the Edwards Plateau.
May 3 ~ Low about 64F, some clouds but not
socked in, partly sunny early. Ran to town
early, only a Nashville Warbler and a Common
Yellowthroat at the park, heard a Yellow
Warbler on 360 in the Pecans by the barn.
Here after 9 a.m. a Nashville and an
Orange-crowned Warbler hit the birdbath,
and after 10 a Yellow-billed Cuckoo called.
Quite oddly the male Blue Grosbeak came into
the birdbath which it essentially never does
despite nesting here for years. Also the
Chat came in but it is a daily bather.
A male Yellow Warbler made a quick stop too.
Auto focus could not grab the grosbeak in 7
tries. It is amazing how often it works so
incredibly poorly, the Canon Powershot autofocus.
Full frame bird and it grabs the sunny grass
highlight way in the back. Zooming in and
out to help it see the subject and try at
different focal lengths, to no avail.
Fortunately it came back again in the afternoon
and 1 of 7 more tries is usable. A pair of
Scissor-tails spent a few minutes atop the
big Pecan just before the day over. The pair
that has been prospecting in the area, and
which then are not settled in to a site yet.
They flew off towards the river.
May 2 ~ Overcast, gulf flow is back, low
about 64F. Probably two Yellow Warbler
went through yard. Both zzzeeted properly.
Not much for movement though. Was still
overcast and only 71F at 3 p.m., the cool
kept butterfly activity down too. It was
a wash of day in the yard. Kathy saw the
Carolina Wren late in day at the birdbath
again, we did not see it all day around
the house though. A greenie female Painted
Bunting was around. Thought I had a female
Indigo briefly as well. At dark the
Screech-Owl, and Chuck-will's-widow
were calling nearby.
May 1 ~ Dawn chorus is nearing a mild roar
at 6:45, many are starting about 6:30 now.
Had a warbler sing a few times that I only
saw in flight, not sure what it was, but good.
Often here when you get stuff moving on the
ground in the day, it is on the move and gone
as fast as you find it. Such as about 1 p.m.
when I had a Rose-breasted Grosbeak male. It
first called so I knew it was there and then
it sang. Their songs vary, this one was three
two-note phrases (structurally similar to Audubon's
Oriole, descending pairs, each lower than the prior),
which it did three times. I was lucky to be
outside when it happened! It then flew right
over my head from front yard toward the big
live-oaks on slope out back. Saw the rose pink
wing-linings. I do not see one every spring,
so always a treat, and even better to hear it
sing!
Saw the male Vermilion Flycather in yard.
Nice to not see it getting chased out by the
formerly resident Eastern Phoebe pair, which
we lost over a year ago (winter before this
past one). In the afternoon Kathy saw a
Carolina Wren in a brush pile, first one
here in near a month. Which took a long bath.
She also saw a greenie female Painted Bunting.
Then nearing last sun I finally saw my FOS
Common Nighthawk. Surely Kathy heard one a
few days ago.
~ ~ ~ April summary ~ ~ ~
We got some rain, which is the biggest news.
We had over 4" at our place, about 4.5!
Other local totals ran mostly 3-5" nearishby,
more further away. Four inches is a good wet
April. At D3 for (extreme) drought level at
end of month, but half was spent at D4 Exceptional
still. Park pond is still nearly a foot from
going over the spillway, which shows how low
the water table is. We should get some flowers
and bugs out of the precip though, and it helps
the trees get well-leafed out. We had a number
of 90F or warmer high temp days, but no freezes
and only a few lows in the 40's F.
I count 5 species of odes, dragonflies, this
month, a big uptick for this year, but way
down from recent modern April totals not even
a couple decades ago (over 20 sps.). Nothing
unusual, but nice to see a Springtime Darner
and a Pale-faced Clubskimmer. Only damselfly
were a couple un-ID'd tenerals one day.
Butterflies were 37 species, up a couple from
April. Prolly the last Falcate Orangetip and
Henry's Elfin of the year. The rest we
will still see more of. Nothing unusual,
spring is not the time for rare insects. It
is time to see what is popping out after winter
dormancy and another year of drought. A porch
light one night saw a fair response of moths,
enough to give hope after what it was like last
fall. A few June Beetles showed, the first few
Firefly late in month, and heard one Katydid one
night.
Birds were good considering overall they seem
way down in numbers. Lots of migrants showing
up is always great. There seem fewer of the
local residents, and there seemed fewer migrants
in general. Nashville Warbler which is our unit
of migration measurement here, the Nash, was way
down, again. No big wave of Painted Bunting like
last year, fewer Scissor-tails again, and so on.
Far fewer birds along the roadsides, even common
things like Lark Sparrow are less so. Mostly it
was the expected migrants, but great to see since
for most it has been six months or more since we
last saw them. I saw about 94 species, without
going anywhere but the park, besides here. If I
would have visited Lost Maples, a hundred was doable.
Best birds for me were a frustrating encounter
with a Hooded Warbler on the 30th, and a Couch's
Kingbird (likely a returnee) in late April.
Sylvia Hilbig had a few good birds in BanCo just
NW of town a bit. A male Yellow-headed Blackbird
(16th), a male Lazuli Bunting (17-18th), and
best, on the 24th a male Varied Bunting. No ponds
so no shorebirds, and I did not even hear any at night.
Maybe lots can tell how bad it is from the drought,
from the air, and is just bypassing or overflying
the area.
A few good birds were reported in ebird at Lost
Maples. Best was a photographed Gray Hawk, which
recall one was there a few Aprils back. Likely
the same bird. Some good warblers were found by
the near daily coverage of an army of eyes. Best
was a Cerulean, but also great were Prothonotary,
Canada, a Hooded, and early in month a Black-throated
Gray Warbler. A Varied Bunting was there late in
month. A Blue-winged Warbler was entered into
ebird from near Vanderpool. What a bunch of eyes
can do!
~ ~ ~ end April summary ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ archive copy April update header ~ ~ ~
April ~ Another month of FOS excitement started
on the 1st with a Summer Tanager calling at
last light and singing morn of 2nd. Calling at
dawn on the 4th was my FOS Chuck-will's-widow,
probably my earliest date here, a week ahead of
average. After a long dry spell for the dates,
a few FOS on the 14th were a female Hooded
Oriole here, in town some Chimney Swift, and at
the park, my FOS Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
(a pair). The 16th was my FOS Blue Grosbeak
and Yellow Warbler. The Hilbigs NW of town in
Bandera Co. had a Lazuli Bunting (17-18th) and
a Yellow-headed Blackbird (16th) this week. Good
birds here anytime you see them. On the 20th
we had our FOS Indigo and Painted Bunting, and
Wilson's Warbler, and an inch of rain. The
21st the park had FOS Red-eyed Vireo and Eastern
Wood-Pewee. At dark the 21st saw my FOS Firefly.
The 22nd I had FOS Least, and Great Crested flycatchers.
About 3" of rain in an hour pre-dawn on 23rd
was noteworthy. In BanCo NW of town Sylvia Hilbig
described a Varied Bunting on the 24th, and a
FOS Orchard Oriole on the 25th. On the 26th
my FOS House Wren was singing here, and a FOS
Yellow-billed Cuckoo called. There were a
couple Hooded Warbler nearishby this week,
singles at Concan and Lost Maples, always a
great bird locally. Late in day the 27th my FOS
Willow Flycatcher was out front singing a bit.
A Couch's Kingbird around our place 27-28th
so far could well be last years's territorial
bird back. On the 28th a FOS Swainson's Thrush
was at the park. The 30th we had a FOS Dickcissel
at the usual 354 pasture just east of 187. Also
there in the Pecan patch was a Hooded Warbler.
Late in day there a second check found a FOS
Bullock's Oriole.
~ ~ ~ end archive copy April update header ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ back to the daily drivel ~ ~ ~
April 30 ~ And so goes another month! A
third of the year now gone. We finished
with an outstanding low of 45F, KERV had
a 43F! Felt great! A large raptor flew
out of yard early I missed an ID though.
Saw a greenie, female Painted Bunting, FOS,
though I thought I saw one two days ago.
Heard a Yellow-billed Cuckoo in the corral.
Since we had a couple hours checked a couple
local spots for migrants.
On UvCo 354 a FOS Dickcissel which sang the
most pathetic atypical song I ever heard from
one. He will never get a mate singing like
that. Also there were a Nashville Warbler or
two, a Yellow Warbler, a Common Yellowthroat,
and a frustrating Hooded Warbler, which is a
rary locally. Kathy glimpsed most of it, I
heard it repeatedly call for a couple minutes
and saw it for a second in flight. Also there
was one Couch's Kingbird there. Breeders
were Bell's Vireo, Orchard Oriole,
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Blue Grosbeak,
Painted Bunting, and Summer Tanager, but no
Red-eyed or Yellow-throated Vireo, Great
Crested Flycatcher, or Eastern Wood-Pewee,
all of which are usualy there nesting. Then
we went to park for a check of the woods.
A couple Nashville and a Yellow Warbler,
and two Common Yellowthroat was it for
migrants. Nothing in the Mulberries.
Slow and quiet. Odes were a dozen or so
Dot-winged Baskettail along river edge,
a red one got away that was likely a Red
Saddlebags, single Green and Springtime
Darner above island.
On the Blue Mistflower mid-day here there were
a couple Queen, one Monarch, and a Mournful
Duskywing. Later afternnon saw my FOY snake,
a W. Ribbonsnake in yard. After dinner we
ran back over to the 354 Pecan patch hoping
to get a decent look at the Hooded Warbler
last hour of sun, to no avail. Did have a
FOS Bullock's Oriole. Oh well, we tried.
Heard a toad call a couple times, sounded like
a Gulf Coast to me.
April 29 ~ Wind blew from NW all night,
low was maybe 49F, KERV had 47F. Wow!
Calmed a little towards morning, but picked
right back up to 15-20 mph gusting to 30,
so unbirdable to me. Sure if I was on vacay
I would, but not just for the fun of it.
Heard my FOS Blue-headed Vireo singing in the
live-oaks uphill behind us. Also probably
a Wilson's Warbler sang too. It is a
little wind-sheltered when northerly. Got
more pics of the orange beetle still on the
Blue Mistflower, in sun, so much better than
yesterday's results under overcast.
Had to hold the stem still with one hand
the wind was blowin' so hard. I think
it is a Meloid, a Blister Beetle, of which,
you can look but you better not touch.
Here is something I virtually never see.
A Blue Grosbeak in the birdbath. They do not
even use it to drink, much less bathe. The color
of the wingbars in natural history terms is
called rufous, chestnut, or bay.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
April 28 ~ Was about 60F most of the night,
so nice and coolish, until about 7 a.m. when
the southerly gulf flow arrived and it shot
to 70F. Some sun in morn but mostly cloudy
by afternoon, might be rain overnight with
a front passing. Maybe migrants tomorrow?
Got up to at least 88F in the afternoon here,
and very humid. Some local WU stations were
showing 90F and higher. Summer is a comin'.
The front got here about 6 p.m. with a severe
line of thunderstorms, but there was one little
dry slot, you guessed it, at Utopia. We missed
the precip so far. Bandera and to NE got pounded,
and needs any water they can get worse than us.
Here in the morn around 10 a.m. there was a
Couch's Kingbird in the big (dying) Pecan.
No doubt what I heard yesterday eve calling
from the river. And likely a returnee of
one of the birds that were territorial last
year in the area here. Town errand and taco
run day. One spot with nice Pecans between
here and crossing has Indigo Bunting, Blue
Grosbeak, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Chat, Summer
Tanager, all singing at usual territory areas.
At the 360 x-ing there was a Common Yellowthroat
in the cattails left that the big rain runoff
didn't crush (half of them). At the park the
water is still just under a foot from going
over the spillway.
At the 354 Pecan patch I had my FOS Orchard
Oriole (Syliva Hilbig had one a few days ago),
and three Yellow Warbler. The mesquite is now
too tall and thick in the pasture on north side
of 354 and I heard no Dickcissel. Painted Bunting
and Bell's Vireo both there though. At
the park in town was a FOS Swainson's Thrush
singing in the Mulberry trees on the island in
the woods at north end. N.Rough-winged Swallow
over pond, Purple Martins high overhead, one
Great Blue Heron. A few of the breeders like
Yellow-throated Vireo and Warbler, singing
Red-eyed Vireo territorial there again, Summer
Tanager, White-eyed Vireo, the usual suspects.
A couple Blue Mistflower Eupatorium opened
today, followed quickly by the two fresh
Queen butterfly. Also a rusty colored beetle
showed up I don't know (which doesn't mean
much) but maybe got a docushot of it, hopefully
can get it in proper family anyway. Have seen it
before. Post frontal passage we have a high
wind advisory with gusts 35-45 mph possible.
Northerlies, won't be much moving into that.
April 27 ~ Front arrived about midnight.
All the precip was way north and east of us.
Low about 60F and N to NE winds. I heard
passerine migrants last night at midnight,
and this morning at 6 a.m., so there was
movement. Stuck at the desk here though.
No migrant detections in the morning as
last couple days when inclement, save one
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Weird not getting
much through the yard after hearing
migrants in the dark. Painted Bunting
singing in the yard again is nice to hear.
Saw 80F on the cool shady front porch,
was a few dF warmer in sun. Very dry so
quite nice. Finally about 7 p.m. a FOS
migrant, a singing Willow Flycatcher.
Thought I heard a distant Couch's
Kingbird over at the river and working
up it last hour of sun. In butterflies
saw a female Falcate Orangetip, a Questionmark,
and a Texan Crescent amongst more regular
expected things. Heard one short burst of
Katydid wing rubbing, the FOY.
April 26 ~ Another night flatlining, at
66F or so this time, some mist, mostly
just heavy overcast, chance of a shower.
Greenest it has been in over six months
out there. Big rains get seemingly instant
results this time of year. Saw 80F about
at 3 p.m. I see the first few not yet open
Blue Mistflower Eupatorium flower heads getting
ready to go off. Couple Nashville Warbler
early in morn, couple more in afternoon.
A FOS House Wren was singing from one of
the big stick piles. Build the habitat
and they will come. No stick piles = no
House Wren. My FOS Tawny Emperor (butterfly)
flew past late morning. After noon heard
my FOS Yellow-billed Cuckoo. At last light
Kathy thought she heard a Common Nighthawk.
Couple Firefly.
Apr. 25 ~ About 60F all night, overcast,
misting off and on, so, wet out there.
Over the day at least 5 Nashville and 1
Yellow Warbler went through yard. The
neatest thing was a pair of Scissor-tails
nest stie prospecting, which they have done
here before they never pick us. The female
goes tree to tree looking and checking
for just the right one. The male at each
tree she stops at sings his head off like
yeah this is it, this the one, it is perfect,
and so on, hoping she finally picks one of
the hundreds of trees they have visited.
I have seen Vermilion Flycatcher do the
same thing. To the males this is the
carpet and drapes portion of the selection.
Sylvia Hilbig had a FOS Orchard Oriole
today NW of town. Been wondering where
they are so far. Firefly after dark.
Apr. 24 ~ Flatlined about 52F all night,
some mist in the morn. Maybe 58F at noon.
Light variable breeze. Heard at least three
Nashville Warbler sing uphill in the live-oaks
behind us over the day. Prolly good out there
today. Also heard some Brewer's Blackbird
fly over high up. That will be the last of them
until next fall. I am stuck at the desk.
Both Yellow-throated Vireo and Blue Grosbeak
including the yard in their morning territorial
singing rounds, which is nice, what great voices.
Hearing little bits of Indigo and Painted
Bunting song. Whereas Chat is in full roar.
Tons of hummers since cool, wet, and breezy.
Warmer days when some small flying insects
out, there is not this kind of swarming.
Can't wait for some flowers to get going.
Sugar is almost a buck a pound at the store here.
On a side note, I got an email from Sylvia
Hilbig today and she had a quick look at what
surely was a Varied Bunting. But it never
came back, as they are wont to be.
Apr. 23 ~ Well a real front passed, the
severe thunderstorm line with it, arrived
about 4:30 and it rained for an hour. Hard.
Like, you ain't sleepin' through
this hard, with lots of thunder. Got up
to find the terrain rearranged outside from
just over 3" of precip! In an hour!
And a 52F or so low! The rain looks over
but northerlies are shaking the trees
pretty good, the post-frontal blow. The
major precip is just what the leafing
trees and sprouting wildflowers needed. A
major shot for the spring greening. I can
guarantee this is one happy valley today.
Was too breezy all day, cold, wet, and muddy
out there so did not go out. Probably some
things got knocked down if you braved it
would be my guess. I saw a couple seets
go through that seemed Nashville Warbler.
Hummers are bonkers at the 3 feeders. Never
got out of the 50's and with wind no
flying food for them, hardly any flowers
they use are open yet. I am sure the one
of each blooming Tropical and Mealy Sage
got pollenated today. A good measurement
on the rain was 81mm, or just over three
and one-eighth inches. Amazing. Way too
many Brown-headed Cowbird were around,
about 35 or so.
Apr. 22 ~ Hope you had a great Earth Day! The
post- weak coldish front low of 54F
or so was great. Got up to 76F in the
afternoon, but it stayed mostly cloudy, very
humid. A real cold front is inbound tonight,
allegedly with rain. There was a FOS Least
Flycatcher across from the gate late morning,
and a FOS Great Crested Flycatcher in the corral
in the afternoon. Many flycatchers are often
the last to arrive as it takes a lot of flies
and other flying insects to sustain them.
No other migrants around yard all day. Did
a dump and recycle run noonish. Went out the
west end of 360 and saw no birds, only heard
a couple Bewick's Wren. Near dump on 357
heard Bell's Vireo and Painted Bunting singing.
A couple more Bell's in town where lots of
Hackberry trees, and a couple more out Jones Cmty.
Rd. Five or six heard along roads. No water
below spillway at park means no Cliff Swallow
at the 1050 bridge. No Caves at the bank since
they chased them all off two years ago. Out
Jones Cmty. Rd. along the river no Parula singing,
only a couple Yellow-throated Warbler, and one
Eastern Wood-Pewee called. No Lark Sparrow or
Scissor-tails all the way to W. Sabinal Rd.
Nothing along the roads. At the park woods,
nothing for migrants. Had a much closer
Chuck-will's-widow calling tonight,
just a couple hundred yards away.
This is one of the flower Buprestid beetles.
Likely of the genus Acmaeodera as most are.
The small yellow dots are pollen, the larger
irregular ones are the markings of the beastie.
It appears to be a good pollenator. Must be
catnip to them. That is the
yellow rose of Texas, a Prickly Pear cactus it
is helping make fruit for.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
Apr. 21 ~ A rain-cooled low about 62F was
great. An inch plus (1.1 here) of precip yesterday
and last night was just what the flowers, trees,
bugs and birds needed. Not to mention the people.
Yard is greener than it was yesterday. In town
the local reports were of 2 inches up-valley,
where also some hail, some of that stripped
leaves in a couple spots, hail was golf balls north
of Leakey, and 2-3" of rain in Bandera and
Uvalde areas. Lots of the area got lots of much
needed water. At the park in the woods were
my FOS Eastern Wood-Pewee and Red-eyed Vireo.
A singing Orange-crowned Warbler is scarcely
heard here. Still bubbling Ruby-crowned Kinglets
going through. One Belted Kingfisher still
here. No Scissor-tails on the fencelines.
More Chimney Swift in town this week, but not
much for Barn or other swallows it seems.
Some white Prickly Poppy is now opening flowers,
as are the first Cowpen Daisy. See a couple
first red berries on an Agarita out back. Sure
be nice to get a crop this year since none the
last two years and missing that jelly. At first
dark saw my FOS Firefly of the year. Near 10
heard a Barn Owl fly over very low. At 11 p.m.
there was Great Horned, Barred, and E. Screech-,
for calling owls. So four species of owls in
an hour here this eve. Listened for the Long-eared
to no avail, presume it gone for the season.
Apr. 20 ~ Overcast with chances of rain
later today, flatlined about 69-70F all
night. Great dawn chorus at 6:45 a.m.
out there. We had our FOS Painted Bunting
here today, which is right on schedule.
Common Ground-Dove singing out there.
Pecans are dropping flowers. Hope they
got pollenated, though not seeing any bees
here yet.
About 11:30 finally a small group of warblers
found the birdbath. Kathy had four Nashville
at once, and I saw two Orange-crowned and a
FOS Wilson's Warbler. There were at
least six Nash I think. It was fantastic,
for five minutes. Nice to see some migrant
warblers, even if they are common ones. They
have not been very common here lately.
There were lots of Lyside Sulphur going by
bearing NNE today, I saw at least a couple
hundred.
Was about 85F at 4 p.m. when a rain
cell found us and dropped it back to a far
more reasonable 74F in a few minutes, and
then to upper 60's F. Not much precip
so far yet, about 8mm or a third of an inch
from the lucky-to-find-us cell. After 6 p.m.
a FOS Indigo Bunting was singing over in the
draw where they have nested the last couple
years, I presume a returnee. We had a quick
downpour from a second thunder cell that
miraculously found us just before midnight.
It was 2cm here, four-fifths of an inch.
Giving us a 28mm total for the day, so near
1.1", which is beyond fantastic.
Apr. 19 ~ Flatlined about 67F all night.
Heavy overcast, almost misty a few times.
At dawn I heard a Chuck-will's-widow
again, finally, very distantly again. Where
is our local breeder? Kathy had a Nashville
Warbler at the bath, I heard one singing a
bit later out front. Sure quiet without
our pair of Carolina Wrens around. Bummer.
They must have been predated in their nest
one night to just disappear. A pair of
Ash-throated Flycatcher seem to be taking
up residence again as usual, at one of the
boxes out on fenceline I presume, are a few.
Heard a Yellow Warbler singing nearishby.
Bird numbers seem down so far this spring.
A Red Satyr in the afternoon was great,
though worn, and clearly been out for a bit.
Heard a Clay-colored Sparrow in the afternoon,
and at twilight, a Chuck-will's-widow.
Lots of male Ruby-throated Hummingbird here
now, I suspect at least a dozen. Also saw a
couple females, which are the first of them
but I have not been paying much attention
to the females.
Apr. 18 ~ Low about 64F and thick clouds,
some precip maybe to south with low chances
here today. Hear the Blue Grosbeak out
there chipping first thing. There were a
few hundredths of drizzle precip over the
morn, so soppy. Kathy had a Nashville
Warbler out the kitchen window in the afternoon,
but otherwise not much for movement. Some
Lincoln's Sparrow here, which these
now are surely migrants and not the birds
that wintered here. The wintering Chipping
Sparrow are gone, the remaining birds are
the breeders now. Great to get an email
from Sylvia Hilbig, they had a male Lazuli
Bunting there on Apr. 17-18. Sure some
go through annually, but you can miss it
any spring here, and those males are off
the charts beautiful. They also had a
male Yellow-headed Blackbird the 16th, which
is another one that is annual but not a sure
thing every spring at any given place.
Great birds, especially around the house!
Thanks for the news Sylvia!
Apr. 17 ~ Low of 43F or less, KERV had a
42F, and I looked prolly before the final
dip. At midnight NOAA still had KERV for
a 49F low. The day after frontal passage,
lows always way lower than predicted here.
Was clear overnight but clouding up in
morn. Yesterday and today have record
highs at SAT of 100dF, the 2nd and 3rd
dates of the year with such, the first a
couple weeks ago. I saw 77F on the cool
shady front porch about 3 p.m., sunny and
breezy. No migrants through yard in a.m.
again. Maybe tomorrow there will be a
push? Stuff has been held back a few days
as the front passed with northerlies behind
it. Did see another worn Monarch bearing NNE.
Kathy saw our FOS female Summer Tanager.
I thought I saw a female at the park last
Friday but a male chased it off before I
could confirm. Otherwise a bit quiet in
yard.
Apr. 16 ~ The winds behind the frontal
passage got here overnight, so breezy
and clear in a.m., low about 55F is nice.
But a bit breezy for spotting birds in
trees. Likely shut most migrant motion
down when it hit. Heard a Scissor-tail
early out near wellhouse. Heard a FOS Blue
Grosbeak chipping about 9 in the morning.
Near noon I heard a FOS Yellow Warbler
singing after yesterday's probable
heard singing bird. Otherwise nothing
new though. Great to hear all the singing
of the breeders though. One Monarch
went by bearing NNE. The rest of the
butterflies were the expected.
Still lots of vultures coming in to a pig
carcass on the other side of corral somewhere.
So a Caracara or two the last few days as
well. At one point 75 or more mostly Black
Vulture flushed at once and were very low
right over the yard. Not all going in
the same direction in the circle, it
appears total chaos, with no impacts.
It looked like a skating rink where half
of the people were each going in the
other direction. I did not see so much
as an evasive maneuver. You could not
do this with people. It was amazing
being right under all those wings cutting
air sounding like little fighter jets.
Apr. 15 ~ A rain-cooled low of about 56F
felt good. Late last night after 11 p.m.
until about 12:30 a.m. there were some
light showers as a group of cells went
over. Up valley and north of town got
more than is south of town. This morn
we show just over 8mm, a third of an inch,
or just over five-sixteenths, however
you like to perceive it. No migrant motion
today, was hoping something was overhead
when it hit. Today was the big warmup
day in front of another cold front.
A Hutton's Vireo was across road
in Mesquites, again. Thought I heard a
Yellow Warbler sing over in the corral,
probably the FOS, but letting it go.
Afternoon winds turned out of west, and
it got hot and dry, 92F locally, was 88F
on the cool shady front porch. Winds will
turn to NW, then N, so do not expect much
for migration motion tomorrow either.
See some Zexmenia flowers open out back.
At last sun I was out on driveway and
a Zone-tailed Hawk flew over just above
treetop level, right overhead, low and slow.
Only takes one near bird to make the day.
Light was so good on the yellow bill, legs
and feet, and it was so low I could see it
look at me, and be totally non-plussed.
This is a male American Kestrel. Photo from CA,
it was not taken locally, and a photo of a slide,
so a degenerate, like the person that took it. :)
Ours do not differ from what we see in this image
in any meaningful way. The second pic on the site
not taken locally.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
Apr. 14 ~ Low about 63F and misting,
was clear at midnight. Probably got a
few hundredths of an inch of wet stuff
over the morn. A Ruby-crowned Kinglet
was bubbling in song in the big pecan.
A FOS female Hooded Oriole, finally,
came into hummer feeders, Kathy later
saw it at the birdbath. I suspect it has
been here before. Often returning birds
hit the bath soon after showing up.
Town run, and did have a Scissor-tail
along 360. Finally. Over town I heard
a couple FOS Chimney Swift. The park
was fairly quiet, but for a few breeders
singing: Black-crested Titmouse, Summer
Tanager, White-eyed and Yellow-throated Vireo,
and Yellow-throated Warbler, the regulars.
Saw my personal FOS Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
(2), though Little Creek Larry has had
over at his creek since Mar. 23, where
the game ranch just south feeds corn,
and they know. Heard one warbler seet,
likely a Nashville, and had one Orange-crowned
Warbler. The beehive in the biggest ancient
Cypress in the woods at north end of park
is finally active again, after a couple
years being dormant.
Apr. 13 ~ A low of 50F was nice, and
a second day with sun at sunrise is
great. The dawn chorus is really getting
good and noisy the way I like it. Thought
I had a Great Crested Flycatcher stop on
a clothesline early, but it was bare-eyed
in bad light, not good enough for a FOS.
Ash-throats have been back around yard a
month now, it did not look like one. An
Olive-Juniper Hairstreak I saw was already
completely worn of green overscaling below
and strictly brown ventrally (contra last
week's photo break pic). Must have
been one of the first ones out a couple
months ago. Which is why you have to learn
multiple ID characters and not rely on one
feature. That goes for everything. Numbers
of Six-lined Racerunner racing about now is
good to see. Not very many Anole though.
Not hearing our Carolina Wrens. Where
did they go? Or were they predated? An
eerie silence to say the least, for about
a week now. Late in day a Scissor-tailed
Flycatcher was in the Pecan out kitchen
window, kipping away.
Apr. 12 ~ A brisk 46F low felt great,
and sun at dawn has been rare lately.
This is fine. Still not seeing migrant
motion in the mornings. Weird. Great
was mid-morn after I sprayed some water,
a FOY summer form Questionmark butterfly,
with orange hindwing came in to it. A
Giant Swallowtail went by mid-day, and in
later afternoon a Two-tailed Swallowtail
came into my pipe tobacco and nearly
assaulted me. Otherwise the same things
we have been seeing, but surely over a
dozen species of butterflies daily now
which is nice. Heard a Clay-colored and
saw a couple Lincoln's Sparrow,
besides some Lark, Field and Chipping.
Got up to about 78F, and was dry, so
quite nice and springy.
April 11 ~ Nothing but a couple Chats
going at it after midnight, no owls,
after three species last night. What
changed? Still waiting for second of
year Chuck-w-w to call. Flatlined at
56F or so overnight. Overcast all morn,
sun finally showed in the afternoon.
Not seeing any signs of migrant movement.
Oddly slow so far this spring for the
transient types. Saw the Mournful
Duskywing back on the Mealy Sage today.
I think on one or two shots yesterday
auto-focus finally found itself. The
butterfly on a 2' lone flower stalk
with ground behind it is nearly impossible
for Canon Powershot autofocus to do.
They could not have made the manual focus
more clunky to operate either. Must have
taken a lot of engineers with degrees to
figure out how to make something so
simple so complex that works so poorly.
April 10 ~ Shortly after midnight I was
outside for last listen. The Great Horned
Owl was going over across corral, the
Barred Owl was still calling at the river,
then the Long-eared Owl joined in! Three
big owls all calling at once. I tried for
15 min. to hear a Screech-, or maybe a flyover
Barn, to no avail. Somewhat odd is that since
I heard that early Chuck-will's-widow
at dawn on the 4th, I have yet to hear another.
This morn was about 55F and overcast. Saw
72F in the afternoon. Did not see or hear
anything in the way of migrant motion today.
The first Tropical Sage flowers opened today.
A few spits of precip mid-afternoon, and a
few peeks of sun over the day. In one quick
shot of sun a Mournful Duskywing showed up on
the Mealy Sage. Then a Common Streaky-Skipper
showed up on the stone steps next to it.
Apr. 9 ~ Low about 54F or so, overcast but
no more precip. Was clear last night late.
Stayed cloudy all day, I saw only about
68dF on the front porch, the sun only popped
out for a half-hour at best. Looked like
a couple Nashville Warbler went through
yard over day, giving flight notes on the
move. Heard a Ruby-crowned Kinglet bubbling
in the big Pecan. Kathy spotted an orange
beetle on the Mealy Sage flowers, hopefully
I got an ID docushot. After 11 p.m. I heard
a Barred Owl from Cypresses along the river,
the first I have heard since last spring.
For years they were a regular feature of the
nocturnal soundtrack here, and then silence,
for the last 8-9 months. So, this is great!
Apr. 8 ~ Flatlined in mid-50's F all
night, just a little more mist in morn.
Only 65F at noon and hit 70 about 3:30 when
the sun sorta broke through the overcast.
In the morn a Bell's Vireo was singing
across road from gate in the newly leafed out
Mesquites. A Nashville Warbler went through,
as did a Gnatcatcher. Heard Clay-colored
Sparrow and N. Rough-winged Swallow. A few
Lincoln's Sparrow zzzzee-ing around yard.
A number of male Ruby-throated Hummingbird,
besides the ton of Black-chinned. The hummers
have been going through the sugar these last
few chilly days. Lots of vultures (both types)
and a Caracara going down between us and the
river. I presume where a pig fell from when
I heard a big gun late on Thursday night. Saw
another Six-lined Racerunner (lizard). After
dark E. Screech-, and Great Horned Owl calling.
This is a Mealy Sage and a pink moth.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
Apr. 7 ~ Low about 48F or so, and a second
day just making the mid-50's for a high.
Which is 20F below average highs for the date
and in fact, near our average lows in early
April. Some drizzle-mist early, hoping some
actual rain finds us. Great was a singing
Golden-cheeked Warbler out back late morn
in the mist. It was right over the fence
line when I was tossing seed along it, and
just kept singing. I could have hit it with
seed. What a neat beastie. Town run fer stuff.
River up a bit at the 360 x-ing a couple miles
below town, but still a foot from going over
the spillway at the park pond. One Belted
Kingfisher still there, a Summer Tanager singing
and another one out front on Cypress St. singing.
But too misty and nothing much moving. There
was a nice patch of blooming Texas Onion in
the woods. Hattie Barham said she had a
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher on 360 yesterday.
We did get a wee bit of precip from the near
constant drizzle over the day. As of 5 p.m.,
about 11mm, or, around seven-sixteenths of an inch.
So now just over 5" in the last nine weeks.
Apr. 6 ~ Still overcast and still no rain,
but it cooled down. Went from 60F at midnight
to about 50F by 8 a.m., finally. Now if we
could get some precip it would be nice. Not
warming up today so will be a hummer feeder
day. Might have gotten up to 56F, and the
breezy lasted all day, so never felt it. Not
seeing much for bird action outside. Chilly
and windy so everything is hunkered down. It
seems many of the Chipping Sparrow have departed
now. For a few days I have been noticing there
are far fewer here than have been the last few
months. Maybe a couple dozen now, at tops. A
few are resident but most of our winterers
are migratory birds from elsewhere. It appears
they have mostly departed now. Did have some
Black Vultures overhead on one trip out
to toss seed.
Apr. 5 ~ Cold front arriving before dawn.
It was 70F all night until about 7 a.m. whence
temp dropped to 62F or so in short order.
We got a spit, that was it for precip, which
was east of us. Wind blew 15-20 mph gusting
higher all day until late afternoon. Kathy
had a Scissor-tail go over early. Noonish
she saw the FOY Six-lined Racerunner, which
I saw a few hours later. They are a beautiful
lizard. The color of those green lines I just
will never get over, it is a wowser every time.
I presume the northerlies shut down any migrant
motion, and apparently nothing over our place
when it hit. No sign of any in the yard.
You can sometimes get things moving north on
the ground through the trees over the day when
like this though. Kathy saw the first male
Summer Tanager at the birdbath briefly late
in the afternoon, and I had a Gnatcatcher
out front. Interesting watching the hummer
feeders as it gets dark. After last male left,
the feeder I watched filled up with 8 females.
No more males came in. So, they are hanging
out watching and waiting for that last feeding
but wanting the males to depart so they can
really tank up undisturbed. Eight females
can sit on the ring with hardly a notice of
each other whereas two males have issues.
Apr. 4 ~ Started at 75F still at midnight.
Might have gotten down to 71F. Overcast
and humid. Another hot one on tap before
a cool-down arrives. At 6:45 a.m., before
the Cardinals started singing, I heard my
FOS Chuck-will's-widow calling distantly.
On the early side nearly a week. The last two
years FOS Chucks were April 11 and 13 but have
had them earlier than those. This might be
my earliest though. Have to check records.
A couple Gnatcatcher went through over the day,
one each Nashville and Orange-crowned Warbler.
Heard a couple Barn Swallow go over. Kathy
had the Yellow-throated Warbler at the bath.
The two transplanted Frostweed look fine,
the two Lantana still in major shock. Got
up to 88F or so, stayed cloudy and so cooler
than progged a few dF. Front is inbound
tomorrow morning early. Fair numbers of
butterflies, the regular expecteds so far.
A couple Checkered White. One probable
Orangetip, I wish they would stop some time.
A Monarch or two bearing NNE.
Apr. 3 ~ Overcast and about 65F for a
low. Summer Tanager singing in the big
Pecan is a great way to start the day.
Heard a Gnatcatcher early. A couple
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher flew over
early. The two Frostweeds look like
they made the transplant fine. Was a
couple no doubt self-seeded from the main
clump, but was out in grass where going
to get mowed. Moved them to nearish the
mother plant to create a mini-patchlet.
Worked more on gardens a bit, but wow
it got hot. I saw 90F at 3 p.m., KERV had
a 92F, the record at SAT for the date is 93F.
There were lots of upper 90's around
south and central Texas. Prolly hottest day
of the year so far. At least sorta dryish.
Saw a couple Orangetip blast past, as
well as a couple Checkered White, and
several Lyside Sulphur. One Giant
Swallowtail, numbers of Sleepy Orange and
Vesta Crescent, a fresh American Lady,
and late in day a nice Reakirt's Blue.
Apr. 2 ~ A little mist early, thick
overcast, flatlined about 66F all night.
Summer Tanager singing over by river early.
No doubt the one I heard calling at last
light last night, and likely our local
territorial breeder. About three Gnatcatcher
through yard over the day. Otherwise no
migrant motion apparent. One Robin here.
Two or three Lincoln's Sparrow.
We did a bunch of yard and garden stuff
since behind on it. Moved a couple
Lantana and Frostweeds to where wanted,
hope they make the transplant. The Chat
was singing at midnight last night. The
first nocturnal singing I have heard, so it
was here a week, and is now going at night.
April 1 ~ No foolin'! A quarter of
the year has passed already! OMG! I am
wayyyy behind. KERV had a 42F low, we were
more like 44F. Cloudy and overcast all
day, got up to 82F or so. No signs of
bird movement apparent in the morning.
I have biz work on Saturdays so mostly
inside, but did do some yard and garden
work between desk jobs. The Eastern Bluebird
pair looks like it is setting up shop in
a natural cavity (Ladder-back made it)
in the big Pecan very close to house.
They are taking material into the hole.
The last couple years she has prospected
around quite a lot, but settled on the box
again every year. I think the box is hot
out in the open. I moved one box that they
used to use but quit so there would be
another choice.
Two or three Lincoln's Sparrow around
yard. A huge flock of 9 Robin was here
at last of dusk. Even better was my FOS
calling Summer Tanager! Saw some FOY White
Rock Lettuce flowers along fenceline out
front, also FOY of a Vetch, I think Deer Pea
Vetch, and some Prairie Fleabane is now open.
The Two-leaved Senna that had some flowers
opening was eaten, deer no doubt. Which
are no longer that dear to me. They are
like coons, dillos, squirrels, once ya lived
with them, your view changes. The one good
Mealy Sage we have is opening flowers and
looking great though. The deer do not touch
it or the Tropical Sage, Wood Sage (Am. Germander),
Texas Onion, Crow-poison, and others. I
guess I need to make a list.
~ ~ ~ March summary ~ ~ ~
I don't think we froze, or if so, only
briefly and barely. There was a little bit
of rain as we enter wildflower and leaf growing
season. The river is still a foot from going
over the spillway at the park (normal). We are
about two feet behind in precip, and in D4
exceptional stage drought again. We had
about 2.5" of rain over the month,
most in one event was 41mm on the 18th.
With the 2.25" in Feb. makes 4.75"
the last two months which is critical for
spring when in D4 drought. Unfortunately
Jan. was nearly bone dry at .65".
Odes were a whopping two species: Dot-winged
Baskettail and Pale-faced Clubskimmer. Two
more than either Jan. or Feb., so hope for a
good season ahead. For butterflies it was
35 species, nearly double the 18 sps. in
February. Nothing unusual, as is the case
in early spring. It is not the time for raries.
Just great to see everything again, especially
those 'EARLY spring ONLY' fliers
like Falcate Orangetip and Henry's Elfin.
Birds were 80 species, a huge increase in
diversity, mostly with the arrival of insect
eating migratory species. The most spectacular
avian event was thousands of White-fronted Goose
calling as they migrated north overhead in the
dark, evening of the 3rd. The best two birds
were the Long-eared Owl being heard again (24th),
and a Couch's Kingbird (10th). A Brown
Creeper at park (10th) was also good, they are
less than annual here. An ad. male Rufous
Hummingbird (22nd) was a good migrant snag.
A Yellow-breasted Chat (27th) was my first
ever in March and a couple weeks early.
~ ~ ~ archive copy March update header ~ ~ ~
March ~ Meteorological spring is here! Oh boy,
a whole month of FOS - first of season -
sightings ahead. Golden-cheeked Warblers in a
week! The march of the FOSs began the morning of
the 1st with a White-eyed Vireo. In the afternoon
a FOS singing male Vermilion Flycatcher seemed
our local corral breeder back. On the 2nd my
FOS Zone-tailed Hawk was low over yard. Also the
2nd were my FOS Cricket-Frogs clicking. Morn
of the 3rd a FOS Lark Sparrow was singing in yard.
This just in, a couple FOS Purple Martin were seen
on Feb. 28 at the park pond briefly. On the 3rd
at the park was my FOS Great Egret. About 9 p.m.
on the 3rd I heard my FOS White-fronted Goose
northbound way high up, it was thousands. On the
6th saw my FOS Barn Swallow. On the 9th was my
FOS N. Rough-winged Swallow. The 10th was a
mega-big day for FOS sightings. There was FOS
Couch's Kingbird, Yellow-throated Warbler,
Yellow-throated Vireo, Orange-crowned Warbler,
Brown Creeper, my FOS Purple Martin, and in
the afternoon FOS Monarch and Golden-cheeked
Warbler! My FOS Barn Owl was after 11 p.m. on
the 10th as well! Spring is now showing near you!
March 12 we saw our FOS Black-and-white Warbler
and Ash-throated Flycatcher. Also the 12th were
our first dragonflies of the year, Dot-winged
Baskettails, of course, at least five of them.
The 14th was a first Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.
The 15th saw my FOS Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. On
the 17th was my FOS Clay-colored Sparrow. An
adult male Rufous Hummingbird on the 22nd is
a good snag of a migrant. A FOY Two-tailed
Swallowtail floated by on the 24th. Late p.m.
on the 24th we heard the Long-eared Owl calling
out front not far away. On the 26th we had
FOS Common Yellowthroat and Bell's Vireo.
The 27th a record early Yellow-breast Chat was
singing across the road right where territorial
every year. The 29th just after noon a FOS
Ruby-throated Hummingbird was at our feeder,
and a FOS Nashville Warbler at birdbath. Late
in day on 30th I heard FOS Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.
On the 31st my FOS Louisiana Waterthrush was at
Utopia Pk. Dang if that wasn't a month of
fun!
~ ~ ~ end archive copy March update header ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~
Jan.-March 2023 is now at:
Old Bird News 39
Bird News Archive XXXIX
January 1 - July 31 (eventually), 2023
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