Current Bird (and nature) News

MOST RECENT UPDATE: March 21, 2025
(prior updates: March 14, 7, February 28, 21, 14, 7, January 31, 24, 17, 10, 3)
(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.

March ~ The 1st were my FOS Sandhill Crane northbound of the spring. Our FOS Black-chinned Hummingbird was on the 6th, first female the next day. One Anna's Hummer still here the 7th. Sylvia Hilbig saw her GREEN JAY again March 7, now five weeks in her area in BanCo a couple miles NW of town. My FOS Lark Sparrow was singing in yard on the 9th. Later on the 9th my FOS N. Rough-winged Swallow flew over. At dawn the 10th I heard my FOS White-eyed Vireo out back. My FOS Ash-throated Flycatcher was on the 12th. Kathy saw a FOY E. Tiger Swallowtail the 13th. On the 14th we had two FOS Yellow-throated Warbler singing, one in town, another at the park. Heard my FOS Black-and-white Warbler singing on the 19th. My FOS Blue-gray Gnatcatcher was the 20th.

February ~ Some birds are singing! Sylvia Hilbig leads the way with two great reports the first few days of the month. On the 1st she had a GREEN JAY a couple miles NW of town in BanCo. Then the 4th she had a FOS Purple Martin! My prior earliest was the 7th, so a new early date. Great reports and thanks Sylvia! South of town the first week of Feb. we have continuing Long-eared Owl and a few Anna's Hummingbird wintering. Another three-day freeze event Feb. 17-20. Having a cold winter here. Four Purple Martin we skimming the park pond on Feb. 22.

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• 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 2025


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.

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Just to have this handy again for reference, recent prior updates:
March 14, 7, February 28, 21, 14, 7, January 31, 24, 17, 10, 3.
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 ~ ~ ~

Mar. 21 ~ Low about 41F, KERV had a quick 39 in the wee hours, but warmed a few dF by sunrise. Great dawn chorus mostly from residents, but a few of the migratory breeders are now on board. Like White-eyed Vireo (2) and Ash-throated Flycatcher. Mid-morn I heard a White-crowned Sparrow boiking in a stick and limb pile. An hour later Kathy said she saw an adult out by patio.

The big news is there IS an Anna's Hummingbird here still. I think it is the immature male that became second dog when the adult showed up. It seemed to me when the Black-chins showed uup, it did not chase them off the, its, feeders. It only seemed to chase the imm. or sub-ad. male away. But which continued sneaking in and out best it could. Feeders on three sides of house ensured it would always have one. The adult does seem to have departed, and now the imm. or sub-ad. male is still here. This birds long or chase call is different from the one that has been dominant. I did not even hear it yesterday, but our neighbor has a feeders so we felt it was up there too. And it may have been where the female went.



Mar. 20 ~ Happy equinox, and spring! Stay calm now folks. Low was about 34=35F. KERV had 32.9, and was NOAA progged for 39, another half a category miss on lows after blows. Twenty years and still wrong all the time. Great was hearing a FOS Blue-gray Gnatcatcher in the morning. Still hardly any leaves out there, and the live-oaks are in full yellow and drop mode too. The big change today was NO Anna's Hummingbird for the first time in months. I presume it left yesterday afternoon. I heard it at some point after noon, but not sure how late. It was not out there today. We helped it get through the winter anyway.

Mar. 19 ~ Low about 60F. Another Red Flag warning blower of a day, with extra added free blowing dust. Heard a FOS Black-and-white Warbler about 9 a.m. uphill in the big live-oaks behind us. Great to hear again! Mr. Anna's still here chasing things. Then the wind blew all day. I saw at KERV 25 gusting to 35 mph! A wee bit lower here, but too windy. The Mulberry and a Hackberry have but out their first green flower buds which will open shortly. After the wind supposed to have a chilly night. Heard the Canyon Towhee.

Mar. 18 ~ Low about 55F and the hot day before another dry windy front. We often just get the tail ends like this, the dry and windy part. Tomorrow is another big blower of a day. It is parched out there and March rains are critical for lots of flowers, which I am not seeing. At least one Anna's Hummer out there doing long or chase calls. Canyon Towhee still here too. Ash-throat in yard might be one of a pair that often uses a box at NE corner of yard. Heard a or the Lincoln's Sparrow again. I think it is one that has been around a couple weeks. Got up about 86F in the afternoon. Must be over a couple dozen Black-chinned Humingbirds here now.

Mar. 17 ~ Low was about 38F here, KERV had 32.2! NOAA had them progged for 39, so more than half a category off, underestimating the low temp. Heard Turkey gobbling, Hutton's and White-eyed Vireo, Ash-throated Flycatcher, singing Chickadee and Roadrunner, and the Bewick's Wrens are in overdrive. At least one male Anna's Hummingbird still here, as well as the presumed female Canyon Towhee.

Mar. 16 ~ Low about 38F here, KERV had 34.7F. NOAA progged them for 42. Day after front, off by over half a category on how cold it will be. For twenty years straight and constant updating of their best modeling. Let's hear it for algorithms and modeling. Surely weather modeling must be one of the oldest and most refined uses? Hear at least one Anna's Hummer, Canyon Towhee, a Robin. It was all the same. Note today is the EQUILUX. The actual day with 12 hours daylength, and nightlength. The equinox is a misnomer. Today is the equal light day.

Mar. 15 ~ Low about 60F and another big blow from a dry frontal passage. We are going to miss a spring bloom again if we do not get some precip. Another Red Flag warning day too. Thought I heard two Anna's Hummer this morn. My vision has been too impaired to keep track of them. Still a Canyon Towhee out there not singing. And a Lincoln's Sparrow. And the wind howled. It was NW 20-25 mph sustained with local areas had gusts at 40-45 mph! The Mocker that wintered is still tuning up singing at half volume over in the corral.



~ ~ ~ last prior update be3ow ~ ~ ~

March 14 ~ Low about 58F, which lasted a moment or two. The heat continues, day three now at 90F or so. We went to town and there and had our FOS Yellow-throated Warbler, two singing males. One in town live-oaks and one at the park. Also at park were a half-dozen Myrtle The thing of interest was a floating log out in the pond. Turtletopia. Kathy counted over 30 on the log and ten more in the water around it. Create the habitat and they will come. They just need a safe place to sun. Red-eared Sliders and Texas River Cooter. Will wait for photos to see ratio. Warbler and a Belted Kingfisher. No Bell's Vireo yet at the usual spots at NW corner of town and Post Office. Late afternoon local WU stations were reporting 93-96F temps. They showed the SAT record high for today as 91, so it was record heat here surely. The Redbuds in front of the library were in full roaring bloom.

March 13 ~ Low about 50 briefly. Was 60 until the last couple hours of dark. Heard my FOY Turkey gobbling at dawn. Just hear one Robin this morn, likely our faithful one. Hear an Ash-throated Flyc. up hill, and Martins overhead. No freeze on the 10-day which puts us past our average date of last freeze. Hear the Canyon Towhee and at least one Anna's Hummingbird. The racket from the residents singing is picking up steam well now.

March 12 ~ Low about 50F, a day hot day ahead with a blowing dust warning for the afternoon. Sounds fun. Mid-morn heard my FOS Ash-throated Flycatcher uphill behind us in the live-oaks. Heard a Lincoln's Sparrow and singing Roadrunner. About 3 p.m. it was 88F here and a few local WU stations, KERV was 90! Humidity was a mere TEN percent!

March 11 ~ Low about 37F or so, KERV had 35. The Robins, Waxwings and Red-wings were all out there early at dawn. Lots of Titmouse singing. The Rough-winged Swallows were over front yard again, so surely the local breeders. Heard a second of year White-eyed Vireo across road in the afternoon. At least one Anna's Hummer here, probably a dozen or more Black-chinned. Thought I heard both White-crowned and Lincoln's Sparrow.

March 10 ~ We gave 32F a quick peck on the cheek this morn, KERV had 31. They were NOAA progged for 36, so note another half-category miss on the cold after the front. Some things never change. Great at dawn was a calling White-eyed Vireo, my FOS. A couple N. Rough-winged Swallow over the front yard, likely birds that nest in the river banks right near here. Still a Canyon Towhee and at least one Anna's Hummingbird. Kathy thought she might have had an imm. White-crowned Sparrow.

March 9 ~ Low about 38F, KERV had 37. Mostly the same until mid-morning when my FOS Lark Sparrow burst into song. What a great singer, and fantastic to hear. No doubt one of yardish returning breeders. Where do they go for 3-4 months? Mexico? Blew from the north again all day today. About 3 p.m. I had my FOS Northern Rough-winged Swallow go over northward. Barn should be here soon if not here already. Kathy had a FOY flower in yard, which was likely Anemone. She also saw a Vesta Crescent.

March 8 ~ Low about 64F. A front is passing. Winds picking up by mid-morn. At least one Anna's Hummer giving long calls and chasing. Several Black-chinned here now. I bet there are Golden-cheeked Warbler around by now, at least the first males to arrive back. Maybe Black-and-white Warbler too. At least some Robin and Waxwing around. And some Red-wings, but fewer of them. Canon Towhee still here no singing.



~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~

March 7 ~ Flatlined about 64F all night. The low was cancelled. Big warmup day in front of a front. A gaggle of Robin singing early, and some waxwings. The Roadrunner is singing. A male Black-chinned Hummingbird is out there, besides an Anna's. Two Roadrunner are singing, one uphill behind us, the other across the road towards the river. There is a non-singing Canyon Towhee out there. I suspect a female. Great news from Sylvia Hilbig today, she saw her Green Jay again today. So it is still there in BanCo a couple miles NW of town. Outstanding record. Got my first spring chigger today, though I did harvest a few over the winter. Kathy spotted an orange billed White-crowned Sparrow on the patio late in the day. These are western, probably gambelli subspecies. Which we get very small numbers of some years in spring. One neat thing today was the Mockingbird that wintered in the corral, often visiting our yard. It was the first one we had winter in proximity where we heard it chip regularly. It was not full volume, but about half, maybe, but it was full-blown Mocker song.

March 6 ~ Low about 45F here, but varied wildly locally. One WU site showed 50 for a low, KERV had 37! Must have been a thermocline between us and them. It was a swamped day at the desk so not much time outside. Red-wings, Robins, some waxwings. Great though was a FOS Black-chinned Hummingbird. I heard it it come in to a feeder but could not see it. I knew it was not the Anna's by the sound of the wing-hum. Told Kathy and just before dark she saw it at a feeder to confirm my wing-hum ID. Thought I may have heard the sssseeee note of a Canyon Towhee.

March 5 ~ Low about 57F, light breeze and sunny. Sunrise was at 7 a.m. this morn. Record hi-low temps this date at SAT are 24 and 100, wow. We did a town run today as we skipped last Friday. The park pond was devoid of the Ring-necked Ducks that had wintered, suspect they have gone north. There were some Myrtle Warbler around the spillway. Water still about three feet from going over. Nothing else avian. But the FOY Blanchard's Cricket-Frog. Here at the house I heard singing Roadrunner.

March 4 ~ Was about 65F most of the night until 5 a.m. when the Pacific cold front got here. Whence it dropped to 50 and dropped a quarter-inch of rain on us!Still an Anna's Hummingbird here. What a howler of a day. The winds were Westerly, at 30 mph gusting to 50! Hondo had a 54, KERV a 51, and so on. We have a hillet to our west with big live-oaks on it, so, we do not get a direct hit from westerlies, being in a bit of a hole. The Red-wing racket was about the only thing I could hear over the howling winds. It finally blew itself out at around dusk. Kathy heard a Canyon Towhee call at the tub pond late in day. After not having our singing bird here the last five pus days, I am sure this must also be a transient bird on the move. Maybe one that has been here before?

March 3 ~ Low about 64F with fog-mist. Mist off and on all day, but just a trace of precip. The Robins were uphill this morn, the Red-wings lots of the rest of the day. So nicely noisy. Some waxwings out there in the afternoon. Still seemingly only one hummer here. We have a big wind warning for tomorrow.

March 2 ~ Low about 60F an dquite a ruckus of birdsong first thing. Cardinal, Carolina and Bewick's Wren, Eastern Phoebe and Black-crested Titmouse were the five most vociferous. Sounds great out there now. Like spring is on the way. The Robins were around chorusing for a bit, with some sawxings with them. About mid-morn the nice calm conditions ended as strong SE winds picked up. It blew 20 mph gusting to 30 all day. Thought I glimpsed a large black butterfly, of which Black Swallowtail should be out now.

March 1 ~ Low about 35F and a high today around 82F. Pretty nice spread. The big FOS spring migrant of the day was hearing Sandhill Cranes going north late this morning. A sign of spring if there ever was one. At least one Anna's Hummer still here. Kathy saw a FOY Checkered White butterfly as well as a Dainty Sulphur, and maybe a Little Yellow. Still did not make it uphill to see if Agarita blooming and with butterflies. Thursday to Saturday are all busy work desk days for me.





~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ February summary~ ~ ~

A typical cold and dry month. There were two events of three days hovering around freezing. It was an icebox. Park pond remains three feet below spillway overflow, most of the river not flowing and drought stage is D3 heading for D4 again. Lack of wild food crops has bird numbers way down.

Insects were scarce as expected. No odes (dragonflies) of course. Only a few individual overwintering butterflies. One Red Admiral may have been a fresh emergence. Maybe four species of butterfly.

The birds of the month were Syliva Hibig's Green Jay on the 1st and 8th, and her record early Purple Martin on the 4th. The Long-eared Owl continued around our place past the middle of month at least. There were three Anna's Hummingbird here at start of month, seemingly only one the last week of it though. So far topping out at maybe 4-5 dozen each of Robin and Waxwing around us. Another juncoless winter, no Siskins either. Lack of wild food crops has bird numbers way down Lots of birdsong from the resident non-migratory species by the end of the month is great.

~ ~ ~ end February summary~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ back to the regularly scheduled drivel~ ~ ~

Feb. 28 ~ Low about 58Fafter the barely sorta cod front. Hear the Robins chorusing again this morning but a hundred yards upriver mostly. They are probably moving up the valley cleaning all the Juniper and Hackberry fruits that has ripened. Again today I did not hear the Canyon Towhee. Only surely had one hummingbird too. Thought I might have heard a Lincoln's Sparrow, which I haven't in over a week. It could be a spring migrant now. Some of them push back early. I was going to try to sneak up the hill and check for Agarita blooms and a few species of butterfly for the month but was too busy. We put off a town run until early next week Too swamped.

Feb. 27 ~ Low of 78F with the northerlies of a cold front so breey. We are just getting the back dry end of it, no rain. Another great Robin chorusing this morn, along with a few waxwings. Until the Cooper's Hawk showed up it was wonderful. At least one hummer here first thing. Not hearing the Canyon Towhee for the second dayHave a lone male Brown-headed Cowbird out there. I will cal this a FOS spring migrant. This is when the first show in spring. We get a very few in winter, strictly in the Red-winged Blackbird flock. Singles and small groups show up in late February. So a FOS migrant..

Feb. 26 ~ Low about 54F and overcast. Mid-morn some birds showed up. There were a few dozen Red-winged Blackbird, a dozen or so Cedar Waxwing, and maybe two dozen Robin. Which were caroling wonderfully. First time this winter I heard a good round of that, and my how nice. Hit about 80F again this afternoon, two days in a row. I bet there are open Agarita and Redbud out there. Have not had a chance to look and missed checking the Redbuds at the library in town last Saturday. Did not hear the Canyon Towhee today.

Feb. 25 ~ Low about 39F, KERV had a 37, and were progged for 44. Sunny and brisk early, with lots of singing Cardinals. At least four around the yard. Myrtle must be sleeping here, it was out there before sunup. One hummer was too. Otherwise birds were the same. Kathy saw a Snout butterfly along with the wintering Red Admiral. I see the first new Cattail shoots sprouting out of the water in the tub pond. Last week there was a half-inch of ice on the surface on a couple days. I am amazed how the Money-Dollar- or Penny- wort has kept green leaves through the ice event. Amazing stuff, widely considered an introduced pest in many parts of the world.

Feb. 24 ~ Low about 36F or so. KERV had a quick 32 for a couple readings pre-dawn. The chill is gone. Got up to about 76F or so, wonderful. Heard the Robin and Myrtle Warbler, the Canyon Towhee and at least one hummer. Best hearing a Purple Martin, first one from the yard this year. Have not mentioned the lack of Ruby-crowned kinglet for the last nearly two months. When we are in sever or worse drought, and there are no insects in the foilage, they seem to fairly vacate the area for the worst couple months of cold. When we are in a wet cycle and there are lots of insects, they stay in fair numbers through the winter. Not this year So awaiting the reappearance of them as spring migrants start to move north, which should be soon for them. At different times Kathy and I both glimpsed a yellow butterfly, which I thought was an Orange Sulphur.

Feb. 23 ~ Finally a low not around freezing! About 45F and it felt great. Had the same gang for the most part. Canyon Towhee singing, at leasty one hummingbird coming in and out, a Robin, an American Goldfinch, Field Sparrow singing, and heard Red-tailed Hawks over at the river, so that pair back and at it. In the afternoon I heard long or chase calls from a hummer, so there must be two still here, at least. That 70F afternoon felt great. Open up an dflush the air.

Feb. 22 ~ Misty all night with a low about 44F. Cool and damp. Nice to not freeze though. Did hear a hummingbird first thing. Canyon Towhee singing. Heard some waxwings as well. We did a town run today since warmer. At the park pond Kathy spotted 4 Purple Martin, our FOS, though Sylvia Hilbig had one over two weeks ago. Again about 10 Ring-necked Duck. At least a half-dozen Myrtle Warbler is an increase, and a few more were around town. I suspect like Eastern Phoebe, they are starting to push north from more southerly wintering areas. Heard more waxwings in town too.



~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~

Feb. 21 ~ Low about 18F again. High in the 30's again for third day straight. Living in an icebox here. It was too cold so we skipped the town run, will do it tomorrow when it will be over 40. The Canyon Towhee was here, but again not seeing any hummingbird. Must be using another nearby feeder? The rest sounded the same. Was not out there much. Third day consecutive of not breaking out of the 30's. The last two with 18dF morning lows.

Feb. 20 ~ Low about 18F (!) with some wind so single-digit- chill factors. KERV had a 15point something, and at 9 a.m.they were 18 with 8 for a wind chill. After not seeing or hearing a single hummer yesterday one was out there 15 minutes before sunrise. Also a Canyon Towhee was out there first thing after not seeing or hearing it yesterday. Even yard birds can be missed any given day. Saw and heard both off and on all day. One American Goldfinch is still showing up occasionally. Heard a Robin. The Myrtle Warbler might have been taking some white millet off the ground. At least it appeared that way.

Feb. 19 ~ Low was 20F at best, KERV had 17 with a chill factor of 1! Near 10 a.m. they were 19 with a chill of 3. Come on down, it's wonderful out! Extra seed rations the next three days. Herd of Red-wings out there early will make short work of it.The big bird news of the day is concerning. We saw and heard NO hummingbirds today. They should have been camped on the feeders all day. Nothing. What the heck? No Canyon Towhee heard or seen either. Was it just too cold to even call? I make ten trips outside every day, and the last 6 weeks on a hal-dozen I see or hear an Anna's Hummer, or two, or three. Nothing this day it barely broke freezing? Will have to wait a day and see whaddup.

Feb. 18 ~ Was about 57F over night. Over ast. Warming to 70 today and then a three-day freeze event begins tonight. Hoo boy here we go again. Heard one American Goldfinch. It has not been around much lately, figured it found someone with more seed. Some Red-wings around, but not the big flock. Chipping Sparrow might be near 70 birds now. I expect with the cold the next three days of freezing, everything will show up. Must have been 5-6 accipiter flushings today. Kathy saw one was an adult Coopoer's Hawk. Neither of us saw or heard the Canyon Towhee today. It may have departed. The attack of the cold air hit in the evening. By 11 it was about 28F with 15-25 mph northerlies and a chill factor of 15 at KERV, we were about the same.

Feb. 17 ~ Low about 30F, KERV had 28. Wed.-Fri. we will hover around freezing. Another three-day freeze event. First thing this morning I heard a Robin, some Red-wings, one Anna's Hummingbird, and some Red-winged Blackbird. Of course the usual Cardinals, Carolina nd Bewick's Wren, House Finch and Chipping Sparrow all out there too. Saw a 62 at one local WU station this afternoon, never felt like that here, the air was cold all breezy day. Some bees at the hummer feeders were only bugs I saw today.

Feb. 16 ~ Welcome back to winter. It was about 35F this morn with wind north at 10-25 mph, chill factor is about 25dF. Will be mostly inside a battoned down house today. And this week as a second front arrives Tuesday with Wed.-Fri. predicted to be very cold (teens at worst). oh boy! Heard a Robin first thing. I saw nothing different, but did hear the Red-tailed Hawks calling. Been hearing the Red-shouldered too. Wind is stopping around dark and temps dropping fast.

Feb. 15 ~ About 47F all night. Big warmup before the cold front today. Canyon Towhee singing at dawn, and Anna's Hummers at feeders. The rest seemed the same. Except the 78F afternoon temps. Next week will be a cold one again. Finally cut all the Lantana stalks from llast year. Since that Bambi from hell ate all our Tropical Sage last year, the Lantanas saved our yard butterfly season last fall. And even though introduced and non-native, it did provide many a passing nectar to fuel their journeys when due to drought there would have been nothing..

We will get back to brown moths shortly, but you get a reprieve for a week...



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Feb. 14 ~ Low around 46F, overcast and chilly. The herd of Red-winged Blackbird were out there early. That chorusing is incredible. There are at least five different calls being made. So you have the strings, brass, woodwinds, percussion, you got it all! It is an entire single-species symphony of sound. Town run and park check. Might have been 10 Ring-necked Duck on the pond.

Feb. 13 ~ Winter is back today. Low about 34F with 10-20 mph northerlies on it, chills in the 20's. Not pleasant out there. I won't be looking around much out there today. Seed tosses will be it. Heard at least two Anna's Hummers, at least one Robin, the Canyon Towhee. In the afternoon a Hutton's Vireo was singing uphill in the live-oaks behind us. Some local WU stations showed 50F in the afternoon briefly, after the wind stopped.

Feb. 12 ~ About 50F at midnight, and 55 by dawn. Overcast but precip ended. We got about .15 of an inch or so. One Robin out there early, and a few Red-winged Blackbird. I expect the whoe herd later. Got nice out in the afternoon ahead of another inbound cold front tonight. Kathy saw the Red Admiral. The birdsong sure is great to hear out there now.

Feb. 11 ~ About 54F at midnight, near 58 at dawn. Fog and mist, the real precip missed us. I see a few hundredths. Heard Robin and waxwings early, but no guess on number. Hear three Eastern Phoebe at once out there now. Which means phoebe migration is underway. The ones that just winter here, or pass through in fall go through early in spring. Appears the movement has started. The big treat of the day was when the local wintering flock of Red-winged Blackbird came by and spent an hour loudly chorusing. It was a spectacular symphony. So I forgave them pigging out on the white millet. The flock is 80 (at least - Kathy) to-100 (my guess) birds. Later after counting birds in a photo I took, it was 98 birds! My photo count probably missed a couple birds. My guestimate shows the value of raising a kid doing Christmas bird counts. They get good at estimating a flock of birds bare-eyed. About 10 p.m. we got a light shower.

Feb. 10 ~ Low about 50F or so, though KERV was showing a 44, we were not that cold. Overcast and some near-mist. Birds were the same gang as expected. Off and on mist all day with temps staying about 54F maybe. Not going down much tonight, but supposed to rain. Kathy had two Phoebe at opposite sides of yard, lkely a transient in passage. It was quiet due to the wet, and I was out there little for the same reason.

Feb. 9 ~ Upper 60's at midnight, lower, about 64 at dawn. A little fog and mist.. Cold front is arriving. By the afternoon it was about 56F. About 25 dF cooler than yesterday afternoon. Still no freeze on the ten day forecast. Birds were the same gang. The winter of Anna's Hummingbird here. A couple accipiter flushings over the day as usual. Canyon Towhee singing still. The daylength today is a half-minute less than 11 hours.

Feb. 8 ~ Flatlined at 67F all night. Got up to 82-84 locally in afternoon. Weewow! All seemed the same here, though as yesterday I heard at least one Robin in the morning. Kathy is taking care of the Barham's dogs and in late afternoon when walking back just on the other side of the draw a flock of over 40 Robin flushed. The draw has Hackberries and Junipers both of which have ripening berries right now. Might be the high count of the winter here. Heard the Flicker again in the afternoon. Today's heat was ahead of a (not very) cold front tomorrow.



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Feb. 7 ~ Low about 60F at midnight, for a couple hours, when it rose 5dF for a 65F the rest of the night. Fog and some mist again, same pattern. Not missing the cold though. Town run day and quick check of park. There were a handful of Ring-necked Duck there, just one drake. There and around town totalled maybe 4 Myrtle Warbler. Canyon Towhee singing still. If it is as I suppose the first bird to show up last year, it has been here over SIX months now. So expecting it to leave to go wherever it breeds very soon.

Feb. 6 ~ Another night of clear until midnight or after, then the clouds, then the fog, and by dawn, misting again. Flat-lined at about 64F all night. Weird winter weather. Kathy had 24 Cedar Waxwings in Hackberries early in morn. Highest count for us here recently. Otherwise it seemed about the same. Chasing fighting Anna's Hummingbird is weird too. Cleared after noon, and saw about 77F in the afternoon sun. With this heat we should see Redbud and Agarita flowers pretty soon now.

Feb. 5 ~ Another overcast balmy night flatlined at 64F. Almost got foggy, was a bit of mist and damp ground. Duelling Bewick's Wren is a great song battle in the yard. House Finch are getting going more too. Ladder-backed Woodpecker drumming lots now too. Heard the Flicker in the afternoon. They leave early in spring. Heard Long-eared and Great Horned Owls after dark. A few Red-winged Blackbird were around a couple times.

Feb. 4 ~ A low if you can call it that in February, was about 65F! Some fog and mist with it, My we are in a mild spell. warm moist air. First morning I heard actual song from a Titmouse (Black-crested). Still sounds like three hummers out there. Eastern Phoebe singing a bit. Great bluebird song going now. The Field Sparrow really got going today. Got up to near 80F again in afternoon. Amazing warm spell. The highlight of the day was an email from Sylvia Hilbig with new of the FOS Purple Martin at their place NW of town in BanCo. Earliest local date I know of, beating my old Feb. 7 date. GREAT find and THANKS for the note Sylvia!

February 3 ~ Low about 50F with some fog. Burned off quickly and began warming. Around 3:30 local WU stations were showing 81-84F. Another air-out day. Nothing different with birds best I could tell. More singing is it. Which is great if you ask me. We are nearing the ' one month to Golden-cheeks' mark, within a few days. Kathy flushed that cat again. I know it is taking birds. As if the relentless accipiters are not enough. I wish the Coyotes were not so adamant about not entering the yard. They are welcome. The Gray Foxes do not mess with the feral cats.

February 2 ~ Low about 38F or so, KERV had 36. Clear and a big warmup today. A happy mid-winter to everyone. Today is half way between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. We are adding almost a minute-and-a-half every day, and daylength is 45 minutes longer than at the winter solstice. Birds were no change. First heard an Acridid, short-horned Grasshoper, such as the orange-winged type, but did not see it. Heard my first tuning up of Field Sparrow so far this year. The Bluebirds will be glad to see that. Honeybee and Red Admiral were the only other two insects I saw. At least one local WU station had 80F today! We were more like 78 at best, which was great.

February 1 ~ We were about 33F for a low, KERV had a 29! They were NOAA progged for 36, a pretty major miss. Funny how their AI logos modeling has not corrected this constant error in 20 years of operation. It warmed up tomaybe 74F in the afternoon. Great to open up and air out. There must be about two dozen White-winged and over a dozen Moiuirning Dove here now. At least when they all show up. Love hearing that bird song getting going again. Just a few residents so far, but Carolina and Bewick's Wren, and Cardinal, can make a lot of noise. Toss in White-wings and soon there will be a chorus. The live-oaks are yellowing up the hill behind us, they will be dropping leaves soon. A Red Admiral wanted to be the first butterfly I saw this month so badly it kept landing on me. This just in: Sylvia Hilbig sent an email, with news of a GREEN JAY at their place NW of town a few miles in Bandera Co.! OUTSTANDING news! Thanks for the great report Sylvia!



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~ ~ ~ January summary ~ ~ ~

It was a cold month with a couple polar air multi-day events of freezing and near-freezing temps. There was a little rain when any in winter is great since our usual dry spell. Maybe 1.5". Drought stage remains D3 - extreme, and water is over three feet below the spillway at the park pond (e.g. normal).

Saw no odes (dragonflies) as expected, and only a few butterflies were leftover from December. It was six species in January, Red Admiral is likely the only to make it to end of month. N. Mestra and Cloudless Sulphur were good for January though.

Birds are way down this winter overall, likely from the last four winters of poor wild food crops due to drought. Everything is connected. Cardinal and Chipping Sparrow are a quarter of the normal numbers. Very few Robin and waxwing around. The dearth of birds is not a figment of your imagination.

The Long-eared Owl continued in its fourth winter here. The big surprise was THREE ANNA's Hummingbird at once from Jan. 7 on. Incredible. Two males and a female, one male is a first winter as is the female. A couple encounters with Pyrrhuloxia and Hutton's Vireo were the only other scarcer things noted.

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~ ~ ~ January update header copy ~ ~ ~

January ~ The immature male Anna's Hummingbird at our place since Dec. 20 started trying to sing Jan. 2. Five days of hard-freeze lows was had Jan. 6-10. OMG there are TWO hummingbirds here at our place this 24F morning Jan. 7! ZOMG there are THREE Anna's Hummingbird here Jan. 7-24 so far. The Long-eared Owl was heard just after midnight Jan. 10 and more since. The 9th there was 1.25" of cold rain, Another arctic air deep freeze vent hit Jan. 19-24th.

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~ ~ ~ back to the daily drivel ~ ~ ~

Jan. 31 ~ Low in wee hours was 37F which is near the 36 KERV showed. Sunny and clear, going to 70 today. Great to hear the Cardinals singing more. Hummers active early of course. Still just as ginchy as since they got here. Only the female allows views. She comes in when I am near the feeder, as I suspect she knows the males will not so has some protection by my presence. Town run and park check where nothing. That 72F in the afternoon was certainly delightful. Had to go out and do my lizard impression. Shirley at the store told me of someone in Vanderpool that had a Screech-Owl getting into an enclosure and taking the heads off of some quail they are raising.

Jan. 30 ~ Yesterday evening the temps rose to 66F at midnight! A couple hours later then it dropped reaching 63F or so by dawn. Calm and the fog burned off as quickly as the sun rose. We get a warmish air-out day today! It is the little thngs... I think it is about 5 mm of rain, to add to the 5 mm in the three days prior, makes about 10 mm, a hair over a third of an inch. A little something. Still hearing three hummers, the singing Canyon Towhee. Again before dark, heck the sun was still on the river Cypresses, the Long-eared Owl was calling. Sure moves around a lot.

Jan. 29 ~ Low about 58F and foggy with drizzle and mist. Nothing has changed in three days, now this is the fourth. Better than arctic cold though. Might have racked up another mm or so of precip over the day. Chance for more overnight. Birds were the same but as it was misty I was not out there much. Still sounds like three hummingbirds. Did hear two Myrtle Warbler though. Love hearing that Long-eared Owl. Tonight it was calling before it got dark out!

Jan. 28 ~ Low in upper 40's F, still overcast with fog to mist conditions. Flock of Red-winged Blackbird out there in morn, a couple dozen at least. Might go as high as 60 Chipping Sparrow here now. Always hearing a few Field around too. Might have gotten up to 52F or so, and damp with mist, maybe another millimeter. Just enough to make it wet out there. Long-eared Owl after dark. In case anyone missed it, didja see in the Bandera Electric news mag a Black Bear was trapped by TPWD west of Uvalde last year. I presume along the Nueces River. Amazing.

Jan. 27 ~ Low about 56F, still cloudy with some drizzle or mist off and on. Actually was a light shower for a bit. Maybe another couple mm of precip. Temps dropped and was 48F or so in the afternoon. Did not see anything different for birds. Three hummers and a Canyon Towhee. Had the Hermit Thrush getting some seed (white millet). One Mocker seems to have stuck and continues over in the corral Junipers mostly. Cold and wet. I am holding out for more comfortable conditions for viewing. It is supposed to be viewing pleasure, not pain.   ;)    Today I acquired chigger No. 3 of the year. Heard the Long-eared and Great Horned Owls after dark.

Jan. 26 ~ Temps did not drop overnight. It flatlined about 58F or so. So there was fog-mist. A treat to not be freezing! Had three hummers early. Cold air and a northerly flow arrived shortly after noon. From noon to 3 p.m. it went from 60F to 50F. No big blow it seems, but cold air with warm moist Gulf air over it, so drizzle. By afternoon it might have added up to a couple mm. Birds were all the same gang. After dark the Long-eared Owl was close, not far past the road. Surely it has been IN our yard at some time.

Jan. 25 ~ Low about 38F is a treat these days. KERV had 37, one local WU station was only 50. Before sunup I heard both Great Horned and Long-eared Owl calling over in river habitat corridor. There was a little sun and in the afternoon it warmed up to about 64F maybe, so a great thawing. I heard when that system went by a few days ago, there was some snow up on the top high parts of the plateau just north of our area. North of Lost Maples it climbs to 2000' immediately. Did have three hummers here today. Heard the N. Flicker that has been in the vicinity all winter. I might go 60 on the Chipping Sparrow now. That cold brought some in.

~ ~ ~ ~

Note the annual summary is now up, though still missing totals for species and rain. The important sightings and non-sightings are compiled. It is a few weeks back at the annual break.



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Jan. 24 ~ Near 20F at sunup, though I saw KERV had 16F about 6 a.m., and I suspect we hit the teens as well. Mid-morn heard Kestrel and Killdeer over at the airstrip. Did a town run noonish. A quick park check had a couple Myrtle Warbler and a Belted Kingfisher. We did get to 50F in the afternoon but the wind was so cold you would have never guessed it. Per forecast this morn was the coldest one on the ten-day. We need a break.

Jan. 23 ~ Low about 28F, still freezing here. Heard a distant Kestrel mid-morn. Too busy at the work desk today to look out much. Saw the three hummers, heard the Canyon Towhee and a Lincoln's Sparrow. Otherwise it sounded the same. Might have hit a toasty 54F in the afternoon. Long-eared Owl calling after dark. Kathy saw a gorget on one of the Anna's Hummingbird here, so we have an adult male, an imm. male, and an immature female.

Jan. 22 ~ Low was in upper teens after midnight, but warmed to about 20F by sunup.Very cold. At least we missed the snow that hit to our east along the Gulf. I had to go to SAT again for another eye-scan. So missed most of the day here. I see a toasty 50F in the afternoon when I got back. At least there was a little thawing out. Chipping Sparrow is likely over 50 now. Heard the Long-eared Owl after dark, and of course the Great Horned, the E. Screech- are not yet going off.

Jan. 21 ~ Low around 27F or so, felt colder. Hummers out there first thing. We had the feeders inside overnight to lose the slushy. The possible precip did not happen here so dry, and clearing out early. Tomorrow morn slated to be the coldest one, in the teens. Then we slowly thaw back to normal winter conditions. We have the place fairly sealed up so only a few openings to peek at birds. I hope I do not see anything that would make me want to go out there in it to get a pic. I heard the Say's Phoebe over in the corral in the afternoon. A good bet for an insect moving. Might have hit 40F in the sunny afternoon. Heard the Long-eared Owl after dark. Was 22F by 11 p.m., and dropping.

Jan. 20 ~ Was about 20F here this morning, KERV had 18.5. Hummer feeders were slushy. Had to swap out for warm ones. It is cold out there. Hid inside all day except for the seed toss rounds. Might have gotten up to 34F or so. Brutal out there today. Wind picking back up later in day for a second punch of cold with possible wintry mix as NOAA calls it. Did have three Anna's Hummingbird today. Seemingly cold ones. The rest was the usual but I am not hanging around out there looking for anything.

Jan. 19 ~ Low about 25F, northerlies at 15 mph gusting to 25, chills about 15! Hummers camping on feeders. Another five-day Arctic air major freeze event starts now. Wind blew all night and most of the day. Might have hit 42F or so, with an icy breeze. Had the three hummers. Kathy got some pix of one through window and screen. They were close to feeders all day. Other than them it was the same gang of winterers. Thought I heard Lincoln's Sparrow again. Picked up a second matching chigger today, so now there is one on the inside of both thighs.

Jan. 18 ~ Was around 45F at midnight, went up to about 50 by 3 a.m. or so. Afternoon got up to a blazing 67F or so, almost sunbathing weather. Again thought I heard a Lincoln's Sparrow, there must be one sneaking around out there. The three Anna's continue. Time to batton down the hatches as another Arctic air cold event arrives tonight, lasting through next week. Here we go again. I would say we are having a cold winter. Slow to get here, but lots of very cold when it did.


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Jan. 17 ~ Was about 45F at midnight, and 48 at sunup. We have added a half-hour to daylength since the solstice, and are gaining a minute per day now. Heard Robin in the morning, and the usual gang. We did a town run noonish. Heard 4-5 Myrtle Warbler at the park, where water is 3 FEET below spillway, at least. There was a male Lesser Goldfinch in town. Back here in the afternoon I had the 3 Anna's Hummingbird at once.

Jan. 16 ~ Low about 30F, KERV had a quick 28 and 29. Hearing the Red-tailed Hawk pair over at river, they are back at it for another cycle. They disappear when the young fledge (June to Aug.) and are not around until later Dec. or Jan., so are absent most of four months. Where do they go? Hear a herd of Anna's Hummers out there in morn. At least one Robin. Hutton's Vireo singing behind us in big live-oaks again. Noonish I realized I had made my first harvest of the year when tossing seed in the morn, a chigger! Heard the Long-eared Owl after dark.

Jan. 15 ~ We flatlined all night at about 48F! Sure is nice to not be cold for a change. Heard the Hutton's Vireo singing uphill behind us in the giant live-oaks. In the afternoon there were three Anna's Hummingbird. Two males and a female being displayed at. Lots of display dives today. Amazing to see that here. Next week we have a couple more days that will hover around freezing all day. They better fatten up. It got up to about 65F in the afternoon, which felt outstanding. And dry too finally. Heard the Long-eared Owl calling shortly after dusk.

Jan. 14 ~ Low about 28F, KERV had 26 and was progged for 31. A half-category miss. There were about 6 Robin first thing early. A couple Anna's early, and did have 3 at once in the afternoon. Great hearing the Canyon Towhee tuning up with various jumbled garbled song notes. Might have hit 57F or so at peak heat. Overcast all day. Kathy flushed a Gray Fox out of the flower bed at the front porch. Amazing to spend an evening at about 48F or so and it not get cold at dark. Very pleasant.

Jan. 13 ~ Low about 34F which is what KERV showed too. Heard a Robin in the big dead Pecan first thing. Mid-morn heard the Pyrrhuloxia out by the wellhouse. In the afternoon Kathy saw an accipiter fly across the yard... and found a pile of male Cardinal feathers. Right on the stone steps by the front porch. No doubt one we see daily, that eats the Lantana berries. Got up to about 57F or so at peak heat. Nice to warm up. I heard the musical mechanical pop of an Anna's Hummingbird display dive. First of that so far. Males do this at perched females usually.

Jan. 12 ~ Low about 30F or so, maybe cooler, KERV had 27F. A barely freeze. First hummer was about 7:25 a.m., sunrise is listed as 7:35 per WU Utopia stats. Did have three out there mid-afternoon. Got more shots of what I think was the female again. Thought I heard a Lincoln's Sparrow again. Myrtle Warbler through yard every day, just like last couple winters, and I would not be surprised if it were the same male. Warmed to about 58F or so which felt great.

January 11 ~ I think we were about 20F this frigid morning. We went to town today after it warmed to 34F or so. I heard reports in town of 15-20 for lows in the area. KERV had a 19F. Coldest morn this winter so far, to cap a week of freezing our ferns. The SAT record hi-low for today is 10 and 81F.

In the late morn I had a single blackbird fly over calling that looked and sounded a Rusty Blackbird to me. Surely it was one. We did a town run today after it warmed a bit. On way back at the corrals on 360 just east of river there was the usual blackbird flock, and Kathy spotted at least 6 Killdeer in a bare field. Wintering birds from northward.

In the afternoon I did hear three Anna's Hummingbird out there so they all made it through 20F fine. The Canyon Towhee did some first song type noises I have heard from it since it got here in August. The birds seemed to like the warmup, a fair bit of singing is great to hear. After dark the Long-eared and Great Horned Owl were calling.



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January 10 ~ The Long-eared Owl called just after midnight, early early this morn. The precip ended before midnight and temps were above freezing so no ice here. Was about 34-36F all night. The cold front got here at dawn with 20 mph winds gusting to 30, so wind chill in upper 20's F now. Lovely. Not sure I feel like a town run in it today. Once the wind stops this evening it will get real cold, low tomorrow about 24F or so, but 54 in afternoon. They are showing 42-44F out there this afternoon, but chill is 34 in the wind. Passed on the town run, will go tomorrow when getting past 50F.

January 9 ~ Looked like it was about 34F all day With a very cold rain on it. Nearing dark it looks close to an inch or so of precip. I did not lollygag around out there much today and ran through the seed tosses as quickly as I could. Did hear three humingbirds that all sound identical. The windows are all very covered to keep cold out, so not much visibility from inside either. Tomorrow the front blows through and Sat. morn is the real cold one.The final rain total after some evening showers is 32-33mm. Over 1.25" but under 1..3". A greaet much needed total, and one of the coldest rains you can get at 34F all day.

January 8 ~ Low about 32F, not as cold as progged. Overcast and humid, cold. Had at least two hummers at once early. I am not going to stand out there freezing to work on them today, just keeping now three feeders with unfrozen fluid for them. Heard the Canyon Towhee, and again maybe two, but not together. In the afternoon around 3 p.m. I had a flocklet of waxwings, less than ten, and some Red-winged Blackbird. Also definitely heard THREE hummingbirds, and which all sound identical. I think it is three Anna's here now!

January 7 ~ Low about 24F or so, maybe lower, KERV had 22. Hummer feeders not frozen though. Let's hear it for the lowered freeze point due to higher specific gravity (like saltwater) of the sugar water. OMG there are TWO hummingbirds here this morning! Kathy confirmed it and then mentioned she wondered the other day if there might be two. Incredible. Just when we figured the first one out, a second shows up. The feeders have terrible lighting when seen from inside the house much of the time.

Which means I will have to spend time out in the cold to try to get a shot. So I did. And I did. A bird landed on the front feeder whilst I was there waiting motionless for an extraordinary amount of time. I presumed it was the new bird since the imm male has not come in if I am out there. Sure enough it has white-tipped rectrices (tail feathers) and is an immature or female. I had already said to Kathy it sounds like another Anna's. From the poor pics I would say it is indeed an imm. female Anna's. ZOMG!

It kept getting worse... Nearing 3 p.m. after the afternoon seed toss event I sat sunning on side porch. I could hear the two Anna's ticking from each end of yard. A THIRD hummer flew in to front porch feeder. Which I could not see but heard its wings humming as it fed. The two Anna's remained perched ticking where they were. There are THREE hummers here now!?!?! ZOMG! Just when I thought I had the situation nailed down and under control, bam! we still have an as of yet un-ID'sd hummer here!

January 6 ~ Low about 26F, clear, wind blew all night to morn. Bird bath frozen, hummer is near feeders. At least one local WU station was showing 50F, not sure we had that. Tomorrow morn is progged to be the coldest one. Oh boy we can't wait. Nothing different except did hear one Robin around, which I had not the last few days.

January 5 ~ Low about 62F at dawn, with a serious cold front inbound today. Lows will be in 20's all week! Hummer is out there early, Hope it can handle the cold. We will likely have to do some feeder rotating with a warmed one. Got up to upper 50's F in afternoon despite northerlies, which started by noon or so. In butterflies saw one Red Admiral, a Sleepy Orange, and a Cloudless Sulphur, and Kathy added a Dainty Sulphur. In the afternoon heard a Golden-crowned Kinglet in yard. Titmice and Chickadees in overdrive getting sunflower seeds, presumedly for stashing. Here comes the cold. Brace for impact. Which is what we did much of the day.

Jan. 4 ~ Was about 52F and clear just after midnight, when I heard the Long-eared Owl again, and about 58F or warmer and foggy at dawn. Hummer out there making noises. Heard a waxwing or two in the morn. Kathy heard cranes southbound late in afternoon. She also saw a N. Mestra. The butterflies will be mostly toast after the big freeze starting Monday.


~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~

January 3 ~ Was around 45F at midnight, warmed to 50 for a bit, and then dropped to 47 around dawn. Clear and sunny. I see the 10-day shows freezes all week next week, and low high with it So, winter will return next week. This benign period has been very nice. Heard the hummer early in morn. Might have heard two Canyon Towhee, on opposite sides of yard again. Town run and park check, to no avail at the park. A couple Myrtle Warbler was it.

January 2 ~ Was clear and about 44F just after midnight, 50 and foggy by sunup. The immature male Anna's Hummingbird was trying to sing, the first of that I have heard. If you think the adult male singing is a screeching grating mess, you should hear the imm. males learning that symphony. This is day 14 for the hummer here. I heard a Hutton's Vireo for the first time in a while. They have not been around much lately. The rest was the same as it ever was. Chipping Sparrow seems a few more, maybe 30 or more.

January 1 ~ Happy New Year! About 42F at sunup but certainly was in 30's overnight. KERV had a 34F around 2:30 am.. Great Horned Owl was likely the first bird I heard as I went out for the morning seed tossing rounds at 7. At 9 heard the hummingbird come in. Got my year Anna's out of the way. Heard the Canyon Towhee, Carolina Wren doing a bit of singing in the morning. At least one Accipiter flushing looked a Sharp-shinned. Only got to low 60's F so not much for butterflies out. Heard a couple Cedar Waxwing, which is about once a week lately.

~ ~ ~ end of year ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ 2024 summary ~ ~ ~

This was another drought year to add on the last few. Some couple or few months were in only D2 severe drought. Most of it was D3 extreme, and some was D4 exceptional. The environment shows the results, or lack thereof, of extended extreme drought. Most of the year the river was not flowing, so tourism was way down again. I still have to add up a rain total. There was very little wildflower bloom all year. We have two dying old climax Hackberry trees, besides the biggest one lost already. We lost a 200 year old Pecan in the yard. Some Sycamore and Cypress along the river bed are dying. The water table is twice as low as it usually is, many wells are dry.

Insect numbers are way way down. Lots of nights a porch light barely got any moths. Due to repeated years of drought and a dry river for the most part the dragonflies were pitiful, and generally very hard to come by. They were scarce this year again. No rare or unusual types were found. A few Red-tailed Pennant were regularly at the park and i think some emerged there. Barely managed to scrape up Widow or Roseate Skimmer. It is an unimagineable dearth compared to what it was not very long ago. For the first summer in 21 years I did not see any Orange-striped Threadtail damselfly at Utopia Park where a population has been since I got here.

Butterflies were also very low in numbers and diversity. If it were not for our watered garden we would have seen very few. Many species were absent, like Arizona Sister, Viceroy, Crimson Patch, Great Purple Hairstreak, etc. Did not see one Monarch all fall for the first time ever in 21 years. Small stuff was almost MIA. Very few hairstreaks, blues, and other smaller stuff. Only two metalmarks all year. Skippers were amazingly few. Worst year ever here. There was just one rare butterfly seen, a Giant White on our Lantana Sept. 22. It was quite torn and frayed. Only my second one photographed, though saw one or two with no pics. They are very rare here. It was the best bug of the year here. Many of the species seen were only one or a few invidicuals. In moths 17 Polyphemus moth at the general store Aug. 7 was fairly spectacular.A local photographed a male IO moth Aug. 11. as well.

One nearish-by mammal deserves mention since it never has been here. TPWD trapped a Black Bear west of Uvalde this year. I wonder when the last record in Uvalde County was? Likely about 50 air miles away from us here.

Birds were way off like everything else. Spring and fall migration were both very weak. Breeding season was poor for most of the local species. They mostly nested only twice and only fledged a young or two at most both cycles. The Red-tails only fledged one young, the Great Horned Owls fledged two. Most of the passerines were the same.

We started and ended the year with the returning Long-eared Owl, now on its fourth winter here. It was last heard April 11 and returned Sept. 17 for its fourth winter here. Last January we had a one visit Pine Siskin, only one last winter, and none yet this winter. A Couch's Kingbird showed up March 15, our earliest spring migrant ever, and stayed until early October. Was seen seemingly consorting with a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher at one point. Early April a Common Black-Hawk at Lost Maples (by others) is a local highlight. As were a couple Prothonotary Warbler at Corneilius Rd in April. Our bird of the spring and maybe year here was a male Golden-winged Warbler at our bath April 30. A Yellow-bellied Flycatcher May 17 was nice, easy to miss any spring. A female MacGillivray's Warbler on June 3rd is my first June record. My THIRD Canyon Wren at Utopia Park was Aug. 23. Our only Mourning Warbler of the fall was Oct. 2 in front porch flower beds. Oct. 7 is an early date for Red-naped Sapsucker. A Pyrrhuloxia around our place Nov. 6 was still around in January. Nov. 9-15 we had a very tardy Ruby-throated Hummingbird, imm. male. November 21 was probably the bird of the year, an American Crow. I have one other record here, which was Nov. 23, 2016. This is actually rarer here than the Golden-winged Warbler. The warbler looked better though. Dec. 20 an Anna's Hummingbird showed up which by early January was THREE Anna's here. Still have to get annual species total estimate.

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~~ ~ ~ December summary ~ ~ ~

There was a little rain and more cold. It mostly felt like winter. The drought stage remains D3, extreme, river sorta has some water in a few spots, but much is dry upvalley of town. We had about 2" of rain here.

I saw no odes (dragonflies and damselflies) not surprisingly. A perfect cap to what a bust of a year it was for them here. There a small group of butterflies mostly left overs from November that stuck it out into December. Some few will make January. Until the hard freezes there were still a few flowers around here, so they had food. Nothing rare this winter, and the total was 16 species for the month..

Birds continued fairly unremarkable for the most part. When you do not have the usual wild food crops, anything that does show up doesn't stick and keeps going. Overall numbers of many things seem to be down, like Cardinal and Chipping Sparrow in particular. No Siskins, only a few Waxwing, Robin and Am. Goldfinch. A Pine Warbler on the 6th at the park was nice since scarcer since drought regimen set in. Best bird was an Anna's Hummingbird that showed up Dec. 20, through end of year and continued. , The Pyrrhuloxia sometimes in our yard continued through month as did a Canyon Towhee and the Long-eared Owl

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December: A couple FOS on the 6th at the park were Pne Warbler and Ring-necked Duck. Dec. 11 and 12 we had our first freeezes of the season, finally. A hummingbird showed up on the 20th which is still present the 27th. On the 25th I heard diagnostic Anna's calls. Still not allowing good look though. The 26th there is a Say's Phoebe calling at the grass airstrip near the 360 x-ing, where one wintered last year. The 30th saw record heat at 87F and higher locally.

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~ ~ ~ Back to the daily drivel ~ ~ ~

Dec. 31 ~ We made it through another year! Low in KERV hit 39F briefly around 4 a.m., but was about 47F by sunup. We were likely similar. High temp today will be about 20dF below yesterday. Hummer still here, got some back shots. The rest was the same gang. Canyon Towhee, Myrtle Warbler always nice among others. Kathy saw a couple Dainty Sulphur. And so end the 2024 year lists. Last bird of the year was the Long-eared Owl calling over in river habitat corridor. A fine way to finish it if you ask me.

Dec. 30 ~ So it is 365 almost down and one to go still. Low was about 40F here. KERV was in upper 30's F for a bit. The big warmp day prior to a frontal arrival, we will will see record high temps. Anna's still here, still not allowing pix. It got smokin' hot all afternoon. Local WU station were reporting 87 to 89F! The SAT record for the date was 82F! NOAA says one of the hottest December days on record, and SAT, AUS, and Del Rio broke their high temp records handily. KERV saw a 50dF temp swing today! Eastern Phoebe singing a lot in morning, as is Eastern Bluebird. Bewick's Wren still in the lead for most singing now. Heard a Hermit Thrush in Junipers along north fence. Couple times today I thought I heard a Lincoln's Sparrow.

Dec. 29 ~ Low about 41F, sunny and another 80F day on the way. A few dF below record, but way up there. Mostly sounded the same gang in birds. Except at a scolding event, Kathy went out to look and flushed a Roadrunner off the patio as she walked out. The birds do not trust them. With good reason. She also saw the W. Ribbonsnake I heard the last two days off the back porch down in the dry leaves. Amazing they are out and active in late December.

Dec. 28 ~ Ran about 62-64F overnight, just like winter We have a few days of this before cool air returns next Tuesday or Wednesday. Wow. The hummer continues, ginchy as ever. In the morn I heard two Canyon Towhee calling from opposite ends of the yard. Would be nice to get a replacement for the one we lost. Otherwise it was the same gang. There has been an increase in birdsong. Bewick's Wren is singing. The Eastern Bluebirds were in full blown song this morning too. We are less than two minutes longer of daylength since the solstice. Yesterday I heard White-winged Dove sing, and Kathy heard Carolina Chickadee song. She also saw TWO N. Mestra butterfly today. It got up to about 78F or so! A real winter. The Little Yellow still around too. The Great Horned Owl pair was doing territorial singing unlike the last couple months. This is the time that starts. I forgot to list them on my xmas day list, when I heard them but not singing like this.


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Dec. 27 ~ Low about 40F at dawn. I see KERV was 35-39F from 2-5 a.m. or so. We may have been colder then too. Hear the Anna's Hummingbird out there first thing. A few Eastern Bluebird went over in morn. Town run and a pond check at the park, where nothing. Water is over 3 FEET below spillway overflow. No flow at 360 x-ing either. Send H2O. Town seemed quiet which is nice. Got pretty warm in the afternoon, some local WU stations showed 80F! So there were a few butterflies. The Red Turkscap has a few flowers, there are a few Tropical Sage flowers, and a couple dozen Lantana flowers on two plants against house that survived the freeze last week. New was a male Checkered White, and a different Orange Sulphur. Still around were the N. Mestra, an American Lady, Sleepy Orange or two.

Dec. 26 ~ Happy Boxing Day! It was about 55F at midnight, and 58 and very foggy at dawn. Anna's Hummingbird still here this morn. Today makes a week here. By 11 a.m. I had Eastern Bluebird and Ruby-crowned Kinglet, both of which I missed yesterday. Better was hearing a Say's Phoebe calling at the airstrip just over the corral. Likely the same one that wintered there last year. The first I have heard of it this winter. I can only hear it when it gets down to this end of the airstrip. Light northerlies from about noon on, and warmed into mid-70's F. Toasty in the sun. Saw a couple Sleepy Orange, a Red Admiral, and a N. Mestra in butterflies. Kathy had a yellow one, likely the Cloudless Sulphur still around. Heard the Long-eared Owl after dark over towards river.

Dec. 25 ~ Merry Christmas! Low about 52F, overcast and humid. Mild is fine. Finally got a positive ID on the hummer. Shortly before noon it gave a long call, the screecy, grating, rattle. It is absolutely an Anna's Hummingbird. These are the default hummingbird of my youth, so know the calls very well.

Here is my Chrstmas bird list, in no order. Carolina and Bewick's Wren, Black-crested Titmouse, Carolina Chickadee, Chipping and Field Sparrow, Ladder-backed and Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Common Raven, Mourning and White-winged Dove, N. Cardinal, N. Mockingbird, Myrtle Warbler, Canyon Towhee, Red-winged Blackbird, House Finch, Cooper's Hawk, Black Vulture and American Goldfinch.

Things I have been seeing daily or nearly so that I missed were Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Phoebe, Hermit Thrush, and Robin. A few things I have been seeing at least a couple times per week but missed were Eastern Bluebird, Flicker (Y-sh.), Sapsucker (Yell-bell), Red-shouldered Hawk, and probably Sharp-shinned Hawk, and the Pyrrhuloxia (!). Did not see or hear any of these ten today. A THIRD of the diversity usually around. Any given day, it is EASY to miss anything. Got sunny and about 68F by the afternoon.

Dec. 24 ~ It floated around 60F most of the night. Overcast and humid. About 9 a.m. I heard the hummingbird visit the back feeder. Also heard a Golden-crowned Kinglet in big the live-oaks behind us. Stayed overcast but warmed to 68F at least. Not hot or cold is good here, anytime. Still hear Mockingbirds mostly over in the corral. The rest was the regulars.

Dec. 23 ~ After dark yesterday warmed to about 60 where it stayed all night to morn. Overcast and humid. Yesterday was too humid to make fudge, in case any wonder. I see fudge brownies on the horizon now. About 10:30 I heard the hummer come in. Ran inside for a quick glimpse in bins through old grayed glass and screen. I did not see any color on underparts, it looked like an Anna's in my poor grayed view. This is day 4 for it. In the afternoon I heard the Pyrrhuloxia behind cottage.

Dec. 22 ~ Low was at midnight when about 45F. By dawn it was 50F. Overcast and humid. Fairly quiet out there most of the day, must be an accipiter or two around. Usually there are multiple flushings daily due to them. Finally about 4 p.m. there were two things out there. First I heard some Sandhill Cranes flying over southbound. Then I heard the hummingbird wing humm. Came in for binocs and saw it briefly hit the office window feeder out back. Where there is no light and decent viewing in afternoon. From size and shape, plus hover posture I think it is an Anna's. Which is what I told Kathy I thought I heard on Friday when I first heard it chip. It is one of the most likely semi-rare hummers to show up in December. We have a handful of Dec. records in the last 20 years, and at least a couple have over-wintered. One was here at our place during the big blackout freeze of 2021 a few years ago surviving nights that hit 5F, and 10F! When I go set up with camera on one feeder in back, it goes to front feeder, and vice versa, so far. Ginchy as heck.

Dec. 21 ~ Happy Solstice! Today is one whole second shorter than yesterday, and tomorrow will be one second longer. That 7:30 sunrise seems late. Low at about 36F is brisk. Mostly overcast until after noon. Might have gotten up to 65F or so. After telling Kathy I thought I heard a hummingbird yesterday, I absoluely did hear one today. Have not yet seen it, but heard it out there buzzing around. I heard a hard chip note that was either Selasphorus or an Anna's Hummer. Did not catch it in the afternoon though.


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Dec. 20 ~ Low about 40F, chilly but not bad. Sunny and still is nice too. In the morn I heard an Audubon's Oriole call twice. Since the drought got real bad, they have gone much scarcer here. They were doing soooo well too. Heard the Flicker out there this morn, Myrtle Warbler, American Goldfinch, nad maybe a Lincoln's Sparrow. Town run and park check. Where nothing different. I think we are good now through the holiday next week. It got a toasty 70F out there in the the afternoon. Kathy saw a bunch of butterflies. A N. Mestra, a Queen, a Cloudless Sulphur, Vesta Crescent, Sleepy Orange, and Red Admiral. This is exactly what was out there before the two 17dF freezes last week. So it all survived mostly holed up for a week.

Dec. 19 ~ Low was about 37F or so, KERV had a couple 33 point somethings. Sunny and nice. Looks alot more like winter after the blow yesterday, a lot of the remaining leaves fell. Must have accipiters hiding in the shadows, as it was very quiet out there today. Just the regular exxpected gang, including hearing the Pyrrhuloxia out back. Was nice to see that 70F in the afternoon, and dry too. Thirty percent is dry here. The yellow yard was nice while it lasted.

Dec. 18 ~ Still 65F for a low. Some overcast but breaking up early with front about to arrive. Gonna be a blower of a day here, and a great de-leafer no doubt. About 10:30 the first big gust arrived and took 5 dF off the temp instantly. I heard the Pyrrhuloxia in the big stick pile by the corral first thing early. Pretty breezy much of day, dying down only at sunset. Get ready for a cold morning tomorrow! I did have a glimpse of a Lady butterfly, but not an ID.

Dec. 17 ~ Still firmly planted in the mid-upper 60's F, quite a run. Some showerlets overnight and then some showers over the morning. Looks like between ONE and an eighth inches, and 3 cm! We need it badly. The cold front arrives tomorrow morning. This was some Edwards Plateau thing. Every bit of precip is great when you are 4-6 FEET behind. Though not much for birds in the rain. Heard the Flicker in the afternoon. A few Red-winged Blackbird around. The big Hackberry over the office corner of the house is bright yellow and gorgeous. Did warm to 73F or so.

Dec. 16 ~ Still flatlining at 65F for the overnight. Still near fog and a bit of mist, very humid. Couple days to the next cold front. Heard Hermit Thrush, Canyon Towhee, and a few American Goldfinch early in morn. Kinglet (Ruby) and Myrtle Warbler out there too. Oddly it still seems like there are only a couple dozen Chipping Sparrow here, tops. Is it just the lack of cold and open ground and plenty of food still up north? Hear a couple Field Sparrow out there but no Lincoln's here for the winter like last year. Thought I heard a White-crowned Sparrow out there today.

Dec. 15 ~ Another night flatlining at about 66F, overcast, and humid. Was a bit of mist-drizzle. Some Robin were in the big dead Pecan before 9 a.m., a few. Must be accipiters around as it was nearly dead every time I went out and looked around. After the freeze the rest of the green Hackberry and Pecan leaves have finally gone yellow so it looks nice outside. Except for that toasted Lantana. A week ago it looked gorgeous, now it looks like death. Two mornings at 27F was all it took. .

Dec. 14 ~ Flatlined at about 66F all night. Low stratus and humid southerly flow from the Gulf. Balmy for mid-Dec.! There were at least a couple accipiter flushings out there today. Did not see anything different. Heard American Goldfinch go over. Warmed up into the upper 70's! Just like winter! The Lantana looks terrible, a frozen plant is not a pretty thing. One little one next to house looks OK still. Most of it is cooked. We are only losing 14 seconds of daylength per day now, just a week before solstice. The hi-low temp records for today in SAT are 85-15F. Quite the spread.


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Dec. 13 ~ Flatlined at about 57F all night. Low clouds and nearly fog. Canyon Towhee among others waiting for that first seed toss. Could not tell if the vocalizations were saying great to see you before sunup, or, hurry the heck up. Town run and a brief look at park, where I saw nothing. Back here in afternoon it misted a bit, at about 65F.

Dec. 12 ~ Oops, we did it again! Another 27F hard freeze low. The flowers look burnt. Cooked. Toasted. The Lantana had over 200 flowers on it! It was a very busy day at office desk, and I saw nothing different. Though I heard a bird I did not recognize. Really have no idea what it was. Could not be more frustrating. Let it go. Did hear a couple Hermit Thrush still here. Was very breezy until very late in afternoon when wind stopped. Then southerly flow with low stratus moved in and it warmed to 57F or so after dark.

Dec. 11 ~ We did it, it froze, finally. It was about 27F here, and that is what KERV had too. The half-inch of ice in the birdbath was a frozen disk. In the afternoon I saw purple leaves on the Tropical Sage. Lantana will probably be that way by the morning tomorrow. Amazing it all stayed this green this long. I was on a SAT trip and got back just before dark. Kathy said the birds here were all the same gang.

Dec. 10 ~ Low was just after midnight when it hit about 40F briefly. Then the front and winds got here and it warmed to about 45-47 the rest of night. KERV had a 38 point something. After the wind stops, tomorrow morn might maybe be our first freeze of the season. Birds were the same gang, lots of White-winged Dove came for seed early.

Dec. 9 ~ Low about 42F, chilly, but today is a big warmup day before the cold front. Sunny early and great to see that. We might even see a freeze Wednesday morning. Shortly after noon Kathy had a large group of Black Vulture circling which were about 75 birds total. Heard one Canyon Towhee. Warmed up to about 79F so everything got aired out before the next cold. Some butterflies were the Pipevine Swallowtail, a Cloudless Sulphur, a Sleepy Orange, Couple Vesta Crescent, Red Admiral, and Queen. The Lantana is blooming bonkers from that 5 inches of rain in November.

Dec. 8 ~ Low about 35F, not sure it moved in the last 30 hours or so. Flatlinin', and foggish out. Small flock of Red-winged Blackbird early. The rest all seemed the same. Still cool and damp until afternoon when it finaly warmed up to 60F or so. About 5 p.m. there was a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker calling from the front yard Pecans. Always great to see in the yard. Heard the Long-eared Owl after dark. Weird how the Frostweed put out a bunch of small flowers, so late in season, no doubt that 5 inches of rain in Nov. and no freeze yet induced.

Dec. 7 ~ Low about 43F, might have heated up to a smokin' 47 or so. Light sprinkles and showerlets all day, by late afternoon when quitting total about 1 CM, again. So now two CM this week, or .80 of an inch. Ground needs it. Birds were predictably slow in the cold and wet. So was I. Just heard the same stuff. And still a biz office busy work day.


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Dec. 6 ~ Low about 45F and overcast. Near foggy. Temps might rise 10dF over the day. Town run and park check. A whopping two FOS species were detected. A Pine Warbler with a half-dozen Myrtle Warbler was great to see. Also the first ducks I have seen this fall, about 4 Ring-necked Duck. Winter birds! A Belted Kingfisher was upriver. Heard a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker across river below spillway. Back here in early afternoon there was a small group of Robin, less than 10, over in the Junipers along north fence. A few Red-winged Blackbird were around. Fridays are pretty busy at desk too.

Dec. 5 ~ Low about 55F, sorta foggy. Be lucky to hit 60. Next two days are to be in 40's all day. Like Winter or something. We still have a couple Pecans and a big Mulberry with green leaves on them. Besides being cold and breezy, it was Thursday so I am buried in the computer for biz. Still go out and check around every hour or so for five minutes or more. Nothing new or different this gray day.

Dec. 4 ~ Was around 49F at midnight, but 52 at dawn. Sprinkles, showerlets and drizzle much of night and morn. As of noon looks like 1 cm or so. Soppy out there, don't have to water. Heard Robin, waxwing, bluebird, Mocker, the usual. Another quiet day out there, likely Accipiter influenced. Too cool and wet for butterflies. Heard the Long-eared Owl after dark.

Dec. 3 ~ Low about 52F ann overcast. Only going up to 60 today. Fairly quiet out there today. I suspect some accipiters hiding in the shadows. Did have one Canyon Towhee. Cardinal numbers are low, it might be a dozen, maybe. Chipping Sparrow still seem to not number twenty five. Did hear the Robin, and a couple each Myrtle Warbler and Ruby-crowned Kinglet. I never mention it but since a slow day, we do hear Egyptian Geese daily from across the river somewhere. They are quasi-feral ranch birds.

Dec. 2 ~ Low about 44F and clear. But which didn't last long, it was overcast all day after about 11 a.m. The birds were the same gang, except I heard Cedar Waxwing in the afternoon along with a, or the, couple Robin. At least two Ruby-crowned Kinglet and two Myrtle Warbler around in morn. Saw the Pipevine Swallowtail again today, in fact got a pic. Might have gotten up to about 55F. Only warm enough for the biggest of butterflies today Late in day heard the Pyrrhuloxia over in corral. Kinda funny as a few years before we moved to this place we birded the road out front many times, and once found a Pyrrhuloxia, in the corral.

December 1 ~ Was about 40F at sunrise, which was not visible due to overcast. It briefly dipped into upper 30's overnight. Heard the Robin, a Canyon Towhee, Myrtle Warbler, American Goldfinch, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, the usual stuff of late. The Lantana seemed to be OK after the near-freeze. There was a Lady on it that looked like a Painted to me. Saw Queens, Vesta Crescent, the Mestra, a Cloudless Sulphur and something small and pale got away from me. Maybe it was a Gray Hairstreak. Kathy confirmed a Pipevine Swallowtail, which means we were right yesterday and one will be put on the November list. Warmed to about 67F or so. .

~ ~ ~ November summary ~ ~ ~

Well it was a wet one. Here we had about 5.3" of rain! Incredible total, mostly from one anomolous event. Briefly brought the river up, and at least flushed it out, but it quickly dropped again. More than two feet below spillway overflow at park pond. We remain in drought level D3, extreme. However we have yet to have a freeze. Green leaves on a couple Pecan and a Mulberry at end of November we had never seen before.

Insects were predictably poor overall. Odes (dragonss), were a few species. Thankfully there was some butterfly action at the flowers around the front porch, which were good attractors for the few things flying. The Tropical Sage came back to life without without that Satan Bambi from hell eating it, some Red Turkscap was still going, and the Lantana went through a bloom cycle. It was 20 species, low, due to drouhgt. Nothing really unusual, just scraping for the basics. One Pipevine Swallowtail late on 30th. NO Monarch ALL FALL. Must be the first fall I did not see one. Had blooming Frostweed here waiting for them too. Lots of things nectared on Basil, and left here a lot more spicy than they arrived.

Birds are mostly the rest of the winter arrivals showing up, as lots of them do in November. The first of things like Golden-crowned Kinglet, Cedar Waxwing and American Goldfinch. Still no waterfowl at the park this fall. Though heard White-fronted Geese overhead in dark one night. A Pyrrhuloxia has been hanging around the corral and sometimes at our place all month. Nice to snag an Osprey going by, been missing them most years since drought. Second best bird was a late Ruby-throated Hummingbird here Nov. 9-16. seemingly my latest Ruby-throated date. A Rufous showed up for only an hour or two on the 26th. The BOM, bird of the month, was an AMERICAN CROW on Nov. 21 which flew over calling. My other record is Nov. 23 (!) in 2016. Second one in 21 years here. Establishing a three-day window in which you can safely report one. ;) LOL It will probably be bird of the year. A Crow.

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~ ~ ~ November update header archive copy ~ ~ ~

November ~ A FOS Robin was here on the 1st. On the 2nd FOUR INCHES of not well-forecast rain fell! Later on 2nd there was a FOS White-cronwed Sparrow here, and on the 4th. a FOS Lincoln's Sparrow, though likely heard a couple earlier. Nov. 5 we had FOS Orange-crowned and Audubon's Warbler. A Pyrrhuloxia on the 6th was my FOS. A FOS Hermit Thrush showed on the 7th. My FOS Brewer's Blackbird was on the 11th. Nov. 12 we saw our FOS Golden-crowned Kinglet. A late Ruby-throated Hummingbird is here Nov. 9-15. A FOS Osprey was over river on the 15th. My FOS Common Grackle was the 18th. My first Cedar Waxwings showed on the 21st. Incredible was an AMERICAN CROW on Nov. 21. Nov. 23 had two FOS species... Shortly after midnight barely into the day, I heard my FOS White-fronted Geese going south. In the morn my FOS American Goldfinch. A tardy hummingbird showed up noonish on the 26th, looks a Rufous type.

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Nov. 30 ~ Eleven down and one to go. It was a chilly 34F or so here this morn. KERV had 32 point something. A near-freeze, but we have made it to December without one yet. Couple Robin out there early. It was a chilly breezy day, we might have hit 58F or so. Nothing different for birds, some Red-winged Blackbird coming in for white millet. Kathy saw a couple females. Mostly it has been males. A very few butterflies showed, including Red Admiral and Vesta Crescent. Surprised the Lantana does not look more frozen, we will see tomorrow morning how it took that 34F.


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Nov. 29 ~ Low about 36F is chilly, clear, the wind stopped. KERV had 34. Still no freeze here yet. I wonder what our average date of first freeze is? Was it last year or year before it was mid-October? Town run and park check. People out on spillway, and no birds on pond. Very quiet. Just like town. Did hear the Pyrrhuloxia in morning. The rest was the same daily cast of participants. Got up to about 60F in afternoon. Brace for cold. Saw the Vesta Crescent and the Buckeye out in that.

Nov. 28 ~ Happy Thanksgiving! Low about 45F and wind 10mph gusting to 20 plus. Lotta leaves gonna fall with this one. It will be looking like winter real soon. Birds were the same mostly. Maybe had the same Golden-crowned Kinglet again in the Mulberry and Hackberry combo pair. One Canyon Towhee at least, a Mocker, the usual gang. Thought I heard the Pyrrhuloxia too. Heard American Goldfinch and Robin, Kathy saw the Robin at the bath. I think that last male Lesser Goldfinch may have left. Said to be another near-freeze on tap for the morning tomorrow. We made it to Thanksgiving without a freeze! Might have gotten up to 60F peak heat.

Nov. 27 ~ About 62F for a low. Another warmup day before the cold front. We got to 76F or higher in the afternoon. Had a Myrtle Warbler and a Golden-crowned Kinglet. Just my second Golden-crown this fall. Otherwise birds were the same. The Lantana is going great one last time I suspect, and attracting butterflies. I had one at a foot away in my 10x magnifying glass. It surely was a West Coast Lady. Came back out with camera and could not refind. Saw a very different looking American Lady, and a Red Admiral, but never saw it again. We also had a Buckeye, I saw a Vesta Crescent, there were Queen, Mestra, Cloudless and Lyside Sulphur, Sleepy Orange, and a skipper got away. Heard Long-eared and Great Horned Owl at dark. Also heard something I don't know what it was. A big bird over at or by river at dusk.

Nov. 26 ~ Low about 42F, KERV had 40. Had the Hermit Thrush in the Lantana at front porch, presumedly eating the berries like Cardinals do. Noonish a hummingbird showed up! Looks a Rufous type, so that until proven otherwise. Too chilly for butterflies so it hit the jackpot with a few hundred untouched Tropical Sage flowers. Kathy saw a Robin at the bath. Hearing the Mockers still. Chilly day, only 61F at 3 p.m.

Nov. 25 ~ Low about 53F, some clouds early but cleared quickly. Nice day. I had to go to Uvalde for an eye appointment so did not see much here. When I got back in afternoon Kathy had a Buckeye Teed up on a Lantana flower, first one this month. . Warmed into upper 70's F with the warm southerly flow ahead of an inbound cold front. Northerlies hit by dark, and blew much of night.

Nov. 24 ~ Low around 62F and overcast. Eventually cleared and warmed up nicely. Birds were the same gang. Mockingbird, Robin, Canyon Towhee, Lesser Goldfinch,, and Ruby-crowned Kinglet all still around. Golden-fronted and Ladder-backed Woodpeckers both still around lots, though seems not any Pecans are left on trees from this very poor crop year. Flushed a feral cat out back when I went and tossed afternoon seed. The one wild Chili Pequin out back has a few fruits on it, and lots of flowers. Good luck letting them ripen and you getting them. Turkeys will denude a bush of berries in moments.

Nov. 23 ~ Low was about 40F, KERV had 36F. About 15 minutes into the day, last night just after midnight I was outside for my last listen. FOS White-fronted Goose were flying overhead going south. My first waterfowl of the whole fall! Mostly the same gang but a FOS American Goldfinch flew over calling repeatedly. Thought I have heard one a few times in last week, but never more than one series at distance. So this one will go down as my FOS. The rest was the expected cast.


~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~

Nov. 22 ~ Low was about 37F, KERV had a 34. I can see these Red-wings getting expensive quickly! Thought I heard a White-crowned Sparrow in the morn. Did hear one Robin and a Kinglet (Ruby). Town run and park check but they were mowing the dirt under the live-oaks. If you think that sounds non-sensical, you shoulda seen it. The cloud of dust and noise enveloped the place, so I scanned pond and left. Nothing there. Warmed up to about 74 and felt great, nice and dry. Kathy brought some plants in for the night, and the first in a month or two Phaon Crescent was in one of the plants. Where was it? Inside the house. Sounds real 'countable'.

Nov. 21 ~ Low was about 34F! KERV hit 32! First quasi-freeze (barely) for them, and near-freeze for us this fall. A mere 70 dF cooler than a hundred days of summer. Even more incredible was about 9 a.m. I was outside with pipe listening. First were the FOS Cedar Waxwings. Then an AMERICAN (Common) CROW flew over calling! It is my second one here in 21 years, both in November. Prior was Nov. 23, 2016. Nearest I know of semi-regularly are Castroville area. Heard a Robin or two early morning. Some Red-winged Blackbird were around. Chipping Sparrow numbers might be 15+. Heard the Long-eared Owl late in evening.

Nov. 20 ~ Brisk with about 48F and some northerlies on it. Tonight will be the first thirties dF of the season as the wind will finally stop after bringing cool air in for a couple days. Gotta do some 'get ready for cold' stuff.. There were some Red-wings ot there in a.m., and I heard a Brown-headed Cowbird and a Common Grackle. Late afternoon between 40-50 Red-wings came down and mopped any leftover white millet up. Heard a Myrtle Warbler late in afternoon too. Otherwise it all looked the same.

Nov. 19 ~ Some cold air filled in after the wind stopped, was about 45F just after midnight. Warmed to about 50F until the dawn drop whence it went to about 35F, KERV had a quick 34F. Refreshing! In the morn there were a few Red-winged Blackbird around, maybe a dozen. Heard a House Wren, a White-crowned Sparrow, Eastern Bluebird, and a couple Robin. Besides the usual Cloudless and Large Orange Sulphurs, Sleepy Oranges and a couple Gulf Frits, there was one Queen, and a N. Mestra. It is really winding down for butterflies now. Dragonflies are done.

Nov. 18 ~ A few spritzes and sprinkles overnight, maybe 68F at sunup, but which was heavy overcast. There were a couple showerlets just after dawn, and about a quarter of an inch (.25) of precip. Followed by clearing and northerlies of cool air. Dropped over 10dF in an hour. KERV was 70 at 7:15 a.m., and 57at 8:15. Kathy spotted a flock of blackbirds on the patio, which quickly flushed into a Pecan. I heard and saw some Red-wings, and at least one, maybe a couple, Common Grackle were calling. First of those this fall. Both are likely migrants from northward, not local birds. This is when those show up. Kathy said the flock on the patio was 50-75 birds.

Nov. 17 ~ Flatlined about 64F all night, almost foggy in morning, maybe a little mist. No hummingbird today, so it did leave yesterday, noonish or so. Eight day stay and our latest Ruby-throat in 21 years. The rest was all the same gang, until late afternoon. There was a sapsucker calling across the road, which here are Yellow-bellied until proven otherwise. At least my third this fall, whereas none last fall and winter. Heard the Flicker again too. All evening the wind blew hard from the south and Gulf. 20 mph sustained gusting to 30 bringing us a balmy 72F at midnight.

Nov. 16 ~ Low about 54F and some overcast. Seemed all the same gang of usual suspects. The hummer was still here in the morning. Day 8 and my first Ruby in second half of November ever here..Heard the Flicker, two each Mocker and Canyon Towhee. A Kinglet or two (Ruby). We did not see the Ruby-throat all afternoon. I think it finally split. The Lesser Goldfinch was still here. A fair number of Sulphurs still is great. At least there is always something right off the porch. So nice to see Tropical Sage flowers again!. At least they a chance to put leaves out and make some energy to make a good start next spring.


~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~

Nov. 15 ~ Even colder this morning. I think uppermost 30's briefly. I thought it was that just after midnight, and again just before dawn. KERV had 37F. I am for it. Hummer still here in morning. I heard a FOS Osprey over river in morn. Been a few years since I had one here. Town run and park check, yep, still nothing there. It has been an avian desert all fall, for the fourth fall in a row. Must be no bugs. Sure not the usual obvious assortment.

Nov. 14 ~ The Low was about 43F . Sure feels great, this cool dry air. Heard the hummer first thing early. Hearing at least one Lesser Goldfinch the last few days. The Tropical Sage patch was destroyed all fall so they left early. Just getting some flowers back and there is one. Bunch of Sulphur butterflies on it which is great too. Two Hermit Thrush out there. At least one Robin was around in the morn and again at dusk. Cannot help but wonder if it is the one that spent the last two prior winters here, mostly alone. Kathy saw it at the bath, as well as the Mockingbird. Of which there are two. Was a busy Thursday at the desk day.

Nov. 13 ~ Low about 60F and nice. Hummer is still here and un-ID'd. Kathy got a look at the Flicker in the Pecan over birdbath. It is a female Yellow-shafted. I hear the Mockingbird doing some Ash-throated Flycatcher sounds, so that is what I heard last week. It also does a zhweenk of a Scrub-Jay. Since not likely a Mocker from where (real-nominate) Woodhouse's Jay is found, it is likely an Edwards Plateau Mocker. Sure great to have mid-70's F in the afternoons! Northerlies blew lightly much of day from a cold front, which should bring us our first 40dF temps of the season here. Late afternoon the hummer finally came in while I was waiting with binocs. It is a Ruby-throated. Surely the latest record we have for one here. And now on day 5.

Nov. 12 ~ Flatlined at 54F all night. Heard a couple (at least) Robin go over. Hear the hummer around. It is not a Rufous-Allen's chip. It is one of our two Archilochus sps., either Ruby-throated or Black-chinned. Still too ginchy to give a good look. Around noon we had a FOS Golden-crowned Kinglet in the big dead Pecan right off front porch. Right on time.The two Canyon Towhee are still around.

Nov. 11 ~ Low about 52F, KERV had a 48. A couple FOS Blackbirds flew over. One was absolutely a Brewer's. The other sounded like a Rusty, but am letting it go since not confirmed visually. I got a glimpse of the hummingbird but only saw it was small and had a green back. Did not see underparts or tail. Heard a N. Flicker yukking it up. Also heard a Roadrunner, Kinglet (Ruby), Hermit Thrush, and both Eastern Phoebe and Eastern Bluebirds. have been regular lately too. Hummer was here at dusk.

Nov. 10 ~ Another 50F low is just about perfect. I hear a hummingbird flycatching but have not seen it yet. I came in and told Kathy and she said she thought she heard one fly by yesterday afternoon. So I had to confess I did too, but just once and also was not sure. So we did not say anything to each other about it. Maybe we should talk more often? Turns out she heard just a few chip notes, I heard just one wing hum. We could have known yesterday! LOL. I have not heard it call but hum is of a smaller hummingbird. More butterflies showing up at the Basil, Sage, and the few small Lantana flowers. New was a Clouded Skipper, which is great. A Dogface was around too.

Nov. 9 ~ An amazing low of 50F or less! KERV had a 47 or less. Great to feel chilly air. Had the Pyrruloxia again over in fallen branch-stick pile under dying Hackberry. I leave it a bit messy, e.g., natural, and this is what happens. Everyone here never saw a pile of branches they did not want to set on fire. Sure would like to catch the Pyrr at the bath. Sure great having Tropical Sage flowers again! Maybe 4-5 Cloudless, 3 Large Orange, 1 Orange Sulphur, and at least 5 Sleepy Orange around it today. A couple Gulf Fritillary too. Saw one Gray Hairstreak on the Basil. One Great Blue Heron flew over.


~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~

Nov. 8 ~ Low about 68F, and threatening to rain. A front is moving across TX. Well there it is. From before noon to mid-afternoon, we got an inch of precip. Outstanding. We are at 5" for the month! Town run and park check. Where nothing, but some water finally in the pond. It is maybe 18" below the spillway, but the debris on it shows it must have gone over at peak runoff, likely the four inches last week. There was also water at the 360 x-ing, where it has been dry. Didn't see anything new or different in birds today, but always look forward to the day after a system.

Nov. 7 ~ It was about 50F at midnight, and was 60F by 7 a.m. at dawn. Instead of dropping 5 more dF as forecast, it went up 10! Clouds, overcast, and some showerlets first part of morn. Though I thought I heard one a day or two ago, absolutely have a FOS Hermit Thrush here now. Definitely more Chipping Sparrow have arrived, might be ten here now. Twice now in last few days I heard what sounds an Ash-throated Flycatcher. Since no fall record for me here in 20 years I really need to lay eyes on it considering there is a Mockingbird hanging around. This more than a whistled ka-brick, it was some of the gurgling too. Clearly not Brown-crested or Great Crested.

Nov. 6 ~ Coldest air in six months here this morn. We had about 44F, but it may have been cooler earlier before dawn. About 5-6 a.m. KERV had 39F readings! Probably early March since we saw these temps! Clear, dry, and wonderful cool air. A Pyrrhuloxia was in the yard in the big fallen branch and stick piles. I thought I heard one last week out by the road. Now I am sure I was right.

There are a few Tropical Sage flowers showing as well as lots of new leaf growth. Since the doe was removed last week. I would like to thank whoever did it, good shot! I heard it, and it must have jumped our fence before falling in our yard. The immediate growth of the Sage shows it was the offender. One deer, the Satan Bambi from Hell, kept a couple hundred square feet of Tropical Sage from resprouting a single leaf, much less flower, for four months. It ate every new leaf that sprouted. Normally hundreds of butterflies and hummingbirds would have been in it all fall, instead nothing. The other Tropical Sage along the river is not eaten because it is dry and not watered. I have never seen it eaten anywhere. I realize the drought is bad but over the fence are two 600 gallon livestock watering troughs so there was no water shortage for this deer. Good riddance. Bet she was a spicy one.

Nov. 5 ~ The low of 60F was great, some northerlies on it. Overcast. Looked like Bandera and Medina Counties to our east got some good rainfall last night.T hey need it as badly as we do and since we just got four inches, good for them too! Kathy had a FOS Orange-crowned Warbler at the bath. She thought she had one a few days ago. I heard an Audubon's Warbler in the afternoon. Not the first Yellow-rumped, but the first of that type. The warbler chip of my youth. There was an accipiter flushing or two. Might have been a few more Chipping Sparrow today. Kathy saw a Red Admiral and besides the regulars I saw a N. Mestra, a Dainty Sulphur, and a Little Yellow.

Nov. 4 ~ Flatlined around 69F all night. A few more sprinkles, maybe a tenth of an inch. Hearing the White-crowned Sparrow around, the Canyon Towhee pair, just a couple Field and Chipping Sparrow. Finally heard a FOS Lincoln's Sparrow. Thought I heard one a few times, but never more than one call so did not record them as FOS. This is ridiculously late for a FOS for them. Have had them in later September. A cold front passed through around noonish, turning wind to north. When cool air got here in evening it formed a big line of thunderstorms, but which did not congeal until south and east of us, so we got no precip, but a great light show all evening.

Nov. 3 ~ Flatlined about 71F all night, the low was apparently cancelled. Heavy overcast and some more sprinkles. Heard the White-crowned Sparrow in morn. Still daily Ruby-crowned Kinglet, which seem to be all just passing through fairly briefly. Heard the Canyon Towhees, and thought I heard a Hermit Thrush over in some Junipers. The new monthly butterfly list got started with Large Orange and Cloudless Sulphur, Gulf Fritillary and Queen. Overnight and the day the sprinkles added up to about 7-7 mm more of rain! So about 4.3" total rain for the event. OMG!

Nov. 2 ~ Low about 67F and overcast, some sprinkles overnight. A fairly unpredicted system of rain moved north out of Mexico and by morning was entering Uvalde Co. By time it was done in the afternoon there was FOUR INCHES of rain here at our place. The poor folks at the craft fair today! It was a group of thundercells and formed a MCS which became a MCV, and proceeded to go marching. Besides us Bandera nd Medina Counties both got some good rain too. And I think Dimmit Co. south of UvCo. Was quite the system to watch. NOAA called it an "over-performing" system. Ever notice how those occur only when they under-forecast one? Strong correlation signal there. Did not see any different birds in the rain. Saw a mostly black moth that may have been a White-tipped Black or a Ctenucha. In the afternoon later a FOS White-crowned Sparrow showed up. Winter must be on the way.



~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~

November 1 ~ Low about 67F and overcast, a bit of breeze. Seemed the same here in the morn. Except for while during our first cup of coffee sitting up in bed, we heard Cranes going over. Town run and a park check. Great to have a few Myrtle Warbler there finally. Nothing else though. When I got back Kathy saw a FOS male Am. Robin at the birdbath. Late evening after the update, I heard a second of fall Barn Owl go over southbound.

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July 1 through December 31, 2024 is here:
Bird News Archive XXXXII
2024 - July - December

Jan. 1 through June 30, 2024 is here:
Bird News Archive XXXXI
2024 - Jan. through June

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