~ ~ ~ and now for the news ~ ~ ~
*** Lost Maples and Garner are open for day use and limited camping, reservations required.
*** Utopia Park is open now.
Feb. 26 ~ Drizzled all night and flatlined at
60F. By dawn it was about .2 of precip. Stayed
the same all day but without the drizzle or mist.
Town run, they had food and I got a little gas.
As if that wasn't enough, Rosie was there
so some tacos made the return trip with me.
Some Killdeer were in the pasture just east of
the river on 360. On county line road (UvCo 356)
there was a flock of about 35 Eastern Meadowlark,
and one Audubon's Warbler in the Hackberry row.
At the park there were 9 Ring-necked Duck, and a
Pied-billed Grebe on the pond. In the woods
the large dark soaring objects had just lifted
off, there were now 3 Turkey Vulture and the one
Zone-tailed Hawk just over treetops circling to
gain altitude. The Zoney DOVE at one of the
TV's which had to take evasive maneuvers
to avoid being struck! I do not recall ever
seeing such an interaction. No small stuff in
the woods, and NO Black Vulture. Incredible.
After thinking I might have heard one yesterday
afternoon, this afternoon late I heard then saw,
my FOS Lincoln's Sparrow. A passage spring
migrant! Yesterday's FOS Lesser Goldfinch is
a returning breeder, not a passage transient.
Saw Mocker and Anna the hummer, Kathy had a
Scrub-Jay. Heard only FOS northbound Sandhill
Crane today.
Feb. 25 ~ Flatlined at 60 all night, overcast
and humid. Springish, but no warmup today.
Sure nice to not be fighting the cold, with water,
electricity and the intertubes. Benign is fine.
Soared up to about 64F in the overcast afternoon.
Heard one Carolina Wren trolling about briefly
in the morn, and then late afternoon a second
bird was around. They did not seem to be acting
like the house pair. It all seems like it is new
to them. Later heard the Scrub-Jay, saw Anna the
hummer, a few Red-winged and Brewer's Blackbird
still coming in, a couple Brown-headed Cowbird.
Maybe a hundred Chipping Sparrow, still 50
American Goldfinch, 8 or more Field Sparrow.
Saw the Orange-crowned Warbler at the birdbath,
and maybe my first ever ad.ma. Red-winged Blackbird
at it.
New was an adult male Lesser Goldfinch. This is
exactly on time for the first spring returnees
historically. Last week of February was usually
when the first ones return. Rarely earlier, but
the biggest cluster of arrival dates is last week
of Feb. We don't know that the few that winter
at thistle socks locally are the local breeders,
they may well be from elsewhere. Even IF they are
local birds, then still about 99.999 percent of our
breeders depart for the winter. Great to see them
back. I just love it when a data dot or duck falls
right in the row perfectly.
Feb. 24 ~ We flatlined at 60F all night. Overcast,
the gulf flow is back. Today is the big warmup
before the next frontal passage (dry) this afternoon.
It got to 84F, at least, in the afternoon! Anna
the hummer was out there before 7 a.m., and later.
A few Red-winged and Brewer's Blackbird around.
Mid-morn a Scrub-Jay was quietly gathering a gullet
of sunflower seeds along the back fence where I toss.
Later Kathy spotted it at the birdbath. Finally
heard single Eastern Phoebe and Carolina Wren!
I doubt they are the ones that were resident here.
Both are trolling around the yard acting like they
have never been here before, not long-term residents
that know the place. Neither stuck too long. Saw
the male Eastern Bluebird on the gate nestbox,
presume a female was around or inside it. They are
scouting boxes already. So are Titmouse and Chickadee.
Saw two Black Vulture finally, but the skies are for
the most part, essentially vulture free here now.
What are we going to do with all the roadkill?
Todd's Roadkill Cafe in Leakey closed a long
time ago. Best guess is that name was scientifically
formulated after much focus-group research which
determined it to be what would most effectively keep
the tourists away, and attract the locals, in one word.
Feb. 23 ~ Low maybe 35F or so briefly, chilly but
no freeze. The Anna's Hummer was out there
before 7 a.m. on the feeder. About 10:30-11: at
least two (and maybe three) Green Jay were in the
yard! One went to the sunflower feeder and got seeds!
One was making a very loud cat meow call, much like
the hawk alarm mimic call, but clearly different.
One came back later for more sunflower seeds.
Great to see at least a couple made it through the
big freeze. Pretty tough for a semi-tropical species.
Bet they never saw anything like that snow and cold
before. There were a couple days with sub-zero chill
factors and single digit temps, and a few days with
snow covered ground. Consider that it was possible
if one were in the right place to have gotten photos
of Green Jay in the snow. In the afternoon the
Scrub-Jay came by briefly. Nearest Blue Jay I know
of are in town and at park.
Feb. 22 ~ Low was about 34F or so, chilly but no
freeze. Which is a big win, and none are on the
ten-day forecast. Spring will spring now. It got
up to 70F or so in the peak afternoon heat. Still
no Vultures, Phoebe, or Carolina Wren. They were
all lost in the event. Normally I can hear a
few other pairs of Carolina Wren countersinging
with our yard birds. Dead silence out there now,
and I do mean dead. It is eerie. Holy longhorn.
The Anna's Hummer is still here though. I
ran to town late afternoon to pickup at the post
office since a truck finally got here. The gas
station is selling emergency rations of gas only
still. Store still does not have milk or creamer.
Went to the park to see how many Black Vultures
were on the roost tree. NONE! At 5 p.m. this
is unprecedented. They are gone folks. We lost
'em. There should be a hundred plus there.
ZERO! One Turkey Vulture flew out of a Cypress,
which is likely a new arrival in the last couple
days as none wintered. Our just-arrived pair at the
house is MIA. The Zone-tailed Hawk flew in looking
to roost just before 5 p.m. so it made it. There
was one Kinglet (Ruby), two Myrtle Warbler, and
NOT ONE Phoebe. Should have been a handful.
There was a good Mayfly hatch going, and NO Phoebe!
I think a lot of them were lost. I did hear two
Carolina Wren though which was nice since ours at
the house are gone. A dozen Ring-necked Duck were
on the pond. It is a different birdscape out there
since the big freeze. Kathy mentioned here at
the casita there are a lot less Cardinal out there
than a week ago. After dark heard the Barred Owl
for the first time in a while, over along the
river.
Feb. 21 ~ Low was in the mid-40's F after
midnight, but a couple hours before dawn it went
up to 50F, about 30dF warmer than yesterday morn.
Sure feels great to not be freezing. Have to peel
the layers off the windows. The Red-wings are
not around, just a few Brown-headed Cowbird.
Still 50+ American Goldfinch though. Chippies
have dialed back to half the freeze peak numbers.
About a hundred each Robin and Waxwing in the
morning and again in the afternoon, had to refill
the bath a couple times. I saw the Anna's
Hummingbird a couple times in the morning. It
got up to 72F in the afternoon! First warm day,
and warmest in 12 days at least. No Turkey Vulture,
hardly a Black Vulture (1?), I am thinking they both
took a major hit in this. Also we did not see or
hear our Carolina Wren pair here today. Which is
impossible. I saw them Friday for sure, but not
sure about yesterday, and certainly not today.
It appears we have lost them. Looking for the
phoebe pair too, did not hear them either today.
Did hear an Eastern Bluebird. I saw two reports
in Texas of 6 and 7 dead male Eastern Bluebird
all together in two seperate boxes. Too many
days without food or being able to forage, in
too much cold.
Feb 20 ~ Another hard freeze at 18F this morning,
and all was covered in thick frost. I ran to town
in that at 8 a.m., since a supply truck got here at
dawn with bread, eggs, produce, and other stuff, but
still no milk. Hopefully they will get another
delivery later in the upcoming week. Scanned the
park pond, about 20 Ring-necked Duck on it was it.
Little Creek Larry said he forgot to mention this
week for a couple days during the worst cold a male
Vermilion Flycatcher was on the dam as Phoebe (Eastern)
often is. I suspect it is the same male that was
wintering at the pond on the golf course (a mile
south), and had to move and work the river in the
big freeze.
On the way home on 360 by the former Utopia on the
River, there were a dozen Lark Sparrow. The only
ones I have seen all winter. They could be returning
spring migrants. Larry just recently mentioned he
had a few. The Anna's Hummingbird made another
night in the teens. We sweat it out every morning
until we see it. There have been lots of stories
on the intertubes of people across Texas that lost
their wintering hummingbirds during this freeze event.
Was nice to not have to be swapping out feeders in the
snow or cold. Only a couple dozen Red-wings, half
the peak number when the Yellow-headed was here,
and no sign of it. It is with the other couple dozen.
About 10 Brown-headed Cowbird. All 3 orange-billed
gray-lored western type (probably Gambell's)
White-crowned Sparrow continue. Great to hear
Red-winged Blackbird singing out there much of the
day. Sounds like spring!
I may have forgotten to mention (for obvious reasons)
in the peak cold there was a Eurasian Collared-Dove
out back on the seed briefly, on a couple days.
Thanks for the condolences. Did have a Caracara today,
but did not see the two Turkey Vulture that showed up
the day before the major freeze, ice and snow event
began. They had about 9 days they could not get up,
out, and fly. Can they live that long without food
when they are having to burn way more than the usual
amount of energy trying to stay thermal? I doubt it,
and expect they succumbed. It was 58F here in the
afternoon with southerlies, they should have been up
and out looking for roadkill, and hanging out overhead
later in the afternoon, like they were the day before
the big freeze hit. Way fewer Black Vulture out there
too now, only saw one small group along road between
here and town, only a couple over house all day.
So we made 10 days of this major cold and deep-freeze
event. It appears we are headed back to more seasonal
temps for the rest of the month. That was brutal.
None can say it was a mild winter here this year. No
one under 35 had ever seen snow or cold here like we
had this week. Little Creek Larry said since 1985 for
the snow. Which he estimated at 10" for the event.
He is pretty good about that sort of thing. As he said
it was melting all the time as it was snowing. His
gauge had 1.25" of water in it after it all melted.
So it surely could have been 10" of snow. This
was a remarkable historic event. The likes of which
hopefully we won't see again for some time, or ever.
Green Jay head crop. We had at least two in the yard
again this week, meaning they were in the snow last week!
We have not seen the Yellow-headed Blackbird again
since in the snow last Thursday Feb. 18.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
Feb 19 ~ A chilly 14F for a low. It was a cold
morning, but finally it warmed up in the afternoon
to about 50F! Most of the snow melted. Did not
see the Red-wing flock, only a few, and no Yellow-headed.
Saw the Anna's Hummingbird and Downy Woodpecker,
the rest looked the same. But I saw both imm.
White-crowned Sparrows well finally, and like the
adult here, they are orange-billed and gray-lored.
They too are probably Gambell's (western) type
like the adult.
The internet remains down here if on DSL, they hope
to have it back up 11 p.m. tonight! Went to town
and got lots of horror stories but very few supplies.
No mail truck has arrived this week, the gas station
was just a station all week, they were getting some
gas today. The store is out of most staples like milk,
bread, eggs, butter, fresh vegetables, and so on. All
this because it got cold in Texas. I heard some say
not to bother trying at the nearest HEB stores, they
too are out of most of the basics as well.
Looked at the park but I didn't walk the woods at
the park as it was muddy with melting snow, but there
were 62 Ring-necked Duck on the pond, most I have
ever seen at once there. Open water must have frozen
somewhere up north. Little Creek Larry said there
were more than 60 Ring-necks out there yesterday. He
also said the creek froze, and all the ducks there left
for a couple days but mostly seem to be back. Hummer
was tanking up late.
Feb. 18 ~ In the low 20's F, about 24, and shortly
after dawn it started snowing again. By afternoon it
looked like 3 inches but was probably more like four
as it was melting quite a bit the first couple hours.
Flatlined at 25F all day. Birds are thick on the seed.
Astounding was my first winter record of a Yellow-headed
Blackbird here, in with now 45 Red-winged Blackbird!
They are accidental on the plateau in the winter. It
was a beautiful male, and got shots, which I froze for.
New for the yard list too! Got a count of 12 male
Cardinal at once, 27 Mourning and 25 White-winged Dove.
It is over 200 Chipping Sparrow here now, maybe 225.
Anna's Hummer still here, we are swapping out the
feeder every 90 minutes or so. Saw both the ad. and
an imm. White-crowned Sparrow. The dark ad. is an
orange-billed gray-lored type, probably a (western)
Gambell's, not our default standard pink-billed
black-lored (eastern) leucophrys. The Brewer's
Blackbird flock was 45 and at least half of them came
down to the patio edge for seed late in day, which they
never do. Red-wings have no aversion to the patio,
the Brewer's, never come down to it. Three species
of blackbird in a day here is good. If only I could have
seen the Rusty. They are really jumpy and hard to
work.
The power was on all day though was off some overnight
last night. Pipes didn't re-freeze, so we have heat
and hot water. The DSL is down, the phone company is not
answering, they are in Rocksprings. Welcome to Texastan.
The energy state. We did not break freezing after
briefly doing so in a big way yesterday. We are now
at 7 days of the last 8, at or below freezing, which
constitutes a major deep freeze a way down south here
below 30N. Nearing 6 p.m. the snow has tapered off
and I think it is about 4" for today. There are
horizontal branches that were clear yesterday afternoon
now with at least 3" on them. Yesterday when I saw
Calvin he said he had 4" not far from here from the
first event. I would say then probably 7-8" for two
events, Monday and Thursday, at minimum. Lots melted each
time as it began because the ground was warm. It is likely
the most snow here since 1985, over 35 years. Now though,
we can not tell what is supposed to happen next weatherwise
without the DSL. Was to be very cold tomorrow morning again.
Feb. 17 ~ Stayed right around freezing all night, there
were a couple 2 FOOT icicles! Almost all the snow melted
in the afternoon when it warmed up to about 50F briefly!
Finally some heat, outside the house at least! The water
lines thawed finally. So there is hot tap water again, when
power. Power was off and on all day here in the banana
Republic of Texastan. The afternoon it was mostly on,
but the constant improper shutdowns on the computer are
not a good thing. Can barely work, answer emails, or do
business. It is past ridiculous. Didn't see anything
different in birds, all the same stuff, but more Chippies,
and more Red-wings have collected. Downy Woodpecker and
Anna's Hummingbird still here. Heard the Scrub-Jay
out back a bit, thought I heard it yesterday too but was
just once. Myrtle Warbler still eating seed. Another
winter weather event inbound for tomorrow. More power
outages in evening. There was a blown pipe (making a nice
fountain behind the cottage) that feeds some troughs over
in the corral so I had to call to get ranch maintenence
to come out and fix it. They had more to do after fixing
this one...
Feb. 16 ~ Day 6 of the big freeze. It was a smokin' 14F
at 7 a.m., but was in single digits during the overnight.
KERV had a 5F at 2:30 a.m., we were likely near that.
Up to 22F here at 10 a.m., pipes (wellhouse?) still
frozen, at least we have stored emergency water and snow
for more, plus power and heat. Lots of Texas is in a big
hurt this morning with none of the above. At noon I saw
27F on the front porch, and some bodacious icicles. Heard
the pair of Eastern Bluebird out by their usual box.
Hummer here of course, nothing moving in this. Saw the
dark ad. White-crowned Sparrow and the Orange-crowned
Warbler. White-winged Dove are getting the purple mauve
on their necks now.
Spent the afternoon and night with rolling blackouts.
Lovely. Begging the question as to why the Texas electricty
distribution management org has the word *reliability*
in their name. I don't think it means what they
think it means. This same thing happened in the 1989
polar air event, AND on the 2011 (DFW) Super Bowl day. This
is the third time, recently. Feds and others both prior
times told the state they needed to winterize the power plants.
Nothing happened but millions in exec pay and lobbying
for their monopolies, and deregulation. Texas in order to
be unregulated required them disconnecting from the federal
Western Grid, so they could not get power from it now when
we needed it. An oh yeah, this is the energy state, where
when it gets real cold no one has any power or heat, and
it is the windmills fault. Offline was 16 GW of renewable
and 30 GW of thermal (nuke, coal, gas). About 75 of 675
power plants in the state were offline. During the polar
freeze. Makes sense. About 10 percent of plants, roughly
the amount of power the state was short. Despite having
something called the electricity reliability council.
Some are saying when the brownouts started Monday it was
within minutes of a major meltdown that would have taken
out the grid for months. Now there is some reliability.
Feb. 15 ~ Day 5 of the big freeze of Feb. 2021. We woke
up to at least 3.5" (maybe 4) of SNOW (!) and a
sizzling 5F! Blinking clocks and frozen pipes, which is
probably out at the wellhouse. A drip was going, was being
the key word. At least we have heat and electricity! It
went out quickly a few times overnight. There has been
nothing like this in 18 years we have been here.
There was an Arctic cold event in 1989 but it was after
we left San Antonio and Texas that year. Then there was
a big snow in 1985 (SAT had a foot, 18" in Utopia).
The SAT record low for today was 16F, they had 9F this
morning, KERV was 5F like us here. Was a good bit of
melt in the heat of the day in the upper 20's F.
Amazingly, I got to use my SNOW SHOVEL! It is from
New Jersey, a 1982 vintage, it was made in America before
the crapification and is real deal steel. I should be
shoveling in town today for extra dough. LOL
Probably the only one in the whole valley. Most of
them have never seen such an implement, and they have
almost every implement known to man here. Had to clear
areas to toss seed on the patio, made a path to the back
and cleared spots out there for seed, a path to the cottage,
the stone step walkways, and out to the driveway. The job
sure is easier with the right tool. We can get around
the house, to cottage, and seeding, without tracking snow
in now.
Hummer was out there at dawn when I was being a shoveler.
The hummer feeder lasted about 90 minutes before the
fluid was icing up. Doing the swap with one inside
the house, all day. In the afternoon I saw 28F on
the cool shady front porch, was probably 30F on the
sunny south side. The wind was still over 10 mph so
it didn't feel very warm. KERV was 22 and
Hondo 30F. The Downy Woodpecker was going to ground
getting sunflower seeds just like the Ladder-back and
Golden-front have been. They also learn by watching.
It was packed with birds on the seed all day here, and
I shoveled lots of that too. About 3:30 we lost the sun
and the melting slowed way down. Got a 200 count on
the Chipping Sparrow late afternoon! At least 30 for
the Red-winged Blackbird count. Saw the Orange-crowned
Warbler grabbing some white millet. I have never seen
so much snow and cold without a junco to be found. Two
species of warbler are here, but no junco, in the snow.
Saw both ad. and imm., female Cooper's Hawk make
passes at the seedeaters.
I took a bunch of pics, just to have evidence to look
at next July and August. I took a few generic shots
to show all the birds in the cleared areas where seeded.
Kathy was outside on the front porch about 5 p.m.
and heard cranes, I got out there quickly enough to
tell they were going south. Wonder where they left
from this morning? Hummer was out there camped on
feeder at 6 p.m. for last fill-up. Late p.m. saw
the dark ad. White-crowned Sparrow.
Feb 14 ~ Day 4 of the big freeze of Feb. 2021. About 25F
for a low, and some patches of ice on the ground from
the mist which is freezing and then building up. The
Hummer is on the feeder, which we brought in overnight.
Did I say the low was 25F? Turns out it was the high.
By afternoon it was 22 and dropping. Never did warm up.
With the wind on it feels the teens. The birds were
all the same gang. The historical cold event peaks the
next two mornings in single digits and tonight we are
supposed to get snow. It is brutal out there and getting
worse before it gets better. Been shoveling seed all day.
Three days had been the limit for freeze events for the
last 18 years we have been here. This one is now looking
like it will be 7 days where only once for a few hours
was it over freezing (Friday the 12th). Had to quick
thaw hummer feeders at 5 p.m. when it was 18F, they
were slushy. At that time Winds were N 15- gusting to
25 mph, chills were in the single digits. Counted
10 male Cardinal at once, and got a 150 count on the
Chipping Sparrow. Now with the cold they all show up.
The Red-wings were around in the afternoon, heard a
few Robin and Waxwing. Saw the Myrtle Warbler grabbing
some white millet seed. Worked on cold-proofing some
things better, expecially in the cottage where marine
aquaria. Guess I got all my good birds for the weekend
yesterday. Now I am just trying to keep a hummer alive,
and pipes from bursting. At 8 p.m. I saw 14F on the
front porch, and wind chills then had to be about zero.
There was some frozen rain and sleet, which should turn
to snow shortly. Junction and Rock Springs are sub-zero
chill factors aleady this evening. By 10 p.m. there was
1.5" of snow on the ground and it was coming down
moderately, local WU stations were reading 9-11F, wind
was 10-15 gusting 20-25 mph..
Feb. 13 ~ Low was 25F, some mist, we won't see 32F today.
Saw the hummer a few times in the morning. Best was
before 10 a.m. when I went to put a second shovel of
seed out. The birds had all just flushed so I figured
a good chance. When I got out back tossing I heard a
Titmouse alarm call, looked up and saw a PRAIRIE FALCON
jumping out of the top of the big Pecan! That is what
flushed the doves and all a couple minutes earlier!
It lazily flew north low over the draw, and was likely
going back down shortly. First one in the yard, and
whaddabird for my Pecan tree list! Gotta say if I
hadn't seen a couple hundred of them I would not
have instantly recognized it. No substitute for
experience with the animal.
Less than an hour later I walked out of the cottage
and a Loggerhead Shrike was on a (original juniper)
clothesline pole (that the wire the birdfeeders hang
on is connected to). Right at the corner of the patio!
Looking for a Chippy. First Shrike on the patio. Only
had one IN the yard once before, have heard a few over
toward the airstrip. It flew and landed in the lowest
branches of the big Pecan. BAM! On my Pecan tree list.
Two new ones in an hour! With almost 3000 days straight
of watching this tree. Ten thousand hours looking
in this tree, and now, leafless, I see two species in
an hour that I have never seen in it. Amazing how fast
one can go from "well I have been looking for ten
thousand hours and never saw one of those here",
to "oh yeah, sure, got it". It never did
break freezing, was misting on and off, and getting
colder and breezier.
This is the yard Feb. 15.
This is the male Yellow-headed Blackbird in the snow on Feb. 18.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
Feb. 12 ~ Low about 30F, briefly misted, feels like
winter. A little more precip overnight, probably safe
to say .75 (of an inch) for the event. The Red-winged
Blackbird flock was down on the seed, 27 I counted, about
12 were male. Little Creek Larry said he got an inch
of rain from the event. Also said there was a nice
flock of Ring-necked Duck on Little Creek yesterday.
He also heard there was a half inch of ice up on top
of the plateau, just above Lost Maples yesterday.
There was a pair of Ring-necked Duck on the pond at
the park, and the one Pied-billed Grebe, which actually
called, something I do not hear often here. I did not
walk the woods though. Rosie was closed, presumably
the bad weather, so no tacos today. Hope I survive.
By 1 p.m. it was over freezing, maybe 35F or so, and
misting lightly. Just after 4 p.m. finally I saw the
Anna's Hummingbird today. Some Chipping Sparrow
are getting very rusty of crown.
Feb. 11 ~ Low just over freezing, about 34F, with
some mist and drizzle, winter rears its cold head
again. We are in for nearly a week of very cold temps,
for here, they say peak will be the coldest in at least
several years here. Mon. and Tues. lows are forecast
to be single digits! Arctic air. Four or five days
straight of highs in the 30's F or lower. Three
is the most I have seen in the last 18 years here, a
few times. Looks like I will be shoveling bird seed
for the next week, and hunkering down inside near the
heaters. The drizzle was nearing a half-inch by about
1 p.m., and we were flat-lining at 33F, so, at least it
is not ice. Just north of us up on top of the plateau
above Lost Maples it is ice all over. From way west
of Junction to KERV and Austin. The wind is off and
on breezy, so feels below freezing out there in the
wet. Was a bit of thunder occasionally as well.
More weather for your money. I would love a nice
thundersnow. At dark it was about 15mm of precip
total over the day.
The blackbird flock was in the big Pecan first
thing, a bunch of Red-wings singing, right out in
the breeze in a cold rain. Thrilled. Lots of
birds on the seed. Kathy said at least a hundred
Chipping Sparrow. Remember, it is easier to trust
the count of another than to count them ones self.
It was about 40 some Siskin and 50 Am. Goldfinch,
20 each House Finch, and Cardinal. About 8 each of
Field Sparrow and Black-crested Titmouse, and 4
Carolina Chickadee, a few each Bewick's and
Carolina Wren, lots of White-winged and Mourning Dove.
Saw the icterids down on the patio and under Mulberry
in the afternoon. So did some counting myself.
There were 11 Brown-headed Cowbird (3 male, 8 female),
and 25 Red-winged Blackbird (12 male and 13 female).
Highest count of either sps. all winter for me here.
February is when we see their numbers go up and
I suspect it is spring arrivals. Kathy saw the
hummer on the back feeder, which is a bit more
sheltered than the one on the front porch.
Feb. 10 ~ Flatlined in upper 50's F all night,
and day. A cold front is just pushing in under the
warm moist air aloft, and so winter is back. It was
all springy yesterday afternoon. The blackbird flock
(125+ Brewer's, some Red-wings) was over in the
corral but I had too much work to do to work them.
Nice to hear some Red-wings singing though. Saw the
hummer in the morning, hope it is packing the pounds
on for this next cold spell. Next Mon. and Tues.
morns they are talking major cold with a couple lows
in the 20's F prior to those Not good hummer
weather. Caracara and Raven made passes. Heard
the Ring King over at the river. In the later
afternoon there were TWO Turkey Vulture together,
working the area low like the local breeders. Very
cool to see them back. Kathy spotted a very dark adult
White-crowned Sparrow at the last seed eating feeding
frenzy. Maybe it is dirty, the white stripes were
not clean, the whole bird looked dirty. The pair of
Eastern Phoebe were singing together in the treetops today.
Feb. 9 ~ Another fog-mist morning, balmy at 60F or
so. We have a major blast of winter with some very
serious cold heading down in a few days. Will enjoy
the mild gray in the meanwhile. Must have been some
accipiters lurking in the shadows, much of the day
the birds were not out there. Kathy saw the hummer
late in the day, about 5 p.m., finally, otherwise
would have missed it today. At least it is getting
to put some calories on before the big freeze hits.
They are talking one of those 48 hr. spells without
breaking freezing this coming Sunday to Tuesday,
with lows in the teens. Got up to about 76F here
in the afternoon. Tomorrow will be about 20F cooler.
What looked the female Red-tailed Hawk was soaring
over the nest tree area in the afternoon. Great was
a FOS Turkey Vulture in the afternoon working low
over the corral. Surely one of our local returning
breeders. Most common arrival date the first 10-12
years I was here was Valentine's Day, but they
have been returning earlier, as spring, the last
few to several years. Methinks these will soon
regret it this year.
Feb. 8 ~ Overcast, almost fog, low about 50F. Early
saw the hummer perched in top of the Mulberry, as if
on station, which is great to see. It has been
flying way away across road so maybe it will become
photogenic in good light yet. I am sure it is an
ANNA'S Hummingbird. Which is a great bird here,
far less than annual here, and the first one here at
this place (8 years and ten thousand hummers here).
We had at least 3 at Seco Ridge in 8 years. Judy
Schaeffer in town had a couple one of those same
invasion years, including one that stuck the winter.
This fall and winter was a big year for them in the
east half of Texas, maybe the fires out west pushed
more thisaway. But most showed up a month or two ago.
Showing up in early Feb. is not the usual program with
them. I can't even guess which way it is going.
But for now it is not going anywhere in this inclement
mess...
There was a flock of 125 blackbirds in the corral,
most were Brewer's but 10 Red-winged in with
them were about half each male and female. Did not
spot the Rusty before they bolted. They are ginchy
too. I heard a Hutton's Vireo singing over along
the north fence in the Junipers. Which are really
spewing pollen now. Some male trees are orange.
Kathy saw the Downy Woodpecker by the sunflower feeder,
it must be watching the Ladder-back and Golden-fronts.
Late about 6 p.m. I saw the hummer on the back
(office) feeder for the first time. Which is great.
Saw what looked a pair of Raven (Common) ejecting
another pair of Raven from the area.
Feb. 7 ~ Low was 30F, maybe it got a dF colder,
I wasn't hanging around watching it. After
lots of looking, about 10:30 the hummer was at the
feeder briefly. Got another bad light shot, but
had only camera so no study, until I get pix off
it. A bunch of waxwings hit the birdbath, making
off with a half-gallon of water in short order.
We went for a spinabout for a couple hours noonish.
First we slow-rolled over to Little Creek and
scoped the pond with the ducks. The light is
bad mid-day and the wind was blowing over 20 mph.
We did not see the Cinnamon Teal but you can not
surely see everything due to vegetation. We did see
the 40+ Pintail continuing, a dozen Green-winged
Teal, probably 40 Gadwall and around 30 Am. Wigeon,
one Ring-necked Duck, and a Great Egret. Nothing
along the roads, save on 355 in the jog section
we had a look at a Verdin. Checked the pond on the
golf course by the Waresville Cmty. and saw nothing.
In the pasture on 360 just east of the river the
ground has just gone green and there were 9 Killdeer
and about 40 American (Water) Pipit, neither of
which have been around. Make it green and they
will come. Warmed up to about 70F, but too dang
windy until nearing sundown. The hummer showed
briefly about 5 p.m. but I did not get a binoc
look or another photo either one. The front
porch feeder is in the best high-vis place to
snag a passing bird, but it is horrible for
viewing light most of the time. If there were
a plug out there I would have an LED spot on it,
with a switch I could throw from inside as needed.
Feb. 6 ~ Was about 44 around 3 a.m., but 48F by
dawn. With fog and mist, heavy overcast ahead
of the front due in later this morning. The
hummingbird came in one time that I saw in the
morning, when it was still gray and overcast,
in very low light. But I got a few shots. Pretty
sure it is an ANNA'S. I can see gray in
the underparts I could not see yesterday (whence
also in bad light), and a fair bit of green on
the sides. It has just a few dark gorget feathers
in lower center throat, so probably a first-spring
female. I heard it call a couple thin sharp hard
chips again, which as I said to Kathy when it did
that yesterday, is Anna's call. The front
cleared the clouds out before noon and every hour
all day I spent 10 minutes watching the feeder
camera in hand, and as of 5 p.m. had not seen it
again all day, when there would have been great light.
At least we know it tanked up good last night and
this morning, and we got some pixels to argue about.
This is the Anna's Hummingbird, present Feb. 5-12 so far.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
Feb. 5 ~ We ran about 48-68F for a temp spread
today. Sunny and nice. The yard was the same
seedeaters. More birdsong every day now.
Town run fer shtuff. Best was hearing a couple
Green Jay across the river from the park, just
above the top end of the island in that live-oak
motte on other side. So they are still around.
Just probably hanging on some corn feeders up
thataway. Heard Belted Kingfisher up the river.
Little Creek Larry said there were a couple
CINNAMON Teal over at Little Creek in the duck
flock, and the Pintail are still there. Rosie
was there so real deal tacos for lunch here at
the hovelita.
After lunch a female hummingbird showed up at
the front porch. After it departed I checked
and both feeders had gone syrupy, hope it got
something. Refreshed both again. Been doing it
all winter for nothing. Then one finally shows
up when it's shot. Dang it. It was not a
Selasphorus, there was no rufous or rusty. It
generally looked like a female Black-chinned for
the most part, but had a small group of dark
gorget feathers in center of lower throat. The
underparts were fairly white without buffy sides,
and not gray whatsoever. I heard a couple thin
chips which were hard and sharp. Since none of
that adds up, it will remain a hummingbird sps.,
which is about as big a bummer as one hummer could
be. Whilst I was standing around hoping for it
to return I heard the Verdin go off over in the
Mesquites across the road. Saw one Orange Sulphur
and a couple Snout for butterflies. Heard the
Ringed Kingfisher over at the river.
About 5:45 p.m. the hummer came back. It gassed up
good this time with fresh fluid. On the other
side of the feeder of course. It remains un-ID'd
but importantly, I am unable to rule out a
Costa's on it yet. It seems not Anna's, and
is not a Selasphorus. The hard sharp thin chip does not
sound like the soft Black-chinned or Ruby-throated.
Since it is here this late in day, I presume
I will get chances to see and study it tomorrow.
I had a very early spring female Costa's up on
Seco Ridge, March 4-5, 2006, which called alot but
wasn't there 24 hours, and I did not get a tape
of it. So, no score! After dark I was slow-rolling
on the back west end of 360 and saw a Gray Fox on the
road. They can be remarkably fast.
Feb. 4 ~ It was about 59F all night. Balmy,
south Gulf flow ahead of the next front, which
is set to arrive this afternoon. Thick overcast
bodering on fog early. Warming up above average
ahead of the cold air on its way down from Canada.
We saw the male Ladder-backed Woodpecker on the
birdbath, which is a very very rare sight. Probably
because he is eating all those sunflower seeds.
The northerlies arrived around 3 p.m., whence
I saw 82F on the cool shady front porch! The
sunny south side of the house had to be a few dF
warmer, likely 85F. Most of the local WU stations were
reading 82-85F. The record for the date at SAT
is 85, so our record would typically be a couple dF
cooler than that. Which means we are right about
or at a record high for the date. Remarkable.
Saw several Snouth fly by. Kathy saw a Dogface.
Feb. 3 ~ Low was in upper 30's F, sunny
and no wind, great out. I can't believe
how fast how green the ground is turning with
sprouts in some areas. Various grasses, and
other green sprouty things are breaking ground.
Go green. Got up to about 75F in the afternoon.
Weewow! Had a glimpse of some Zons flushing
from under the sprawling laurel out back. Looked
like two White-crowns and a White-throated. Weird
how some laurels grow sprawling like a bush, and
others grow vertical like a tree, totally different
growth forms.
The rest was all the same
gang. Too busy at the desk. Heard the ack ack
ack ack ack fire of a Ringed Kingfisher from over
at the river. Heard the Eastern Phoebe singing
for the first time this year. So it joins the
sputtering chorus of residents that are delving
into song as we pass the mid-winter point. Days
are nearing 1.5 minutes longer, daily, now.
Feb. 2 ~ Another near-freeze, about 34F for a
low. At least the wind laid down. Got up to
upper 60's, so about average for the date.
A Robin and waxwing flock that went over looked
like a hundred of each. Some Robin were dropping
to land in the top of the big pecan and getting
to within 10' of an adult Sharp-shinned
Hawk before they made the ID and changed course.
It was really fidgeting as several did this, but
knew it was a waste of energy trying to get one out
in the open airspace. They would break off the
landing maneuver at what seemed like way too late
to me. I was surprised they got that close before
seeing and-or recognizing it. I know it sits up
there trying to look like a White-winged Dove,
but eight or ten did this, separately, as the
Robin stream went over. It was all the Sharpy
could take, changing position a couple times,
it wanted to go after one badly.
Kathy saw a big black butterfly today, which was
surely a swallowtail of some flavor. Actually Black
Swallowtail is more likely, often it can be seen in
earlier Feb. when on a warm day the first emergences
will pop. But she didn't see it well enough
to say whether Black or Pipevine. First swallowtail
of the year though. Maybe we will see it again in
the next day or two.
February 1 ~ Low about 33F, sunny and nice out.
Figures its a work day in the office, weekend
was mostly blown-out. Same gang o' birds.
Until after noon when I saw a Rufous-crowned
Sparrow at the birdbath. Have not seen one
here in a couple or few months, so that was
nice. Then in the afternoon I caught a look
at a White-throated Sparrow when it stopped on
a branch after it flushed out from under the
laurel out back where I toss seed. Right where
I heard it a few days ago. It is a white striped
adult. Now if I could just get a pic, but it is
ginchy as can be. BTW, ever notice how close ginchy
is to gunshy? A good flock of Robin and waxwing
went over late afternoon, about 75 of each,
heading west towards a roost site.
~ ~ ~ January summary ~ ~ ~
This one will be short and easy. We had about
1.3 inches of rain for the month. Which is below
average but made a big difference as reflected
in how the river has come up to only a foot below
going over spillway at park. Food crops are poor
and gone, there is an amazing dearth of birds out
there overall. Pastures, hedgerows, treelines,
patches of woodlets, riverside, are all fairly
devoid of birds, as bad as I have ever seen it
here in 18 years now. There were 6 species of
butterflies this month, and perhaps a dozen
individuals total of which half were Snout. The
Eufala Skipper was best for Jan. Three Variegated
Meadowhawk were the only dragonfly, on one day
early in month. Heard Leopard and Barking Frog
on a warm day later in month.
Birds were very weak though. We have not seen the
Green Jays this year, or since mid-December. Best
bird locally was the Hilbig's Western Bluebird.
Second best was a flock of 9 Mountain Bluebird I saw
briefly on UvCo360. An ad. fem. Rusty Blackbird sometimes
in the corral adjacent to us is on her 8th winter here.
One Lark Bunting on UvCo354 was good. A female Downy
Woodpecker has been around a bit. A male Vermilion
Flycatcher is again wintering at the pond on the golf
course by the Waresville Cmty. I saw about 68 sps.
locally this month, with hardly any looking outside
yard or park checks. I know of several more that
others saw.
~ ~ ~ end Jan. summary ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ back to the dairly drivel ~ ~ ~
Jan. 31 ~ It is appearing as though we may yet make
it through the first month of the new year. Was
in uppermost 30's F for a bit overnight but
over 40 at dawn. Clear and sunny but a second
front is moving in so wind picking up by 9 a.m.,
northerly cool air and a high 10F cooler than
yesterday. Too windy until late afternoon so
worked on stuff here. Birds were the same gang.
Robin flock might have been a hundred though.
There are some juniper berries, and mostly up in town
some Ligustrum and Chinaberry. But the birds are
sure not like when there are great food crops of
Pecans, Hackberries, Junipers, or seed crops from
a good fall bloom.
Jan. 30 ~ A balmy 59F for a low, overcast, nearing
fog, some mist at one point in the morning. Southerly
Gulf flow being sucked up in front of the next front.
Noonish the front cleared it out and it was northerly
breezy a few hours. It warmed up in the afternoon, at
4 p.m. the local WU station readings ran 75-79F! Amazing.
The birds here looked all the same gang. After lunch
we took a short quick spinabout checking the pastures
along 360, no bluebirds. Nothing on the airstrip
either. Went on top of the 1450 knoll as it has a
big flat bareish top, nothing. Had to look around a
little. There were very few birds out. The most
action is in our yard. Even the river-edge is quiet.
No bugs save the winter Mayfly hatches on warm days.
The Texas Scrub-Jay, texana, is our subspecies, of what
is now called Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay, of which it
is not. The far west Texas (and westward) Scrub-Jay are
Woodhouse's, these Edwards Plateau birds are their
own flavor. Ridgeway I think originally described this
subspecies, in other words, before Oberholser, it was
that obviously different.
This is in the shade under overcast. One day it should
have full species status. But since west Texas has
different (Woodhouse's) scrub-jays, Texas Scrub-Jay
would not be a good name for it. Edwards Plateau
Scrub-Jay would be suitably accurate and unwieldy methinks.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
Jan. 29 ~ Low was around freezing about 4-5 a.m., but
was 38-40F by dawn. Cool and overcast, a slight breeze,
chilly. The yard birds were the same. Town run, was
real quiet there, maybe the stock show in Uvalde?
At the park there was a beautiful drake Ring-necked
Duck on the pond. A few Myrtle Warbler and the male
Audubon's continue, a Kinglet (Ruby) and a Hermit
Thrush. Nice to hear Titmouse and Bewick's Wren
singing in town. Rosie was not there today so missed
our weekly taco fix. On the way home on 360 just west of
Utopia on the River, a flock of 9 MOUNTAIN Bluebird flew
right over me low. I jumped out and got fair binoc
views (at least a couple were ad. males), as they flew
over the pasture along road toward river, gaining
altitude and disappearing. Have not seen one locally
in a bunch of years. Saw them a few times the first
few years here, and maybe once since. Only takes one
good bird to make your week.
Jan. 28 ~ We were right on the freeze line this morning.
KERV had a couple 29F readings, we might have been 31F
briefly. Warmed up to about 60F. Was the same birds,
nice to see about 50 Robin in a flock. Golden-fronted
and Ladder-backed Woodpeckers eating sunflower seeds.
Another 36 count on White-winged Dove, couple dozen
Cardinal, 50 American Goldfinch is great, 100 Chipping
Sparrow. Too busy at the desk with work. Hearing some
Chickadee song is great.
Jan. 27 ~ Low about 40F and the wind blew all night.
Around midnight last night there were some 30 mph gusts,
it was 15-20 mph sustained overnight and much of day.
Sure is a crowd of birds out there first thing early
after I toss seed and put feeders out and up. Weird
that I have not seen that Chipping Sparrow with the
white feathers on left wing again. Seems like it is
likely one of the ones the accipiters have taken.
For standing out. Let that be a lesson to you.
Maybe hit 60F in the afternoon, whence wind laid down
finally. Which means it will get cold.
Jan. 26 ~ Low was about 35F, about a category lower than
progged. Great to hear Cardinal giving a decent burst
of song. It warmed up quickly, by noon it was 70F and
I was seeing butterflies. A Eufala Skipper has to be
my first Jan. record (n~18). A Lyside Sulphur flew over,
and a Snout came into water Kathy sprayed. There is
nothing out there for them to eat, but for puddling.
Then a Lady of some sort dashed off un-ID'd, most
(all?) wintering Lady here are American. Painted generally
continues through in fall and does not stick for the
winter. Birds were the same gang, as expected in January.
Another dry front is inbound, winds started late in
the evening.
Jan. 25 ~ It was in the 60's until about 6 a.m.
when the front started arriving, dropping to almost
50F by dawn. Looked as though there were a showerlet
briefly as it went by, the ground was wet. Then
clear and sunny, but the wind blew most of the day
until late afternoon. At 15-20mph, gusting to 25.
It warmed up to the low 70's in the afternoon.
KERV was 72, and Hondo had a 77F! We were in between.
Pretty amazing for the date. Nice and dry too.
Kathy spotted the first Southern Dogface of the year,
a mint fresh just-emerged male that the paint had not
yet dried on. Just a little heat and pop goes the
butterfly. Saw two imm. White-crowned Sparrow here.
Had a quick town run late in afternoon and so a look
at the park. Saw one Pied-billed Grebe. Better was
hearing a (Rio Grande) Leopard Frog, and a Barking Frog.
First amphibs, and of those calls this year, and way way
early for them. Almost surely my earliest dates ever
for both of them. Usually (Blanchard's) Cricket-Frog
is the first early amphib on a warm day in Feb., if
not our 'spring peeper' the (Strecker's)
Chorus Frog. There was a fair bit of Mayfly emergence
going on. A couple Myrtle Warbler, an Eastern Phoebe,
and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet were right on it. A female
Ladder-backed Woodpecker was drumming on a dead Cypress
knot making an interesting sound. Is it singing back
to its mate, or trolling for one?
Jan. 24 ~ Foggy and 60F in the morning. Didn't
cool down a bit. Had some drizzle and mist off and
on over the day, stayed soppy and in the 60'sF.
Plenty of work to do on things inside. That is the
great part of trying to have a half-dozen projects
going all the time. Chipping Sparrows were over a
hundred, and nothing in with them save the Field
Sparrows. Of which I finally heard one sing today,
Kathy did several days ago. Heard some Cardinal and
Carolina Wren song too. Saw Titmouse checking out
nest holes. Time to do any annual nest box work or
maintenance is now. The non-migratory residents get
going very early. All I did was toss seed a few times
via seemingly well worn paths, and yet I was still
able to acquire my first chigger of the year.
Jan. 23 ~ A gray day in the 50's, foggy in the
morning, overcast with occasional mist over the day.
Heard a Golden-crowned Kinglet uphill in the live-oaks
behind us. Counted 30 House Finch at once in top
of the big Pecan, they are building in numbers now too.
Great was a Savannah Sparrow on the patio in with the
Chippies. It is a rare bird on the patio, have only
seen a couple prior. The rest seemed about the same.
Another 36 count on White-winged Dove. Sharpy was
diving on the seedeaters in the afternoon. Warmed to
about 60F and stayed there into the evening. Had too
much biz work to do here to lookabout.
This is an immature Sharp-shinned Hawk. These bird eaters
take lots of birds all winter, sparrows, Cardinal, and even
dove. Especially the smaller males appear barely bigger than
a Robin. A handy book gives 10 inches for Robin, 11 for Sharpy.
Don't let their size fool you, they make up for it with attitude.
I watched one march on foot into thick brush after a rabbit (!)
once, which had to be over twice its weight.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
Jan. 22 ~ Was clear late last night at midnight,
some clouds this morning but clearing out. Stayed
around 50 all night again. Nice not to be cold.
It was at least 36 White-winged Dove on the ground
this morning. Warmed up to a toasty 77F here in
the afternoon, local WU stations were reading 75-78F.
And dry. Very nice. The birds were all the same
gang here. Checked park in town, nothing new or
different there either, except the water has really
come up. I'd say a little over a foot below
the spillway, it was nearing three feet below. So
major headway with some water in the hole. Saw the
male Audubon's Warbler at north end of the island.
Jan. 21 ~ Clouds, mist, fog, maybe was some light
drizzle overnight, stayed about 50F and soupy all
night. Lifted to just overcast for the afternoon,
and hit the low 60's F. Still dozens of Pine
Siskin and Am. Goldfinch going through pounds of
sunflower seed. The White-winged Dove might be
32 now, it was at least 30. There are things about
their movements we do not understand. We were
down to about 4 or so a month-plus ago at peak absence.
They have been building steadily the last couple
or few weeks, the current number much higher than
what was wintering locally (incl. town) in December.
Saw the Downy Woodpecker female from the office
desk, over in the Mulberry over the cottage. The
Robin was squawkin' and about 45 Waxwing were
around a bit. A pair of Eur. Collared-Dove was on
the patio, which I would rather not see. In the
afternoon warmth as it dried out the pair of
Golden-fronted Woodpecker were preening extensively
a couple feet apart in the top of the big Pecan.
He has been chasing her around a bit lately.
Jan. 20 ~ A chilly wet one, low 40's F, drizzle,
light showers, mist. Looks like about .75 or so
total since yesterday. There were a couple tenths
yesterday, so a half-inch or so overnight and in
the morning. Will wait for it to end to get a total.
After dark, I would say about .85 or .9, event so far.
Saw a, the, Orange-crowned Warbler under a Laurel
eating millet. I presume it is the same one that
has done that the last four winters here. Nothing out
there to eat in the cold drizzly. The rest was the
same gang, but wet. It might have warmed up to 50F
over the day, and I think is to stay about that
overnight, in continued soppy. The cold frontish
thing moved over southward in the morning, and has
retreated as a warm front this evening. Don't
like the weather, hang around a bit. Just as well
to have work at the desk.
Jan. 19 ~ Overcast, mist, drizzle, and about 60F
at dawn, with a warm moist Gulf flow. It was just
over 50 before midnight. A Ringed Kingfisher flew up
the river calling early in morning. Before noon the
winds had turned to north and cold air was dropping
temps back to mid-50's F. A front is said to
be inbound, and 24 hours or more of rain chances.
We might have had a tenth of an inch over the day,
and another tenth after dark. Will just wait for
the event to end to get a total. Didn't see
anything different today, was the same gang o'
seed-eaters. Too busy with work.
Jan. 18 ~ Another one of those backwards nights for
temps. At midnight it was clear, stars were great,
about 35F, at dawn it was fog and 50F. Keeps the
dust down anyway. Sunny afternoon warmed to about
70F! Last of the sun in the forecast for a few days.
I go out on the back porch and lizard up the last bit.
The birds were the same gang. I was too busy to work
on finding that White-throated Sparrow I heard yesterday.
I figure if it sticks, I will get a look. A couple
accipiter flushing events over the day, when five
hundred bird wings explode into action. Kathy heard
Field Sparrow sing today, first of that this year.
House Finch was giving long bouts of extended song
today, great to hear.
Jan. 17 ~ I saw 30F when tossing seed before sunup,
KERV got colder, we probably did too. Thought sure
I heard a White-throated Sparrow out back twice, saw
a Zon fly uphill into cover. Saw an imm. White-crowned
too, but this call was absolutely not that, was the
harsh hissy strained seeeet note. Otherwise was the
same gang. Heard Chickadee song, our Carolina do four
notes, see you see me. Great Horned Owls calling more.
We worked on things here. Got up to upper 60's F,
maybe 68F or so in the afternoon, pretty nice out.
Supposed to have some rain this week, and warmer temps.
Jan. 16 ~ Another hard freeze, I saw 25F at 7 a.m., so
it likely got a dF or two colder. KERV had a couple 23F
readings. It warmed up well in the afternoon though,
hitting 67F or so. The 250+ assorted seedeaters were
mighty busy the first half of the day. It was the same
gang, did not see anything different. Some Black Vulture
in pair bond flight is always nice to see though. They can
show suprising precision in delicate manuevers. Never
saw Bewick's Wren eat so much seed, it is eating
the White Millet. Must be nothing else out there to eat.
The Black Rock Squirrel was gathering sunflower seeds.
The live-oaks are getting yellower, about to drop their
leaves in the annual replacement. The Junipers are just
starting to put out pollen. I see some green sprouts
just breaking ground, which must be what the deer are
eating now. That one Tropical Sage has another flower
open, a little 2-3" specimen growing out of stone
steps at front porch, only open flower around.
Green Heron, juvenile. This is the young the pair that
nests on the island at Utopia Park produced this past
summer (photo on Sept. 9, 2020). They usually do not
arrive here until late April, sometimes early May,
with young not seen until later August or early September.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
Jan. 15 ~ Another freeze, but barely, maybe 31F or so,
though I did see KERV hit 28F. It is noteworthy methinks
that we have only had two mornings so far this year that
was above freezing, one of those barely so. That is a
cold start to the year. Many winters we do not have a
15 day stretch of almost all freezing mornings. A bit
breezy in the a.m. but calmed down nicely and got into
the lowest 60's here, though most of the area looked
like upper 50's. Nice with no wind, in the sun.
Birds were the same here. I saw a poster in town about
some Groundhog Day thing. I wonder what they use here,
Armadillos?
Stopped at park and saw a new male Audubon's Warbler,
which clearly was not the female I saw last week. Two
new Audubon's warblers in the last two Fridays there.
Nothing else though. In town I saw two flickers, ON a
Purple Martin box. Both were females, one Red-shafted,
one Yellow-shafted. Both had all appropriate marks to be
considered good pure birds. Other than that it was just
3 fajita chicken tacos at Rosie's, the culinary
highlight of the week. Kathy pointed out that I wouldn't
appreciate them so much if it wasn't for her cooking.
;) Tomorrow will be one minute longer
than today, the first time we added a full minute in a
day this year, about 26 days from the solstice. We will
add over a half-hour, nearing 40 minutes I think, to
daylight length over the next month. And the birds
will be singing in no time.
Jan. 14 ~ Got down to at least 28F an hour before the
usual peak, KERV had a 26. It was cold. Looked like
an imm. Sharp-shinned Hawk got a Chippy in flight.
The way it quickly broke-off, turned, and skulked back
to the shadows up the hill hoping the others would not
notice what it just did, is what they do when they
grab one. There were four Robin together briefly, then
later afternoon a group of over a dozen flew over with
25 waxwing. Saw one White-crowned Sparrow still here.
Otherwise the rest seemed the same gang. A front blew
in before noon, for a few hours it blew hard, 15-20 mph
gusting to 30 and 35 mph occasionally. The hot sunny
back porch was showing upper 60's F in the afternoon.
Got a count of 28 White-winged Dove today in a flush.
Amazing how they have increased the last month.
Jan. 13 ~ A frosty 22F for a low this morning. That
was before usual peak, and I saw KERV had a 21F.
Birdbath was frozen solid, as was jug over it, luckily
only half full, so hot water fixed that. The first
few pounds of seed sure disappeared quickly. So did
the second and third few pounds. There sure are a
lot of dependents out there. Twenty four White-winged
Dove now, 12-15 Mourning, not seeing or hearing the
Ground-Dove for a couple months. Ninety Chipping and
8 Field Sparrow, 40+ each Pine Siskin and American
Goldfinch, couple dozen Cardinal, a dozen House Finch,
a dozen chickadee and titmice combined. Over 250 seed
eaters. Kathy heard a Chickadee singing the high thin
whistle 'see you see me'. They have not done
so in about 5 months or so.
Jan. 12 ~ A chilly 24F low, might have been colder.
I was not about to hang around out there and watch
the thermometer. KERV had some 23's and briefly
a 22F reading. In that, at first crack of light
when I was tossing seed, several Turkey were gobbling
less than a hundred yards away right across the road.
There is an area just south of the treeline along the
draw we follow to the river, that is a big open wildflower
meadowish thing, which is where they were calling from.
Sure would like a good pic of one in full display.
Whaddabird! Was the same gang here otherwise. In
the afternoon we broke 50, hit 54F briefly before a
cloud shield blew it, a great warmup at this point.
Jan. 11 ~ About 34F for a low, cloudy and overcast.
We are nearing 36 hours straight in mid-30's dF.
It has been a cold January so far. The female
Golden-fronted Woodpecker was picking sunflower seeds
up off the patio, which says there is not a lot of
food out there. White-winged Dove count hit 22,
arrivals are occurring. Counted 11 male Cardinal at
once, surely as many females out there. Pine Siskin
numbered over 40, likely 45 plus, a high count so far
this winter. Chipping Sparrow looked about 90, finally
a real flock, Field Sparrow were 8. Got up to a smokin'
hot 45F in the afternoon. Cleared after dark, and
it is going to get cold.
Jan. 10 ~ It was a cold wet gray one. The temp was
38F first thing, that was the high. Most of the day
was about 36F. Off and on drizzle, showers and mist,
but only about .4 of precip here. Stayed in where
warm and dry. Nearest snow flurries were 40 miles
north or so. Got a high count of Chipping Sparrow
for the winter so far though, 90 at once. One with
some snow white primaries and one white tertial on left
side is absolutely new. Seemed 3 dozen Pine Siskin,
maybe 40 Am. Goldfinch now. About 15 each of
Mourning and White-winged Dove. A couple accipiter
flush events. Some waxwings, the one loyal Robin,
about 20 Cardinal, a half-dozen each House Finch and
Field Sparrow.
Jan. 9 ~ Another chilly one about 25F this morn.
Seems like there ought to be Juncos at these temps.
Sun lasted a couple hours and it clouded up. At
11 it was a chilly 44F, maybe hit 48 at peak heat.
Gonna be an inside day tomorrow. There were lots
of Goldfinch (35+) and Siskin (30+), a nice group
of waxwing (30+), the one Robin, and the male Myrtle
Warbler, half dozen Field Sparrow, the same gang.
Worked at the desk where warmer. Had to run to
town late afternoon so slow-rolled around a bit.
Not much out there though. A couple Eastern Phoebe,
a few Eastern Bluebird. Completed my annual wintering
Starling count, got all both of them, again. Was some
drizzle shortly after 7 p.m., supposed to deteriorate
overnight and tomorrow.
How about our two small woodpeckers this week?
Besides the much larger Golden-fronted, these are the two
little woodpeckers here. From behind, Ladder-backed
appears lined, Downy appears spotted.
Ladder-backed Woodpecker, male. Note back is evenly zebra-
barred throughought upperparts and wings. The female crown
is black without red. These are the most common woodpecker
here and are widespread residents. They are what enlarges the
holes of every birdbox they find, often roosting in them in winter.
Note the black facial stripe makes a U on its side, doubling
back from eye, and returning to bill without connecting to the
black nape stripe, and is completely encircled with white.
Downy Woodpecker, female. Note big white stripe up
back that otherwise appears mostly black. The spots
are on the wings. Males have a small red patch at top
rear of crown. These are very scarce here, but semi-regular.
Only one known breeding record, April 2020. Might see one
any month though, generally right along river habitat corridor.
Note black facial (eye) stripe a thicker line narrowing rearward,
but straight, connecting to nape stripe, breaking the white.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
Jan. 8 ~ It was a chilly one at about 25F for a low.
Sunny with little to no breeze so nice in afternoon
whence warmed to lowest 60's F. It was about
30 or more Cedar Waxwing hitting the bath to wash
down juniper berries. Town run day, so a check of
the park. Was a bit of a mayfly hatch going so some
flycatching along the main pond edge. A couple
Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 7 Myrtle Warbler, and new was
one female Audubon's Warbler. At least 5 Eastern
Phoebe too. The live-oaks in the main park area had
a decent flocklet of Titmouse and Chickadee but nothing
else. The woods were dead, most exciting was a Green
Bottle Fly. It was my first one of the year. I keep
forgetting to mention, lots of the live-oaks are
turning yellow already. We noticed it first a couple
weeks ago on some, but now a good number are going yellow.
It is early for so many to be so yellow already, and surely
drought related. I also see some male Junipers turning
rusty of tips, just about to unleash the pollen Kraken.
Shirley at the store showed me some awesome pix of the
rest area above Lost Maples covered in 4-5 inches
of snow. WEEWOW!
Jan. 7 ~ The wind stopped and it cooled to about 34F
for a low. Sunny, and slowly warmed to about 65F for
a high. Wonderful afternoon. Was too busy at the desk
as usual. There was a good Robin flock, for this year,
of nearing 3 dozen birds that came into the birdbath
late afternoon. Nearly two dozen waxwing were there
too, they were hitting the Junipers just over the north
fence, and need water to wash them down. The one male
Myrtle Warbler came in to the bath as well. The couple
dozen Siskin and three dozen American Goldfinch were
here until the afternoon. The Great Horned Owls are
seriously duetting now, which is really a sign of the
start of their breeding cycle. They start the process
in January. I am seeing Black Vulture pairs flying
around too. They are getting underway as well.
Jan. 6 ~ Finally the first morning without a freeze
this year. It was about 50F at midnight, and was 60F in
drizzle-fog-mist at dawn. A front is coming in, so the
warm moist air being sucked up from the south and Gulf,
hits the escarpment for some orographic magic and it
might have squeezed a tenth of an inch out of it over
the first 3 hours of light. A dust-buster for a day
or two. Was clearing by 11, getting breezy by noon,
and a full post-frontal blow by 1 p.m. As it got east
near I-35 where more humid it kicked up a good squall
line. Heard my first Carolina Wren song this year,
giving a few series of 'we-yo we-yo we-yo we-yo'.
Kathy said she might have heard some the other day.
The one Robin continues up in the big Pecan every morning.
All the other Robins came and left, it stayed. I am
a sure as can be that it is the one that did this all
winter last year too. Such loyalty is hard to find.
Saw the female Downy Woodpecker, and saw the sapsucker
fly out of the Mulberry by the cottage into the corral.
Saw a bigger butterfly zipping about briefly that was
either a winter Questionmark or a Red Admiral, but it
disappeared quickly.
Jan. 5 ~ Low was 31F, sunny for a couple hours but after
10 a.m. was overcast and chilly. At least 25 Pine Siskin
flushed at once. Sun came back out after 1 p.m., whence
I heard Titmouse give the trilled lulululu song a few times,
which I have not heard in many months, maybe six. Then a
White-winged Dove belted a few bars of song, also the
first of that in months. Saw a Sleepy Orange butterfly,
species number 4, bfly individual number 5 for the year.
Jan. 4 ~ Still waiting for a morning above freezing this
year. Was 28F here. In the afternoon more than one local
WU station was reporting 78F! FIFTY dF diurnals! Amazing.
Saw that ginchy adult sapsucker sneaking around again,
but could not get bins on it. The female Downy was out
there too. Ladder-backed and Golden-fronted, check. So,
fairly certain there will not be a Flicker today. In the
afternoon heat I saw my first butterflies of the year.
One Snout, one Little Yellow, and a yellow morph Lyside
Sulphur which looked like a fresh emergence, whereas the
other two were worn leftovers. The heat can get them to pop.
Today was the peak heat day of the week. Sure felt great.
I totally get lizards, or at least my lizard-brain does.
Later a second Snout came by. A couple accipiter flush
events in the afternoon whence all the seedeaters explode
in full alarm. Over a dozen each of Mourning and
White-winged Dove, fifteen waxwing and the single Robin.
Jan. 3 ~ It was a cold one at 24F this morning. Birdbath
was frozen solid. Frost was thick on everything. Great
Horned Owl was calling at dawn, unfazed, likely thrilled.
Kathy got a high count of 60 Chipping Sparrow, so more,
but still just half or less of our usual winter flock size.
About 9 a.m. besides the always present Ladder-backed Woodpecker,
the female Downy was out there, and an adult Sapsucker
which went through the yard stopping in a pecan, but too
briefly for me to ID it. Yellow-bellied until proven
otherwise here, but just sapsucker sps. when you don't
see the key characters to ID it to that level. Of course
we had Golden-fronted later, but could not buy a Flicker
all day. An intergrade would have been fine. It was
15 White-winged Dove this morn, they are increasing now.
The male Cardinal sure are getting bright red now.
We went for a slow-roll around noonish. We went onto a
private prop. road and ranch and it mostly had no birds
like all the other roads locally this winter. One sub-adult
Caracara, one Kestrel, a couple Blackbuck, and around
some big trucks and heavy equipment, a Canyon Towhee.
The one or ones we have had love our big truck out back
(a 5 ton Ford with an 18' box, lift gate, Big Red,
she's a beauty), but this was more bigger trucks.
This was probably ours, we lost it to the place with
more bigger trucks. We used to see one at the Bandera
County yard around the big trucks at the 187 x 470
intersection. County yards is a place to look for them,
around the big trucks. They look like big rocks to them.
But not to a Canyon Wren.
Then at Utopia Park there were lots of Black Vulture
but little else. The water did come up a few inches
from the rain on Dec. 31. Then we rolled out UvCo354
which often has birds along the roadsides. They were
mostly devoid there too. The drought-induced lack of
fall bloom and loss of subsequent seed crop is apparently
critical to wintering sparrows and such here. We found
one small group by a big brush pile. There were five
Vesper and a Savannah Sparrow, one (a second one!)
Canyon Towhee, and one Lark Bunting, all together around
one brush pile. A veritible jackpot! Heard a Pyrrhuloxia
or two, saw a few Western Meadowlark. The Lark Bunting
is the first I have seen this fall or winter locally,
they are always scarce here, so always a treat. There
was a small pale male sub-ad. fuertesi Red-tailed Hawk
at the 187 x 354 junction. A few Eastern Bluebird, a
few Eastern Phoebe along the roads, but can't find
a Say's Phoebe this winter. The fields are bare of
bugs. Lastly we checked the golf course pond by the
Waresville Cmty. The wintering male Vermilion Flycatcher
continues, and just 3 male Red-winged Blackbird were there.
There were 3 male Variegated Meadowhawk dragonflies, which
must have anti-freeze. These are last years leftovers
that show up every late fall (Nov.) to early winter,
often mate and ovipositing here, until they expire.
Talked to a local that said on New Years Eve when it
snowed it was sticking from about B & R road northward,
so starting up-valley a few miles north of town. He said
lots of locals went up to the rest area north of Lost Maples
a mile or so, up the grade and on top of the plateau (ca.
2100-2200' alt.) where there was FIVE INCHES of snow
on the ground! In the afternoon here it warmed up to 70F
for a couple hours which felt great. Opened up and got
rid of the cold air in the house and cottage. Saw the
Black Rock Squirrel, with jowels full of sunflower seeds.
Some Anole and a female Eastern Fence (Prairie) Lizard
were out soaking sun.
Jan. 2 ~ A bit chilly at 26F for a low, with a frozen
birdbath. But the winds finally calmed down, sunny, and
warmed up to a wonderful 62F in the afternoon. About 9 a.m.
the Rusty Blackbird flew over calling and dropped into
the far end of the corral again. Was 30 plus waxwing,
and the one each Robin and Myrtle Warbler, but were two
White-crowned Sparrow, an ad. and an imm., at least 35
Am. Goldfinch and 25 Pine Siskin, a dozen White-winged
Dove is an increase. A Cardinal was giving the first
vestiges of song. The tew notes in series but not yet
clearly, not full blast, but not quiet singing either.
It went on for several minutes. We are gaining 30 seconds
of photo-period per day now. Lots of the non-migratory
residents will start singing this month.
A few American Robin at the birdbath.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
January 1, 2021 ~ Happy New Year! Cheers for a better one!
Merry Vagrants and Happy New Birds! Wishing everyone a
healthy happy peaceful year ahead! It started cold here,
31F. The low system had moved north by midnight last night.
Now we have the post-frontal blow on the backside, heavy on
the cold-air advection. Chills this morning are in the
20's F. Around 11 a.m. it broke 40F, but winds are
at 10-15 mph gusting to 20, so it still feels a freeze.
After 11 the female Downy Woodpecker was in the yard again,
always a treat to see here. I wonder if it is the one that
nested last April in the 354 pecan patch? A mile and change
from here. Or one of the young? Heard some Sandhill Crane
going over southbound later in afternoon. Right at dusk
the Striped Skunk was under the Mulberry scavenging sunflower
seeds. At 15' away, it could not care less about
your presence. I measured the tub water today, it was
44F! Holy cow that is cold. In Oct. I wrapped the entire
tub sides in a layer of bubble wrap, and at night cover the
surface with it, plus a tarp wrapped around and over the
whole thing. The Gambusia are fine, the inch long Barking
Frog tadpoles come up to surface to warm when sun hits it.
The spindly Ceratophyllum is still doing well despite the
cold water. Cattails are brown and bent over, still waiting
for Marsh Wren. The Lost Maples Facebook page has pics of
the place with an inch or two of snow on everything.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Here is a long detailed annual 2020 summary...
Well that was a weird year. There was not the usual out
and about birding due to the virus. There were Lost Maples
closures, there was a hail carpet-bombing in spring, and
the drought got real bad. Summer ran 5-7 dF or more above
normal average temps as it has been the last several years.
We had some rain in the spring but the tap went dry early
in summer. We went from D1 to D3 (extreme) drought in the
last half of the year. Many long-time locals say they have
never seen it this bad. Much of the river north of town
is dry above ground.
Insects in particular seemed depressed from the drought.
Which affects lots of bird nesting. Many seemed to only
have two broods instead of three, with two young fledging
instead of three or four. Everything is connected. There
was almost no fall flower bloom, and then a subsequent lack
of all that seed crop. Fruit crops were very poor, there
was very little of the Pecan, Hackberry, Juniper, or Texas
Persimmon crop in most areas, some areas a near wipeout due
to the devastating 1" hail carpet-bombing in May.
Butterflies were weak overall but a few good things were
seen. I saw 88 species over the year locally, which is typical
of drought condition periods. Thirty species were skippers.
I saw 20 sps. of skippers just in August. Doesn't that
sound exciting? The misses always stand out most to me though.
No Viceroy, Mourning Cloak, or Great Purple Hairstreak. Still
many years without a Carolina Satyr, Common Wood-Nymph, or
Silvery Checkerspot, all absent since the last epic drought
we never recovered from before this one started. There was
a wave of small stuff in July and August, Skippers, Blues, and
Hairstreaks, but it faded and a fall flight from southward did
not materialize. The Monarchs also missed us this year, never
did I see a hundred in a day. Only a few days had double digits.
Only saw a very few Arizona Sister and Red-spotted Purple.
Only saw two White-striped Longtail, and no other of the
long-tailed Skippers, again. The better butterflies were...
a Clytie Ministreak was likely best, my first documented
here (ph.) though had seen a couple here. A Zebra Longwing
spent over a week around our place (ph.). Three or four
White-patched Skipper (ph.) is my best total for a year,
a Coyote Cloudywing (ph.) was the first in several years,
most years you will not see one here. Outstanding and
second best was my third Purple-washed Skipper photographed
here, all three UvCo records, this one at the front porch.
There were two Ocola Skipper this year. An Ornythion
Swallowtail July 3 is about my 5th sighting here, only
have pix of one a long time ago. In Nov. a big black
swallowtail with color on the hindwing got away that surely
was a Ruby-spotted Swallowtail. That one hurt the most,
still stings and will for a while. I'd be dyin' if
I did not have a prior local photo of one. A couple Laviana
White-Skipper were good, they are less than annual. A few
Texas Wasp Moth were seen, no White-tipped Black, one
Obscure Sphinx, one Imperial Moth.
Odes were worse than butterflies. The drought really puts
the hurt on them. Besides half the habitat being absent
from there being no above ground water in much of the river,
the remaining fish are concentrated at levels that it is a
miracle any dragon or damselfly larvae can get out of the
water to successfully emerge. The numbers of the local
populations were very depressed, you had to scrape for
a Widow Skimmer and Prince Baskettail at Utopia Park.
Repeat on all sorts of stuff. Did not see an Amberwing
here this year. Best was three male Comet Darner on a
pond on the golf course. Two at once at one point.
This is about the third year I have recorded it locally.
They showed up after a hurricane went north into Louisiana,
again, like at least one of the prior occurrences. There
were a few Twelve-spotted Skimmer and Band-winged Dragonlet
this year, a couple Four-spotted Skimmer went over one day
in a migrant herd of dragons southbound in fall. Saw one
Great Spreadwing, one River-cruiser sps. (prob. Bronze),
a Cyrano Darner at Lost Maples, and a Pin-tailed Pondhawk
(ph.) there might be a Bandera Co. first. The small
Orange-striped Threadtail population at Utopia Pk. is
down in numbers, but still going. Some Flame and
Commanche Skimmer at Lost Maples but no Neon. I saw
49 species locally this year, lowest in last 3 years
at least for sure, but probably more.
Birds were great, for the reduced level of birding,
and seeing so few species. I count 203 species I
saw locally this year, which is actually great if
you ask me. That is an USRD (upper Sabinal River
drainage) total. I saw more down on a couple trips
down into the brush country. But only a couple Lost
Maples trips. Canyon Wren is probably the only bird
added there. Everything else is within 4 miles of
Utopia. Here is a recap of the highlights.
Last winter the female Rusty Blackbird that was on
maybe its 7th winter here was last seen Feb. 15.
It is back again in December 2020. A hybrid Sabsucker
that was partly Red-breasted was here Feb. 21.
A pure one would draw a huge crowd. In spring best
bird was a calling nocturnal migrant Black-bellied
Plover Apr. 20. Great was a Common Pauraque March
1-10 around our place. The first known nesting
along Sabinal River of Downy Woodpecker was also a
great find. It was a good thrush spring as besides
Swainson's it is easy not to see any others.
A Gray-cheeked Thrush in our birdbath on May 11 was
awesome, but better was a nice calling rusty Veery
May 9 in a Mulberry just south of town.
In summer a Least Grebe June 27 - Aug. 30 on the
golf course pond by the Waresville Cemetery was
a first local record so a great bit of excitement.
A female Anhinga at the park was my second local
record so very good. Begging juvenile Audubon's
Oriole were in our yard. It was a good hummingbird
fall, perhaps the fires out west pushed more our
way. We had at our feeders at least three each
minimum Calliope and Broad-tailed Hummingbird,
and about 10 different Rufous go through here.
Warblers were weak as usual in fall, one female
MacGillivrays Sept. 4 was maybe my third fall
sighting locally. Great was my latest ever
Golden-cheek Aug. 31, an adult male as was my
prior latest (Aug. 25). Outstanding was a calling
Cordilleran Flycatcher Oct. 14 at the park, also
about my third one here locally, but got a pic.
br />
A major highlight of the year was a group of at
least four Green Jay seen along the river habitat
corridor from 4 mile bridge to Utopia Park, from Oct. 19
to at least mid-Dec. so far. Including in our
yard a bunch of times. But never for long. This
is only their second incursion up onto the Edwards
Plateau, so significant. Also outstanding was a
Cactus Wren Nov. 1 at the golf course pond by
Wareseville providing my first local documentation.
Less than annual so of note was a Western Tanager,
and less than annual in fall were 2 separate Lazuli
Bunting, both males.
It always seems a slow slog when you are doing it,
and especially so this year livin' la vida
quarantina. We again drove less than a thousand
miles all year, all driving. If I just counted a
THREE mile circle centered in Utopia it was 200
species of birds. When you add it all up, there
were lots of great birds and some good butterflies
and odes too. My BOB total - bird, ode, and butterfly
species - for the year was 340. Last year was 331 and
two years ago 350. About average for being in a drought
regimen lately. Two local site lists (the most
important lists) hit milestones, with one of the
best birds of the year this year. The Green Jay
were number 230 on our yard list (2 acres - 8 years),
and number 270 on the Utopia Park (15 acres - 17.5 years)
list.
~ ~ ~ end of 2020 annual summary ~ ~ ~
OMG not another summary !!
~ ~ ~ December summary ~ ~ ~
We went out with a bang, a cold wet one, with 1.75+"
of rain on the 31st, and some local snowflakes! Lost Maples
had snow that stuck! With the prior .25 made for just a
hair over 2" of precip for the month, which is great
for a drought December. In odes all I saw was Variegated
and Autumn Meadowhawk, as usual, and just a very few of each.
Butterflies were pretty shot too with the cold wiping them
out in Nov. for the most part. A dozen species is at the low
end of my (n~18) Dec. totals, second worst ever, but an
improvement over last years worst ever December. It was
the expected hardy dozen. Did I mention how bad the drought
is? D3 per U.S. Drought Monitor. Did see Striped Skunk,
Ringtail, and a Gray Fox in a Juniper getting berries.
Birds were good though, you can always count on them.
The four Green Jay were in the yard 5 days in a row
mid-month. A Rusty Blackbird is likely a returnee
back for about its 8th winter. A flock of about
40 Pintail is more than anyone has ever seen here
locally at once. One nice obviously wild Mallard is
a rare find here. A ad. Harris's Hawk was seen.
A Zone-tailed Hawk often at the park is likely a
returnee that wintered as an imm. last year. A
female Downy Woodpecker was in our yard a few times.
A few Golden-crowned Kinglet are around. Only saw
one Green Kingfisher one time all month, but Ringed
are around. A couple Audubon's Orioles. Finally
on the 30th I got a FOS Pine Warbler. It was about
88 species for me locally (which is more than the miles
I drove), and I know others saw a few others. Things
I missed this fall or arriving for winter so far include
Swamp or White-throated Sparrow, any Junco again,
Sprague's Pipit, and Say's Phoebe, off the
top of my head.
~ ~ ~ end December summary ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ archive copy update header ~ ~ ~
December! At Utopia Park on the 4th there were
Ringed and Green Kingfisher at the pond. A likely
returnee Zone-tailed Hawk is wintering in the area,
often hunting just south of town, and roosting in
the park. My FOS Wilson's Snipe was at UP on
Dec. 4, saw it again Dec. 11. My FOS Song Sparrow
was Dec. 7 at the 360 crossing. There were four
GREEN JAY in our yard again on the 7th through 12th,
so they are still in the area, but at best completely
unpredictable. Besides at our place, four have been
seen at Utopia Park, and then south to the 4-mile
bridge area, mostly along the river habitat corridor.
I saw one in town fly across Cypress St.! The 13th
a FOS Rusty Blackbird was in the corral next door.
I suspect it is the individual (an adult female) that
has wintered for about 7 or 8 years now. A flock
of about 40 Pintail were on Little Creek Dec. 17-20
at least, a record high count here. A drake Mallard
was at Bear Creek Pond Dec. 20, a very rare bird here.
Dec. 26 an adult Harris's Hawk soared over our
place, one had been reported east of town a couple
weeks prior. Saw a Turkey Vulture Dec. 28, they are
rare here in winter. Finally added a Pine Warbler
for the season at the park on the 30th.
~ ~ ~ end archive copy update header ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ back to the daily drivel ~ ~ ~
Dec. 31 ~ A little more rain overnight, the low
was about 36F, and a soggy one. In morn was a little
over 1.5" of rain since it started last night,
which is wonderful, and amazing. There were a few
brief bouts of heavy, but for the most part it was
a slow-soaker, just what we needed. For the morning
we are on the warm side of the system so the nearest
snow is about 30-40 miles west in Northern Kinney and
So. Edwards Cos., with ice to the northwest in Real Co.
Sometimes a cold rain is OK. Noonish I saw radar showing
snow just west of Camp Wood, and ice up on top of the
plateau above Lost Maples but in Bandera Co., we
dropped to 35F. By 3 p.m. we were 33F, and there
were snow flurries over much of the western half of BanCo
starting just north of town, and all of Real Co.!
Per radar, Lost Maples was getting it! KERV was
33 in light snow. Between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. we were
32F and saw some snowflakes fall here. Amazing.
Over the whole day we added ca. .25 of precip to the
morning total so about 1.80" the event total here.
Birds were voracious on the seed today. I have too
much to do to hang out there in the wet cold and look,
fortunately. Wouldn't ya know I am stuck at the
desk by a heater. We put out more than double rations
today and it all disappeared remarkably quickly. At
least a half-dozen Field, about 50 Chipping, and one
ad. White-crowned Sparrow. Cold brought some Chippies
out of the woodwork. Saw the male Golden-fronted Woodpecker
grab sunflower seeds off the ground and take them up
into a tree to crack and eat. One Robin and a few
waxwing were around briefly. Eastern Phoebe must be
eating Hackberries.
And that brings the infamous 2020 to a close. Sure
didn't see that in any of the predictions!
Totally unrelated, not seeing much for predictions
this year as usual. It wasn't anything like the
pics they showed, or like they told me when I was a kid.
Almost feel like I am owed a refund. Does anyone have
the phone number for customer service? Actually we
were lucky, having prior gone sedentary and remote,
so we were already livin' la vida quarantina.
I just kept observing, photographing, and note-taking,
carrying-on as usual as possible, save no Lost Maples
or brush country birding. Hope y'll had as great
of a year as could be had, and wishing you a better one
ahead! Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy Utopia
nature notes.
Dec. 30 ~ Was in the low 60's dF all night,
cloudy, humid, a few misty spots. The front
hit about noon-thirty. Went from 64 to 54F in
about 5 minutes or less. I went to town to do
supplies today since tomorrow looks to be a bad
weather day. Here on 360 there were two pig
kills (the caballeros) covered in Black Vulture,
135 at least. Then at the park in town there
were at least 50-60. So I would put the
wintering number at 175 minimum, and probably
over 200 which is higher than ever. Wonder why
the carcass eaters are increasing? On the way to
town on 360 there were some Eastern Meadowlark
along the road. Also about 50 Brewer's Blackbird
by the corrals on west side of river, one Starling,
and one female Brown-headed Cowbird with them. At
the park there was finally a Pine Warbler, at last.
It was in the flock of Titmice and Chickadee in the
main park live-oaks. There were also 3 Golden-crowned
Kinglet, which is a high count at once for here.
Plus one Belted Kingfisher, and one Great Blue Heron.
It dropped to about 45F by 3 p.m., with 15-25 mph
northerlies on it. First spit of rain about 5 p.m.,
about 10 p.m. a thunderstormlet moved over with some
close lightning strikes, one interupting power long
enough to mess clocks up. Worth it as it dumped
a quick half-inch of rain we badly need.
Dec. 29 ~ Low was about 63F! Strong southerly
(Gulf) flow ahead of the next front tomorrow.
Cloudy and humid with a 15-20 mph breeze on it.
The high on Thursday is progged for the 30's
with a chance of snow! A kinglet seemed to scold
me when I freshened the bird bath first thing.
The small group of Waxwing came by, and at least
one Robin, the one male Myrtle Warbler, a Caracara
circled. It was the same gang. Saw a female
Ladder-back on the sunflower seed feeder, which
they have not been using whatsoever. Could not
tell if it took seeds with it when it left.
Dec. 28 ~ It was clear and 42F at midnight, 59F
in fog and drizzle at dawn. A flushing of the
Siskins gave a count of 22 at once. In the later
afternoon a Turkey Vulture was out there a bit.
First one I have seen in at least 6 weeks. They
have been very very rare here in winter, but last
year a few did so, maybe this is a returnee. This
is our 18th winter here and the first 15 or so,
I don't think I saw a TV in winter but once.
Sharpy was diving on the seedeaters. At dusk
all I could see was the silhouette but the giant
squirrel about two squirrels long was obviously
the Ringtail, in the Mulberry right over the cottage.
It ran along a branch and to main trunk, head sticking
out one side and tail the other. I think it is
living in the attic of the cottage, I hear something
up there occasionally when working in it. Bet
there are no rodents in that attic! Have wondered
if I should make a way for it to hunt the rooms?
Dec. 27 ~ Low was about 48F, toasty warm after
the last couple mornings. Saw one White-crowned
Sparrow, the adult, is still here. It was the
same gang here. Three dozen Am. Goldfinch, over
a dozen Siskin, about 15 Waxwing for a bit. The
male Myrtle (Yellow-rumped) Warbler was around.
It got up to about 74F in the afternoon, wow.
In the heat butterflies were a So. Dogface, an
Orange Sulphur, and a few Snout. A couple Robin
in the afternoon. An Armadillo drank from the
birdbath in the afternoon. Have another short
holiday week ahead so we worked on stuff here.
At last sun a Ringed Kingfisher flew upriver
calling, saw it from the patio.
Dec. 26 ~ Another freeze, about 30F here, but
maybe colder, did not look, got back under
elect. blanket for the first cup of coffee.
Three dozen Am. Goldfinch out there early.
Just before noon overhead with some soaring Black
Vultures was an adult Harris's Hawk that
wasn't up there for a minute. Probably came
over to see if the vultures had a kill. A few
days ago Little Creek Larry said he has not been
seeing the one he had a couple weeks ago just east
of town a bit. Could be the same bird, or like
other things south of us in the brush-country,
could be some are moving up into the hills looking
for food. Heard a distant Collared-Dove sing, first
of that in months, not that it is a good thing.
Also heard Chickadee doing the sneezy garble, which
I have not heard in a couple months or more.
Photoperiod is now increasing almost 15 seconds
a day, and the birds can tell. Might have gained
a minute in the last 5 days. At least 25 Waxwing
hit the bath for a nice show.
One of the Green Jay at our place in mid-December.
Some are more yellow below than others. Certainly
one of the highlights of the year here.
and a bonus pic, since you probably need some red for that green...
This is the male Vermilion Flycatcher that seems to be
wintering by the pond on the golf course adjacent to the
Waresville Cemetery.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
Dec. 25 ~ Merry Christmas! Hope everyone had
a good one! A Friday off the normal work really
seems like a holiday. It was a chilly one here,
with 24F for a low. Mostly sunny until later
afternoon, warming to 72F! Just missed 50dF
diurnals. In the a.m. heard a couple things,
one surely was a Red-breasted Nuthatch. The
other called its chip note a few times. I
thought sure was a Pine Warbler but the light
was bad and it flew off before I could see it.
Pine Warbler is about the only regular winter
bird that I have not seen yet this season.
I was suprised to hear a Bewick's Wren
give a nice full song. The Am. Goldfinch flock
was more like 35 birds today. In the late afternoon
the Merlin shot by like a bullet again. Saw a
Little Yellow (butterfly) and a couple Snout.
Dec. 24 ~ The wind blew most of the night at
20 mph with gusts to about 40! It froze here,
probably about 30F but felt like 20. I'm sure
at some point (when I was under electric blanket)
the chills were in teens overnight. First thing
early a gaggle of goldfinch (Am.) was over two dozen.
A couple males have a bit of color. Town run
today since closed tomorrow. At the park saw
the Zone-tailed Hawk and the Wilson's Snipe,
the Pied-billed Grebe and Great Blue Heron, and
the five Myrtle Warbler there are all males, as
usual. The air out there was cold all day, sources
showed 54F for a high but it never felt like it.
I heard in town area virus totals of 7 and 9
currently infected, double last week. This does
not bode well.
Dec. 23 ~ Heavy gulf flow with a low of 60F in
fog-mist. Getting sucked up in front of the
next frontal passage. The Black Vultures are
using a new trough for some Longhorns that are
now up behind us. Seemed like a hundred or
more must have come and gone. At the last
flush I counted 80 at once, and many had
departed over the hour prior. So now we are at
the 'the vultures are circling' part.
I ran into Lou Waters yesterday and he said he
has (stock) tanks that have never been dry, that
are dry, and that he has never seen it this dry
in 48 years here! When I mentioned it he said he
too had a flock of Pintail on one of his little
lakelets recently too! Could be the same ones
that are at Little Creek, moving around.
After noon the female Downy Woodpecker was in
the yard again. Kathy got to see it this time.
About 3 p.m. I saw KERV was 77F with some local
WU stations were reporting 78, and one at 81F!
The SAT record highs for yesterday and today's
dates were 82 and 83F, and they run hotter than
us, so we are at or about record heat here today.
Later afternoon, the Downy, a male Ladder-backed,
and two Golden-fronted Woodpecker were all in the
big pecan at the same time. The wind blew like,
the wind, at 20 mph gusting to 35 or 40 starting
after dark.
Dec. 22 ~ Warmed up overnight again, was in
upper 30's F around midnight, and about
44F at dawn. By 8:30 four local Utopia WU
stations were showing 50-55F, whilst KERV had
38F! The warm moist gulf air had gotten here,
but not there yet. At least 20 Am. Goldfinch
and a dozen Siskin out there early, but an
accipiter kept things quiet much of morn. Saw
the Black Rock Squirrel out on the patio filling
up throat and cheek pouches with sunflower seeds.
Stayed overcast all day, and breezy, got up to
about 66F but felt cooler with the humidity and
wind. Had to run to P.O. late in p.m., checked
the park quickly. One Pied-billed Grebe on the
pond, heard a Flicker and 3 Myrtle Warbler across
the river. The Zone-tailed Hawk was coming in
to roost in the trees as I was leaving the woods,
hanging right overhead at treetop level for a
couple minutes giving great looks. Try about
4 p.m. when it comes in to roost in the woods.
Dec. 21 ~ Happy Solstice! It was a chilly morn
here at 26F. Birdbath iced over, so a hotwater
drip for it. Maybe 2 dozen Chipping Sparrow on
the white millet early. Saw one White-crowned
and a few Field Sparrow. Seems like 4 Carolina
Chickadee and 8 Black-crested Titmouse using the
sunflower feeder. Warmed up in the afternoon,
must have been 74F or so, nearly 50dF diurnals.
Saw Ladder-backed and Golden-fronted Woodpecker,
Mourning and White-winged Dove, Pine Siskin and
American Goldfinch, a few House Finch, Black Vulture.
Cardinal numbers are not very high compared to
some years. A couple Mockingbird, couple Eastern
Phoebe, one or two Bewick's and a pair of
Carolina Wren, a Myrtle Warbler and a Ruby-crowned
Kinglet. Not hearing the Ground-Doves lately.
Most days I see Sharp-shinned and or Cooper's
Hawk. Barely scraping up 20 species in the yard
these days. Lots of days there will be a few Robin
or Waxwing, a Red-tailed Hawk, so might hit 25 sps.
on the better days. Overall numbers are way down
though.
Dec. 20 ~ Low was 27F here, ice on birdbath.
A Sharpy, an imm., perched up in the sun watching
over everything here in the morning. I was
surprised how close the Titmice and Cardinals
would get scolding it to make sure all knew of
its presence. Less than ten feet away, in the
adjacent crown of very dense thick (leafless now)
Hackberry that I am sure they knew it could not
negotiate through. Heard a White-crowned Sparrow.
We took a couple-and-a-half-hour spinabout noonish.
First we went out the west end of 360 and checked the
caliche quarry area (private) where I had a glimpse of a
bird working the vertical rock face that looked
like a Rock Wren. But which disappeared. About
three each of Field and Chipping Sparrow were in
the area, but driving all the way around the 1500'
knoll, there were no birds. We went a few miles
west of town to the 1050 pass, which still has a
bit of color on the Buckley (Spanish) Oaks, mostly
yellow and maroon now, an interesting combo actually.
The red is over. Great was at Bear Creek Pond there
were a dozen Gadwall with a few Ring-necked Duck and
one nice drake Mallard. Mallard are very scarce locally,
far less than annual, so grabbed a long-range ID shot
of it. A couple Killdeer were there too. I can't
believe how low the water is. Saw one Kestrel in an
oak but there is a dearth of birds along the roads.
We slow-cruised around town and saw nothing except
at Judy and Jerry Schaefer's place. One Rufous
Hummingbird, and a half dozen Lesser Goldfinch at their
feeders, as usual for them. The only ones of either
of those I know of around, and they always have them
in winter.
Then we slow-rolled out to Little Creek a couple
miles east of town. Sure enough just like Larry
said, a for here huge flock of Pintail was there.
It was probably 40 or so, got a long-distance
docu-shot. More than I have seen locally here in
total for 18 winters. Amazing. You can get some
down at the Uvalde waterholes, but rare up here.
There were Gadwall (20), Am. Wigeon (10), and
Green-winged Teal (8), plus a few more Ring-necked
Duck. So it was a waterfowl bonanza for this area.
Some Gadwall and Wigeon were close to the road, but
the Pintail and teal were in the bigger pond a quarter
mile south of where road (UvCo 355) meets the creek.
Had the scope though so no problemo. Thought I heard
a Pyrrhuloxia and looked up to glimpse it as it shot
by to never be seen again. We checked a corn feeder
on Larry's ranch, there were some Cardinal,
Field Sparrow, Titmouse, a Carolina Wren, a flyby
Caracara, and at creek a few Autumn Meadowhawk
dragonfly, a few Mexican Tetra and probably Sand
Shiner (Notropis sps.) were in the tricklet left.
Lastly we checked the pond on the golf course by the
Waresville Cmty. on the way home. One male Vermilion
Flycatcher there still, which is undoubtedly the one
that wintered last year. The $64k question is, is it
the same bird as the one that breeds there? I doubt
it. Less than ten Red-winged Blackbird there in the
reedbeds. A few Mockingbird along way, at golf course
one Loggerhead Shrike, and a Black-tailed Jackrabbit,
which Kathy said took off like a jackrabbit. So you
know what I am up against and dealing with here. ;)
Saw two Red-tailed Hawk total. The roadsides are parched
and seemingly fairly devoid of much life compared to
wet years. It is dead out there. The Pintail and
Mallard were new for my local year list though, so
quite nice to see. I do not persue birds for it,
however it turns out, it is what it is, bycatch of
recording data. I do not keep it in a way that I know
what it is for the year. But will soon.
Dec. 19 ~ Was in the 50's all night last
night, maybe 58F or so at dawn this morning.
Showers just before and after dawn, and just
before a frontal passage. We got about .2 of
precip, anything is great at this point. Keeps
the dust down too. Then the afternoon was the
post-frontal blowout. Did not see anything
different in birds around the yard. Still
surprised how few Chippies stuck, smallest
group we have had in winter in 18 winters here.
Peaked at 40-50 but haven't seen that many
in a month now, even on a 20F morning. They
moved on since the wild seed crop so poor.
Will try to sneak out for a look about tomorrow.
This is a Myrtle Warbler (Yellow-rumped) at the birdbath.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
Dec. 18 ~ Low was about 35F, no freeze, but
overcast and chilly. Counted 30+ American
Goldfinch at once on the ground under the
Mulberry and on the patio. Was probably 34,
and a high count so far this winter. A dozen
Siskin in with them. A flock of 60+ Waxwing
came into the bath and the junipers over the north
fence. The Hermit Thrush and ad. White-crowned
Sparrow hit the bath early too. No light and
too cold to open window and take pics but a
great show. Town run fer shtuff. Park was
dead save for one Hutton's Vireo. The
water came up an inch or so from that last rain.
Little Creek Larry said a flock of a few dozen
Pintail is over on Little Creek. Which is more
than I have seen here in 17 years, he said he
had never seen a flock like this here. One or
two is usually all we get at once, and not even
close to annually. While I was waiting for
tacos at Rosie's the Zone-tailed Hawk
soared over, nice of it to oblige. Heard a
Ring King over at the river just before dark.
The bad news is after dodging the bullets for
months, we have some community transmission of
Covid. I heard 3 and 5 for numbers infected
currently. We have had none for months and
months. The primary case was a pastor-teacher
here, so it is presumed many were exposed and
it is still too soon to tell what will happen.
The county has had a hundred new cases per week
the last two weeks. There are only about 25,000
in the whole county, 200-250 in town and vicinity.
Yesterday the Uvalde Co. Health Dept. web page
showed all cases were down in Uvalde, with none
in Sabinal, Concan, Knippa, or Utopia zip codes.
Dec. 17 ~ It was a cold one, 20F for a low here,
I saw 22 at KERV and Junction. The cold air
really sinks into the bottom of these valleys.
They had KERV progged for 29F as a low, so most of
a category off, for the nth time. Birdbath was
iced, had to put hot water in the jug over it.
A few Robin and Waxwing early. But who am I to
stand around outside in that? Mid-morn the
female Downy Woodpecker was in the big Pecan
again. It was last here on Dec. 6, eleven days ago.
No Green Jay again today. Kathy saw an ad.
White-crowned Sparrow at the bath. I have been
seeing both Carolina and Bewick's Wren eating
white millet seed. Which is not a regular thing,
and likely reflects the overall dearth of food
out there now. About 15 each of Pine Siskin and
American Goldfinch. Not many Chippies, they must
have moved elsewhere. With no fall bloom, the
fall seed crop is weak to shot. Got up to about
62F at peak heat.
Dec. 16 ~ Wind stopped and the low was about
27F, bird bath was iced over. Must have been
an accipiter out there as it was quiet much
of first couple hours. Warmed up t about 60F.
Kathy saw the Black Rock Squirrel out, which we
hadn't seen in a couple weeks at least. They
do not like the cold, they go underground.
It seems they can stay underground a couple or
few months in winter. Do they just sleep, or
go into a type of torpor? Have to hook it up
to a motion detector. Did not see or hear any
Green Jay today. It was the most days straight
we had them, five days in a row, up until today.
It had been two or three days consecutive tops,
then gone for a week or more, so 5 days straight
of detection was nice. Saw 8 Cedar Waxwing
and a few Robin. The rest was the same gang.
Too busy at the desk. Late late afternoon I
heard a Ringed Kingfisher over at the river.
Dec. 15 ~ After midnight it was about 37F or so
but before dawn it warmed to 41 and got foggy.
Some moisture being sucked up in front of another
frontal passage today. Dry again, no rain, just
more wind. But warming up well in afternoon.
Mid-morn I heard a Hutton's Vireo out back,
first one in a month or so. Better, my FOS N.
Harrier flew over, finally. The Hilbigs had
them in October NW of town in BanCo but I had
not seen one yet. Though have not been cruising
the roads and pastures as much as usual. At
least a couple Green Jay were around a bit
getting sunflower seeds, one went to the tub
pond and drank a bunch. So Catbird is now the
second best bird that came in to the tub pond.
A flocklet of Robin numbered 7 birds. Saw both
Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawk out there.
Kathy saw the Gray Fox over the north fence by
the Junipers. The post-frontal blow started in
the afternoon and was still bringing cold air at
midnight.
Dec. 14 ~ Wind blew until late last night, but
finally stopped and got cold, low was about 30F.
Shortly after 8 the four Green Jays showed up
for sunflower seeds to start their day, and mine.
Awesome. At the same time two Ringed Kingfisher
were arguing over at the river, I saw one from
the porch. Amazing. Over a dozen, about 15 of
each Siskin and Am. Goldfinch were on the patio.
Later in day a couple times I saw just one Green
Jay silently getting sunflower seeds. Got up to
about 60F in the afternoon, which, dry with no
wind is pretty nice.
Dec. 13 ~ It was clear and about 48F around midnight
last night, 58 and foggy at dawn. The warm moist
southerly flow is being sucked up in front of a
frontal passage today, it will be a blower of a
day. Outstanding in the morn was a FOS Rusty
Blackbird that flew right over me in yard calling
and dropped down somewhere south at the other end
of the corral. I suspect it is the adult female
that has wintered locally the last 7-8 years, back
for another. Kathy saw one Green Jay come into bath
and get a drink. I did not hear or see any outside
at the time. Mid-morn I finally saw a FOS Merlin
shoot by at about 80 mph in level flight. Earlier
I heard and then later saw a Golden-crowned Kinglet
as it moved across yard from the big live-oaks
upslope behind us into the corral junipers. Couple
Robin, few waxwing, a Myrtle Warbler and a (Ruby-c)
Kinglet. So a decent morning for not going anywhere.
By 11 a.m. the northerlies from the front were arriving
and it began to clear. The afternoon was a blowout.
It was 15-25 mph gusting to 35 a few times. Gusts
at Uvalde were at 45 and at Del Rio at 48 mph.
Dec. 12 ~ Cooler after the front, about 39F for
a low. Got up to lowest 70's, pretty nice, and
dry. Supposed to be another one pass with another
small chance of rain overnight tonight into the
morn tomorrow. I had stuff to do at the desk
so didn't get out. Heard a few waxwings
in afternoon. Am. Goldfinches were over a dozen.
At least two White-crowned Sparrow continue.
I heard Green Jays around 2 p.m. out in back.
Then before 4 p.m. they came onto the patio.
I was in the cottage with door open so had to
hide down the hall so as to not scare them. I
saw two come down onto patio and take sunflower
seeds. Kathy saw three from the house. So went
the great bird moment of the day. Maybe 5 minutes
they were around, seeming to fill gular pouch with
sunflower seeds. They eat a couple on a branch in
the tree, and then grab some for the gular and go.
Wouldn't it be neat to follow them all day?
If you could? See how far they go, what they do,
what they eat, where else they are going. Property
and fence lines generally make that far more
difficult nowadays. Interesting was a Dun Skipper,
perhaps the only skipper I have seen this month.
Warning! There are two pix in the photo break this week.
The second one shows a hawk eating a dove, so do not scroll
down after the cute butterfly if you find that distressing.
This is a White-patched Skipper (Chiomara georgina) which
is less than annual here. This year I saw 3 or 4 from
July to November, this one Nov. 23 was a late date.
This is your chance to bail...
Do not scroll down further if squeamish or easy-queasy type...
Some red meat follows...
last chance, here it comes...
This is a Sharp-shinned Hawk with a White-winged Dove.
Both clock in at 5 oz. The Sharpy ate an ounce or two,
and then could fly off with the rest for tomorrow.
It is a second fall or second winter Sharpy, just over
a year old in a tweenage plumage. It shows the horizontal
red bars coming in on underparts but still has an
immature tail. Eye color has changed to adult-like,
upperparts were admixed gray and brown, more gray overall.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
Dec. 11 ~ A balmy 60F low with almost fog, looks
like a sprinkle or two fell. Another spit or two
over the morning but a tracelet at best. A little
sun late in the afternoon whence got up into the
lowest 70's F for a couple hours. Town run
day and a check of the park, which remains fairly
dead. There are no seeds or bugs to hold the
birds. It is eerily quiet. The only thing of
interest was the Snipe again at the little
puddle in the woods. This time knowing about
it, I didn't accidently flush it, snuck up
and got some shots. One Orange-crowned Warbler
was over by Rosie's taco trailer, good thing
I stopped there to detect that. After 4 p.m.
Kathy spotted two Green Jay at the bath, briefly.
But not fast enough to keep me from getting a
few more shots. One was much yellower below than
most of the ones I have pix of so far. Wonder
what that indicates? Older male?
Dec. 10 ~ Somewhere around a freeze, 33F maybe.
Too busy on desk duty to see much, and nothing
different jumped out at me during my hourly
lookabouts in the yard. One Kinglet (Ruby) and
one Myrtle Warbler went through. No jays. Saw
an American Lady (lep), a few Snout, and a couple
Anole basking in the sun. Again warmed to about
75F, and dry, what a treat C of C weather is in
December. Supposed to be slightly below average
next week, so enjoying this week of wonderful.
The days are losing less than a half-minute of
daylight per day now, so with the solstice only
11 days away, the photoperiod will not decrease
by 6 minutes between now and then.
Dec. 9 ~ Maybe 31F for a low so chilly early.
Warmed to upper 70's F in the afternoon!
Local WU stations showed 76, 77, and 79F! It
was over a 45dF diurnal temp range. Amazing.
I talked to someone (a Tepke methinks) that had
4 Green Jays near the 4 mile bridge (some call
it 3 mile - I suppose just to show how hard it
is to get people together on something, anything,
even a distance from town). He saw them a couple
weeks ago, and is a couple miles south of our
place, but also along the river habitat corridor.
Four is my peak simultaneous number here, and a couple
miles north in town at the park. It is beginning
to look like there is a flock of four moving up and
down the river habitat corridor. Ranging over at
least four miles that we know so far. Mapping
every bird and (deer) corn feeder no doubt. They
have not visited our yard more than a couple days
in a row, then they are gone a week, or more.
They are moving around. If you seen them please
let me know! There is plenty of corn feeding going
on out there for them. What a treat to have them
around without having to drive down to the flatlands.
I can't believe I added it to my cumulative
(entire life) yard list. It was a desk slog day so
didn't see much and the jays did not show
today. Several Field Sparrow were out there,
sure would love a Tree. Hey a birder can dream.
Just don't let that have anything to do with
your bird identifications.
Dec. 8 ~ Another barely freeze, 31F for a low.
Heard a White-crowned Sparrow out there in the
darkish while tossing seed at dawn. Mid-morn the
Green Jays were out there a bit hunting sunflower
seeds, a couple went to the bath. Like seemingly
many jays, for how loud they can be, they can sure
be quiet. They were making a guttaral rrrrrr
like a Bewick' Wren scold sorta, that was not
the clicking series, much softer, quieter. It had
something to do with the sunflower seeds (food).
Heard a Cooper's Hawk call over the fence
toward draw. In the heat of the day, which was
a flamin' 75-78F depending where you were
locally, there were a few butterflies. One Little
Yellow and one Vareigated Fritillary were new.
The rest was the same as it ever was.
Dec. 7 ~ A chilly 30F for a low, clear and sunny
and supposed to be a toasty week in the 70's F.
At quarter-to-ten four silent Green Jay showed up
and were eating and filling throats with sunflower
seeds. We hadn't seen them in two weeks.
Clearly our food and water source is on their map
as they wander about the area. Now there is a
fourth bird as well. Whaddabird! This makes seven
weeks that they have been in the area so far, so
it appears as though they are 'sticking'.
Though their wandering daily habits make them all
but impossible to nail down. So far anyway. Every
couple weeks they are around a couple days. But only
briefly in the yard, 5 minutes at a time. The only
calls they made in five minutes this time were the
quiet clicking trill and that just a few times. If
you didn't know what that sound was, you may
well not think it was a bird. About 4 p.m. they
stopped back by to hit the bird bath for a drink.
A quick town run and park check before noon. Under
a mile south of town near the hysterical marker,
a Zone-tailed Hawk soared low over 187. One Belted
Kingfisher, one Myrtle Warbler, and one Ruby-crowned
Kinglet was it, save the wintering flock of Black
Vulture. No Green Jays there. A lady in town said
she had Green Jays just south of 1050 and the park
recently, as well as 'Black-headed' (Audubon's)
Oriole. Most non-birding folks here learned names
from Texas Petersen. This is what almost all the
locals know them as, which was a great name. She
is along the river habitat corridor. Which is a
bird freeway.
At the 360 crossing I heard a FOS Song Sparrow, finally.
Sure takes them a long time to get here in fall.
Obviously the cold is not an issue for them at the
south end of their winter range. We broke 70F in
the afternoon, some local WU stations were 71, 72,
73F, etc., awesome! Great to open up and air out.
A few butterflies were about in the heat. A pale
morph female Orange Sulphur was new. A worn
Dogface Kathy saw yesterday came by again, one
Sleepy Orange, a dozen Snout, and three Ladies.
Two were American, one was Painted, the latter
just stopping briefly for me to ID it on the
stepping stones, and then continuing south as if
a regular migrant. Saw the Striped Skunk after
dark along with four Racoon out there scavenging
sunflower seeds. At one point the skunk and a coon
were side by side, as if they were the same thing.
If I was that skunk I'd have cleared that coon
outta there with just a little side squirt. And
then said 'whoops, I thought it was a fart'.
Dec, 6 ~ Low was 31F, barely a freeze. Kathy saw
the Gray Fox in the Juniper again, and I got a
glimpse of it 12' off the ground working
up in the tree, presumedly for berries. In morn
heard a Scrub-Jay and Audubon's Oriole.
A dry frontal boundry went through and by 10 a.m.
it was breezy, about 10-15 mph with higher gusts,
and stayed that way all day. But clear and sunny,
and it warmed up to 65F or so! Saw an imm. Sharpy
diving on things a few times, not the dove-taker
of yesterday. Best bird was a female Downy
Woodpecker in the big pecan again. Been well over
a month since I last saw it. Saw a few waxwing, a
Robin, some Field Sparrow, and the rest of the
usual gang. Wind finally laid down late in day,
so prolly a freeze in the morn.
Dec. 5 ~ About 35F for a low, sprinkled a little
overnight, a trace. Cold and cloudy all day, may
have hit 52F for a high. So worked on stuff inside.
The only thing I saw of interest was a bunch of
white feathers floating down through the Mulberry.
Then I spotted the Sharp-shinned Hawk plucking on
the ground in the corral just 15' over the fence.
Snuck back in to grab camera and back out and using
said trunk for cover, got close enough to get some
shots of it eating a White-winged Dove (!). Which
is huge prey for a Sharpy. It must be a female.
They both weigh 5 ounces! It was a sub-adult, a year
old type in second fall or winter plumage. In between
immature and adult plumage, great to get some shots of
that. The rest was the usual gang. Good thing it only
takes one good bird encounter to make your day.
This is the Wilson's Snipe at Utopia Park. It
was called Common Snipe recently but it has changed
back to the original name. It was lumped during the
lumping craze with the Eurasian species, Common Snipe,
so had to take that name. Now they realize the lump
was not justified (was bs), so it was recently re-split
and the old name then revived.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
Dec. 4 ~ A chilly 27F to start the day. At least
the wind finally laid down. Can tell there is a
Sharpy or two out there early by the dearth of
birds on the seed. Eventually most of the regulars
came in. Town run and a park check. Kingfishers
showed well around the pond, Ringed, Belted, and
Green (male) were all present. First Green I have
seen in a month. The Zone-tailed Hawk was circling
around too. It briefly landed right at edge of
pond in a big Cypress. The best bird was a Wilson's
Snipe, which is very hard to get at the park, I
have only seen a couple or few. It was at a
wet spot up by the island, in habitat any would
say is better for Woodcock with trees all around.
Alas, it was a snipe. I have seen fewer Snipe at
the park than Timberdoodle. Hardly any birds in
the woods, they are bare for bugs and such. We
hit a toasty 60F in the afternoon, pretty nice.
A pairacara flew by at last sun.
Dec. 3 ~ It was 29F just before 7 a.m., so might
have dropped another dF. Thin layer of ice on the
birdbath. The wind blew much of the night, was calmish
early in the moring but picked up again fairly soon
and was 10-15mph gusting 20-25 much of the day.
A blower of a day. Just as well to be inside
working. The temp may have broken 50F but it never
felt like it. Birds are the same gang. About 20
each of Am. Goldfinch and Pine Siskin today.
Seems cold enough to see a Junco but still looking.
The aquatic plants in the tub pond are not liking
the chill. I expect most to die off, hopefully
some will come back, but collecting more is easy.
The river water temp generally does not get much
below 60F, save at surface during prolonged freezes.
The tub is below that now.
Dec. 2 ~ A toasty 37F low, 20F warmer than yesterday!
Another front passed after noon, dry, but more wind.
Was 15-20 gusting to 25 mph, pretty blown out. Too
much work to do but see the same gang around the yard.
Before it was light when I went to spread seed, there
was an unseen Turkey gobbling right across the road
from the gate, real close. Whaddabird! Was nice to
open and warm up, air out with some dry. In plants,
the tender-leafed stuff is shot after that hard freeze.
Wilted leaves with that purple tinge of death on the
Lantana and Frostweed. And of course the tomatoes,
though we had grabbed the last few the day before.
Saw nothing different in yard, but was at desk all day.
It was the same there too. Typing, writing, phone calls,
emails, spreadsheets, you know the drill.
Dec. 1 ~ The new month arrived from the North Pole
apparently, it was 17F here this morning. I saw KERV
showed 20. Cold air sinks into the bottom half of
the valley here, so we are in a cold spot. It is
warmer up at Vanderpool a few hundred feet higher.
Bird bath was frozen rock solid. I hang a gallon jug
of warmed water over it to drip on it which seems to
work well enough that the birds can get sips quickly,
until it thaws. The record low at SAT this date is 28F,
so I can't imagine that this was not record
cold. Nothing different for birds. About 15 each
of Pine Siskin and Am. Goldfinch spent much of the
day sucking seed down here. The rest was the same
gang of repeat offenders. One imm. Golden-fronted
Woodpecker is visiting the sunflower seed feeder,
so you know the pecan crop is over and out. Did
finally warm up late in afternoon, to 58F or so.
I missed the highlight of the day. Kathy saw a
Gray Fox up in a Juniper eating berries! They are
great climbers. TPWD published a pic about 15 years
ago of one once 15' up in the top of a Century
Plant (the Agave with the tall spike of yellow flowers)
eating pollen and nectar off the flowers.
~ ~ ~ November summary ~ ~ ~
We got an inch of rain at the end of the month, finally.
The river is more than a couple feet below going over
the spillway, closer to three. We are at about D3 for
drought level, extreme. It is bad out there. Generally
it was mild with only a couple barely freezes, more often
it was slightly above average temperatures. The weak
pecan crop seemed exhausted by the end of the month
at least around our place. Hackberries are few now too.
There are no bugs save Cucumber Beetles, the insectivores
and frugivores will not stick around long is my guess.
Butterflies were low in overall numbers, but ok for
diversity. Due to the mild temps, we got a slightly
extended season. It was 42 species, which is in the
bottom half of November diversity totals, though thrilling
after last years' worst ever Nov. at 20 species.
Most was at the last of the Blue Mist Eupatorium bloom
at our front porch which kept going all month. Best
was a White-patched Skipper which allowed photos. It
is the 3rd or 4th I have seen this year, of this LTA -
less-than-annual, species. Mimosa Yellow and Ocola
Skipper were the next best. The best one got away.
I saw a very large black swalowtail with color only on
the hindwing, which was surely a Ruby-spotted Swallowtail.
The photo record I have here that is the only UvCo
record was in November. I watched it fly away across the
yard, having just departed the Blue Mistflower and
Tropical Sage area. That will sting awhile.
Odes were mostly done for the month early. Just a few
strays left flying in November. A few Variegated and
Autumn Meadowhawk showed up as expected, some late straggler
Red Saddlebags and Green Darner, and that was about it.
A couple days there were some Bluets out over the pond
at the park, Familiar or Stream, probably the former.
The ode of the month was a Great Spreadwing in yard on
Nov. 1. Six species for the month, and it won't
get any better until March at the earliest, if lucky.
Birds were great for only seeing 79 species for the
month. Didn't get out much. Several scarcer things
were seen, and of course lots of the winter birds show up
in November. The 3 Green Jays which appeared Oct. 19
continued through the month off and on around our place.
More were at the park in town, I saw one in town itself
fly across Cypress St. The other mega rary was a Cactus
Wren on Nov. 1, my first local photo record, it is
accidental here. Also on the 1st, a Sage Thrasher on
UvCo 361 was good (LTA). A Red-breasted Nuthatch was
here Nov. 1-6. A Calliope Hummingbird from Oct. 31 made
it to Nov. 2. It was followed by a Broad-tailed Nov. 4-6,
and a Rufous Nov. 8-16. Great was a Winter Wren (LTA) at
the park Nov. 2. A couple Gambell's White-crowned
Sparrow were in our yard. So a handful of LTA species
provided a little bit of interesting data spice.
~ ~ ~ end November summary ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ update header Nov. archive copy ~ ~ ~
November! On the 1st, a CACTUS WREN was at the
golf course pond by W'vl, providing my first
photo record locally. I have only seen a couple
poorly in 17 years here. Then on UvCo361 the 1st,
a SAGE THRASHER was great, far less than annual
here for me. Kathy spotted the FOS Red-breasted
Nuthatch at the bath the 1st, which continued to
Nov. 6. A CALLIOPE Hummingbird from Oct. 31
continued to Nov. 2. Also Nov. 2 there was a
WINTER WREN at the park in town, first in a few
years here for me. An imm. Broad-tailed Hummingbird
was at our feeders Nov. 4-6. A FOS Golden-crowned
Kinglet was at the park Nov. 6, two were there on
Nov. 13. American Goldfinch FOS was heard on
Nov. 6, seen Nov. 7. At least 4 (and probably 6)
GREEN JAY were at Utopia Park Nov. 8, two were
across the river from park Nov. 11, and I heard
at least one there on Nov. 13. A Zone-tailed
Hawk has been at the park lately, and Ringed
Kingfisher has been regular, often upriver a
bit by island. A pair of Wood Duck were on the
river a couple miles south of town Nov. 15, they
have been absent locally lately. A couple Verdin
were south of town, also the 15th. An imm. or female
Rufous or Allen's Hummingbird was at our
feeders Nov. 8-16. My FOS Cedar Waxwing were 25
on Nov. 17. Saw a Green Jay in town Nov. 20, and
three again in our yard Nov. 21 and 22. A White-patched
Skipper Nov. 22-25 was great. The 22nd a Pine
Siskin flock numbered 25. Some Red-naped Sapsucker
have been around, have seen a few this fall so far.
On the 26th I was thankful for a single flock of
waxwings of a hundred plus birds, with Robins at
80+, which all seemed to visit the birdbath for
a great show.
~ ~ ~ end update header archive copy ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ back to the daily drivel ~ ~ ~
Nov. 30 ~ And there went another one, just one to go.
It was a chilly start at 36F with 10-15 mph winds
on it, so chills in upper 20's F. Feels like
winter. In the afternoon the winds laid down and
it warmed to near 60F and was quite nice. As soon
as the sun went down you could tell it is going to
be a cold one. Hard freeze predicted tomorrow morn.
Was the same gang here, nothing different to report.
Statewide however, it is red hot for rare birds.
There are all sorts of spectacular bird reports
around the state. A Clark's Nutcracker out
in Alpine, TX, and a flocklet of Common Redpoll at
Smith Pt. on the east side of Galveston Bay. There
are Pacific-slope Flycatchers at San Antonio, and I
think Karnes City. The Rio Grande Valley way down
south has Elegant Trogon and Rose-throated Becards,
and Del Rio a Rufous-capped Warbler. It is pretty
hoppin' out there for rare birds if you are in
the right place, a vagrant magnet. I wish we were.
Nov. 29 ~ A sunny chilly 36F here at dawn. Amazing
to see the ground wet, that inch of rain yesterday
was awesome. After a quiet couple hours, around
10 a.m. the northerlies began arriving, let the
blowout commence. I bet there are some new birds
out there behind this frontal passage though. In
the afternoon it really got going at 20 mph with
gusts at 25-30. A good day to hunker down. The
Cardinals number a couple dozen now. At least a
couple Field Sparrow still here, Chipping Sparrow
are about 30 today, a couple White-crowned and a
Lincoln's sneaking are around the edges of
cover. Half-dozen House Finch, 3 Am. Goldfinch,
8 Pine Siskin, some Robin and Waxwing, but not a
lot. Golden-fronted and Ladder-backed Woodpecker.
Nov. 28 ~ Temps dropped from about 56F at midnight
to 52 or so at sunup, with rain beginning prior to
dawn. It was a cold slow soaker all day. About
11 a.m. I had my FOS Brewer's Blackbirds, a dozen
were over the yard. They were late to get here this
fall. By 4 p.m. we had an inch of the precious holy
wet stuff. I checked the park noonish in the light
showers, saw Ringed and Belted Kingfisher but that
was it. As usual in drought times, it will be a winter
of fewer passerines. Little Creek Larry said the (park)
pond came up over an inch though. We needed this
worse than badly. Stayed in the low 50's all
day, it was a cold wet one. Should clear and get
cold before tomorrow morning, with a strong northerly
post-frontal blow. So a washout followed by a
blowout for the weekend.
This is a first fall Red-naped Sapsucker. Of the
Yellow-bellied and Red-naped, adults have a big
black chest crescent not present here yet, and clean
unmuddied underparts. So it is a young bird of the
year. Young Yellow-bellied do not get adult type
black and white head until the first spring, staying
muddy brown washed of head through the first fall and
winter until spring. So far it has been an above
average year for Red-naped here, I have seen a few,
and do not get one every fall or winter.
~ ~ ~ last prior udate below ~ ~ ~
Nov. 27 ~ Was in the low 50's around midnight,
about 60F at daybreak. With some mist and drizzle,
which is supposed to become actual rain tonight.
Saw the Texan Crescent (butterfly) on the Blue Mist
again today, and the tiny Sleepy Orange as well.
First bird I heard whilst tossing seed as it gets
light was a White-crowned Sparrow. Saw a Lincoln's
Sparrow out back, so one still here. Town run day
and a look at the park. One Red-shouldered Hawk
out front of park. Ringed and Belted Kingfisher
were at the pond. Heard one and saw another (at
same time) sapsucker, presumedly Yellow-bellied,
but the one I saw was too far across river to tell.
Heard Blue Jay. At least 5 Mestra (butterfly) in
the woods. One Red-tailed Hawk. The rest was the
regulars. Back here at the hovelita in the afternoon
there were about 3 dozen Robin that came in for a
drink, a few Waxwing with them. Another Red-shouldered
Hawk was calling toward river here. Saw three Am.
Goldfinch. The skunk (Striped) was scavenging
sunflower seeds at dusk, so neat to see.
Nov. 26 ~ Happy big bird day Turkeys! Hope all had
a stuffed day! A chilly start here at 37F. A small
flock of Robin (20+) and Waxwing (20+) were around a
bit in the Hackberry and Juniper for berries before
9 a.m., which grew over the morning to the most of
each I have seen together all at once so far this fall.
They all seemed to hit the birdbath to wash down (juniper
or hack-) berries. Had to refill the bath, which is a
manual, not an automatic. After 10 it was over 100 waxwing
in the single flock that flushed and returned to the
big pecan. Robins were 80+. At least a few
White-crowned Sparrow still around, they seem to be
sticking, which is nice. Saw the Scrub-Jay move
through yard silently. Misted a bit before noon.
Didn't get sunny until later afternoon, but
then finally did get to about 72F or so. Did not see
the White-patched Skipper today, maybe 37F was too
cold for its sub-tropical blood. Did have a Texan
Crescent and an Elada Checkerspot though. Both are
new for the month. We took an hour walk over to
river and checked the wet spot with some flowers
at peak heat but they were mostly toast. One Little
Yellow and a Mestra was it. Saw maybe a dozen
Cardinal, and over at river an Eastern Phoebe, four
Titmouse (B-c), Carolina Chickadee, Field Sparrow,
one probable Lincoln's Sparrow got away.
Nov. 25 ~ About 54F for a low, light northeast flow,
dry and sunny, wonderful. Heard Audubon's
Oriole and Ringed Kingfisher out there early.
Maybe 20 Robin mid-morn, a few Waxwing, a few
Siskin, two American Goldfinch, a couple White-crowned
Sparrow, a Myrtle Warbler and a Kinglet (Ruby).
In the afternoon saw the White-patched Skipper, now
at day 4 here. Other butterflies were an Orange
Sulphur, a few So. Dogface, a Queen, a Sleepy Orange,
and a few dozen Snout, single Gulf and a Variegated
Frits. Still Cucumber Beetle flying. Too work busy.
Nov. 24 ~ It was about 64F at dawn, but was lower
at midnight. Lots of low stratus with strong
southerlies 10-20 mph. Heard a Ringed Kingfisher
over at river early in morning. Heard a Flicker
out there too, nice to hear, a sound of winter here.
The deer are eating sunflower seeds off the patio
and where we toss them. I saw one nose the feeder.
We have never had this before. There are a thousand
acres of browse in any direction. There was a great
spring and summer flower bloom, so it looks like
there is a good browse crop despite the fall failure.
Saw the White-patched Skipper on the Blue Mist Eup
again today, day 3. It got up to 80F in the afternoon
here. Saw a few Robin and Waxwing in morn, one Hermit
Thrush over in Junipers. Kathy saw an adult White-crowned
Sparrow at the bath. After dark saw a Firefly
larvae glowing in the grass, and the (Striped) skunk.
Nov. 23 ~ A bit of a front passed overnight, dry
northerlies briefly. Low was about 52F or so, but
winds had turned back to south quickly and low
stratus is here. There were a couple dozen Robin
and nearly as many Cedar Waxwing feeding in the
Junipers just over the north fence. The Hermit
Thrush that is hanging out in them is probably not
thrilled to see the berry raiders. Kathy spotted a
flicker at the bath, but it flew before I got there
with camera. It had a gray face and a red moustache
but Kathy said wings were orangish when it flew,
so it was likely an intergrade. Which are regular
here. Sure would love a flicker pic at the bath.
Then Kathy spotted an Orange-crowned Warbler at
the bath. It went in for the full monty spa treatment,
allowing my best-ever shots of the orange crown
as it bathed (below). In the afternoon it was about 70F
when I saw the White-patched Skipper again. It
was only there briefly, but I got a shot or two in
focus to make up for yesterday. Not super sharp,
but good enough for ID and illustration. Only had some
low-res Mavica shots of them prior. Late in the
afternoon saw an ad. male Sharp-shinned Hawk get
a small bird but I couldn't tell what for
sure, it seemed a Titmouse maybe.
Nov. 22 ~ Was a repeat of the 52F or so, clear and
cool at midnight, and 60F, and misting at dawn.
A flock of Pine Siskin here in the a.m. was 25
birds, the most I have seen so far this fall.
Seems a bit slow out there. In the afternoon there
was a White-patched Skipper on the few Blue Mist
flowers left. Have I mentioned lately how the
Canon autofocus on the SX40 blows. Maybe the 3rd or
4th of this LTA - less-than-annual, species this year.
There was a Kestrel and an imm. Sharp-shinned Hawk in
a full blown fight right over the house in the afternoon.
Kestrel was screaming, they went after each other
several times as they circled. The Green Jays
came in for a drink in the afternoon, I had heard
them over in draw earlier. Got a couple better shots
at the bath. We did an hour walk to crossing and
back. Figured might be some sun for pix in the
afternoon. About 3:30 as we were leaving it showered,
the advertised sunny afternoon did not materialize.
There was one area with some birds, where there were
some Hackberry with berries. A couple dozen Cardinal,
a handful of Robin, couple Kinglet (Ruby), couple
Myrtle Warbler, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, some
Titmouse (Black-crested), and a sapsucker. Which
looked like the same first-fall Red-naped I had
in the yard and photo'd in corral ten days ago.
Nov. 21 ~ Low was just after midnight, about 50F,
I saw KERV was 48F! By 7 a.m. it was 62 or more.
The gulf flow is back with its low stratus, e.g.,
humidity. Pretty slow over the morning until
around 10 when 3 Green Jay showed up. I got a
couple pics that show a very distended gular pouch,
so they are cacheing sunflower seeds. Whaddabird!
After a half hour of them in and out of yard, it
fairly promptly went back to mundane. So it went:
dead, dead, nothing, dead, followed by a brief
flurry of WOW, OMG, Cheeses!, Holy smokes!, and
epic, and then I was returned to the regular
programming. This is birding in a nutshell.
After all day of nothing, about 4 p.m. Kathy
saw them at the bath, they flew north toward
the draw after drinks. I got one shot of
the last one at the bath. Sure seems weird
to watch three Green Jay fly out of the pecan
over to the junipers on their way to the draw.
I still cannot get over we are seeing them in
our yard! For me, this is the stuff dreams are
made of. Heard a couple Pyrrhuloxia over in the
corral late in afternoon.
For the photo break this week you get what
is often considered one of the most dull and
unimpressive of warblers, that hides a secret.
Seeing the common bird in an uncommon way is
every bit as rewarding as any super-mega rarity.
The Orange-crowned Warbler was named after the part
you are least likely to see. Normally the orange
feathers are concealed under an outer layer of olive
crown feathers. Your best chance to see it is when
they bathe. This is the full monty of orange, and
crown. The BurgerKing style crown effect is a fluke
of bathing. The wet head feathers when seperated
to wash, buff and polish the orange fuzz ball of a
pileum, turned into an actual crownish type affair.
This photo shows maximum orange, and crown. You can
see hundreds over years and not see this much orange,
or crown. This is apparently the king of Orange-crowned
Warblers.
and because one is not enough...
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
Nov. 20 ~ Low was about 60F, some low stratus,
breezy southerlies. Saw the skunk go into a
burrow under the old unused well at dawn.
After 10 a.m. I heard both Green Jay and
Audubon's Oriole upslope behind us in the
live-oaks and juniper. They went silent after
a Sharpy dove and missed on the sunflower feeder.
Town run, so a park check. Four Myrtle Warbler,
a couple Kinglet (Ruby) and one Hutton's
Vireo was it for the park. In town on Cypress St.
a Green Jay flew across the street in front of me,
just north of Jackson. So they are in town!
Weewow! Little Creek Larry said out on 355
(Lee St.) he has had a Harris's Hawk, and
a couple Pyrrhuloxia.
Nov. 19 ~ It was mid-50's at midnight, and
almost 60 at dawn with some low stratus. Last
step outside at midnight last night the Striped
Skunk was scavenging sunflower seeds under the
Mulberry by the cottage. I love seeing them.
What a beautiful animal. I heard a Ringed
Kingfisher over at the river first thing early.
Looked like 4 White-crowned Sparrow out back.
A couple Robin, a half-dozen Pine Siskin, a
Myrtle Warbler, the regulars. In the afternoon
a Hermit Thrush was eating the Lantana berries
at the front porch. First of that I have seen.
Seems a bit quiet out there. Maybe some accipters
around again.
Nov. 18 ~ Wow it froze! Low was 30F here! NOAA
progged KERV for 40, off by a category again! I
told Kathy last night at 9 p.m. it was going to get
way colder than they said. Bummer was finding a
dead imm. White-crowned Sparrow out back by the
fenceline. Especially since it was an orange-billed,
gray-lored, Gambell's (western) type. Thought
I saw an orange bill on one of the immatures the
other day but it flew off quickly. This is not
the way I wanted to photograph it. Then in the
afternoon Kathy saw an orange-billed gray-lored
adult White-crowned Sparrow at the bath. So there
were probably two Gambell's here at once.
On the orange-billed birds, the bill is much deeper
at the base, so more of an equilateral triangle.
The usual and more common here pink-billed
black-lored eastern type (leucophrys) has a much
longer thinner-based bill. The Gambell's
seems fairly regular here (most years I see
a few) in low numbers. More as you go south
and westward into the brush country. Scarce in
the hills.
Nov. 17 ~ Low of 38F, dry, clear and crisp, great.
Kathy spotted a Striped Skunk out back right before
I went to toss seed before 7 a.m. Sure would like
a good pic of one. What a beautiful animal. At
least a dozen Pine Siskin on the sunflower seed.
Heard one of the White-crowned Sparrow giving a
couple intro notes of song. Four ought to be
enough for a chorus. Mid-morn a flock of 25
Cedar Waxwing were my FOS, though thought I might
have heard a single a couple times in last week.
A dozen Robin were with them. Not much for
Hackberries here for them. Some Junipers have
decent berry crops, but many around us do not,
presumedly from that hail storm in May that
wiped out the Pecan and Hackberry crops locally.
In the afternoon an American Pipit flew low over
the house calling, looking like it was going to
go down on the grass airstrip maybe. Saw 3 imm.
White-crowned Sparrow at once, so with the two
adults, there are 5 here. It's a flocklet!
We did not see any hummingbird today. Heard a
Kinglet (Ruby). Kathy killed a record-late I
think Scorpion tonight.
Nov. 16 ~ I saw 34F at 7 a.m., KERV hit 31 at 7:30
so it may have been colder than what I saw here.
Sunny and clear, without the stiff breeze and so
pretty nice. Got up to about 74F. White-crowned
Sparrows still out there. The Pine Siskin flock
was 11 birds in the afternoon. A few Robin around.
Heard a Verdin about 3 p.m., saw two American
Goldfinch. Mostly too busy at the desk. Saw a
Reakirt's Blue and a Mimosa Yellow on the Blue
Mist Eupatorium. Still a couple Lesser Goldfinch
around, several House Finch are about as well.
Saw an Anole take a Cucumber Beetle.
Nov. 15 ~ Front hit after midnight sometime. Low
was about 55F, with 10-15 mph northerlies, gusting
20-30. Shoulda run out yesterday, too much work.
It is rough birding when all the trees are shaking.
I know I have said it before but the two things we
tend to use and key in most on for avian detection
are sound and motion. Lots of wind kills both.
Toss in falling leaves in fall to add to the confusion,
and the birds themselves hunkering down in it, and
detection can become a challenge. You have to reset
your filter for avian motion only, and work the lees.
We had 4 White-crowned Sparrow at once at the bath,
2 ad. and 2 imm., so it seems they are kinda sorta
sticking. It is the stick piles we have around
the yard since no understory for most of it. Just
enough cover. Did not detect the Ruf-All Hummer
again today. We walked over to and around the river
from here and at least moved for a mile. There is a
low spot that always has water in an overflow channel
we checked. There was a patch of still-blooming
Aster and Bluehearts there that had butterflies.
At least 5 Mestra, an Orange Skipperling, a False
Duskywing, several each Vesta and Phaon Crescent,
Sleepy Orange and Little Yellow, Lyside Sulphur,
Vareigated Frit, one Ceraunus Blue, numbers of Snout,
a Queen. A nice little patch of action.
Then over on the river a pair of Wood Duck flushed
before I saw them durnit. Watched them fly away upriver,
where they went down around the corner. They have been
absent, as usual when we are in drought. These surely
are migrants from northward and not local birds. A
great FOS date for them. In wet times when we have some
locally, you can't easily tell when the wintering
birds from northward arrive. We also had a sapsucker
that was an immature Red-naped. It may have been the
one that was in the corral Friday. A Golden-fronted
Woodpecker kept displacing it, not too happy about its
presence.
Late afternoon I heard Verdin out front, which I have
not been seeing lately. Grabbed binocs, it was TWO
Verdin! Twice as many as I have ever seen together
here. One was flitting its wings at the other, as
they called lots, while on either side of an old
Lesser Goldfinch nest. I'd love if they made a
roost nest here. A couple Caracara flew by. Just
before last sun a Gray Fox worked across the yard,
haven't seen one in a while. Now that it is
cooler in the day, they can be active before dark.
Nov. 14 ~ Low was 68F with some fog-mist early. Did
not cool off last night. Was busy with biz work in
the office so no out and about. Saw those 6 big
bearded Toms (Turkey) over in the corral. They walk
around like it is not November. Kathy saw the Lincoln's
Sparrow at the bath. I heard Kinglet (Ruby) and Myrtle
Warbler. Butterflies were good in the 80F afternoon
heat. First of month was an Orange Skipperling on the
Blue Mist Eupatorium which still has a few flowers, and
Anoles hunting them. Also saw a Fiery Skipper, a
Sachem, a Mestra, great was a late Soldier, even if
the smallest one I have ever seen. Saw Gulf, and Variegated
Frits, Large Orange and Lyside Sulphur, Sleepy Orange,
So. Dogface, Snout, and a big Swallowtail that got away
which looked like a Ruby-spotted. That one sorta stings.
The mccallii screech-owls were calling after dark. I did
not see or hear the Ruf-All Hummer today.
this week you get a couple moths ...
This is an Obscure Sphinx (Erinnyis obscura) moth.
The orange-red is the hindwing, only a bit of the base shows.
In normal perched posture the wings are closed over them,
imagine trying to spot that on a tree trunk.
This is a Texas Wasp Moth (Horama panthalon texana), a moth that
mimics a wasp. Most would be hesitant to grab this harmless moth.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
Nov. 13 ~ Happy Friday the 13th! In 2020, what
could go wrong? Low about 54F, some clear in skies
at first, but only for an hour or so, whence clouded up.
Saw the hummer this morning, but not well enough
to tell anything new about its identity. Saw a
couple Jays fly from the big live-oaks behind us
towards the draw. Was bad light but they looked
like Green Jays, and seems like if they were Scrub-Jay
one would have called when they flew. Edit update:
flight was level and entirely powered, not undulating
with close-winged glides, so they were Green Jays.
Then had a sapsucker which flew over the house and
into the Mulberry, then into corral. Where I found it
mining sap wells in a Hackberry. It is another (!)
first-fall (hatch-year) Red-naped Sapsucker. It is not
the one I had earlier which was more advanced of pluamge.
It is likely that other sap I have seen zip around
a few times but not gotten a look at yet.
Town run so a park check. There was a great chorus
of Red-winged Blackbird out front of the park on
Cypress St. in the big XXL Mulberry tree. At park
in the woods there were a couple Golden-crowned
Kinglet, a Ringed Kingfisher upriver of the island,
a Zone-tailed Hawk circled over the woods when I was
in them, and a sapsucker got away that looked like
another (!) first-fall Red-naped. An Audubon's
Oriole called from the willows across the river just
above spillway. I heard a Green Jay up on the island
right when I got out of the car, then as I was leaving
I heard a Green Jay across the river. Also heard Blue
Jay as usual. Nice list of birds for a quick stop.
There were at least 4 Myrtle Warbler in the trees
around Rosie's taco trailer, recorded as part
of my ongoing research at that site.
Nov. 12 ~ Low was about 57F, low clouds, some mist.
Heard the hummer again, only. Saw 15 or so Robin,
heard an Am. Goldfinch, I presume the one here
several days now. Heard Siskin squeak over. Still
raining leaves. A couple White-crowned Sparrow
are an ad. and an immature. Saw the Texas
Powdered-Skipper again, a couple Monarch went
through, one Orange Sulphur, a couple Sleepy
Orange, a couple Queen, probably the same
Vesta Crescent and Comm. Checkered-Skipper as
the last couple days. Not much left flying out
there now. It got up to about 80F, but nice since
dry, in the afternoon. One accipiter-induced
flushing of the Chipping Sparrow flock seemed like
50 birds now. At least a half-dozen Field here,
one Lincoln's and no Lark Sparrow. Time for
a White-throated and a Swamp.
Nov. 11 ~ Low was about 48f! I saw KERV was
in upper 40's from midnight to 7:30 a.m.
Refreshing. Heard the hummer fly off early but
did not see it, again. Had to run to town early,
which is great, it means a couple of Rosie's
egg, chorizo and cheese breakfast tacos to bring home,
and a quick look at the park. Saw a Belted and heard
a Ringed Kingfisher upriver. Couple Myrtle Warbler.
Nearing leaving time I heard two Green Jay across
the river in the Cypresses. I saw branches moving
but could not spot them. Anyway at least two are
still there, and great to get another date for
them. Heard Blue Jays in the woods. A couple dozen
Robin scattered along the way. Was too busy here
to look much all day. Had a Monarch at the park,
and one here. Kathy saw a White-crowned Sparrow
come into bath, so at least one of them still here.
Heard a Kinglet (Ruby), at least one Myrtle Warbler
here too. At times it was raining leaves pretty
seriously. The Hackberry and Pecan trees in
particular are shedding heavy now.
Nov. 10 ~ Was clear and dry at midnight, low clouds
and mist at dawn. Low about 64F. Front due in
by noon whence northerlies. Heard a hummer fly away
again, still have not seen it. As the front was
approaching, about 11 a.m. I saw NOAA readings for
Del Rio were 22 percent humidity behind the front,
whilst in Uvalde it was 100 percent in fog. We
cleared about noon. Finally about 3:p I saw the
hummer just enough to say it is a Rufous or Allen's
type of Selasphorus. Nice Selasphorus wave here
lately after the last Ruby-throated left. First a
Calliope Oct. 31 to Nov. 2, then a Broad-tailed
Nov. 4-6, and now a Ruf-All Nov. 8-10 so far.
In the afternoon there were 6 Turkey in the corral.
A Texas Powdered-Skipper was on the few Blue Mist
flowers left. Saw a Vesta Crescent, a Checkered-Skipper
(Common), Sleepy Orange, Variegated Fritillary,
a Monarch, a Mestra, it is fading fast folks.
Watched the 3 hummer feeders at last sun and saw
nothing. Two imm. Sharp-shinned Hawk were in yard.
One Cooper's soared over high, likely a migrant.
Late 7 Sandhill Crane flew over silently southbound.
Nov. 9 ~ Low of 66F is a bit balmy for November.
A few specks of mist in the low stratus, and a
bit breezy. The front yard pecans are yellow
now, they were green last Monday. In one week. Of
course lots of wild (natural) ones are already fairly
leafless. The Hackberry are really dropping leaves now,
and what leaves are still on the Mulberry are at peak
yellow. Some of the Cypress along the river are in
full flaming rust, but not dropping needles (leaflets)
yet, so look great. It looks like winter is coming with
all the bare trees. We remain on the mild side for
temps though, still in mid-to-upper 70's to 80F
or so lately, and for this week again per forecast.
Benign is fine. Heard a hummingbird and did not
see it, again. A Kestrel was across road over in
river habitat corridor. Otherwise it was the same
gang. Contra the forecast, it stayed cloudy all day,
just a few peeks of sun late in day.
Nov. 8 ~ Again was clear and 55F at midnight, and
nearly foggy and 62F at dawn. The gulf flow. It
actually misted a few times early. Second day
without a hummer or nuthatch sighting here.
The Broad-tail did 3 days, just like the Calliope
a couple days before it. Enough time to pack some
pounds, er, nanograms, on for the next flight leg.
Which BTW, why do they call flight segments, legs?
Kathy has some hay fever or something bothering an
eye, so I went to park myself, dirty thankless job
and all that.
Got about the best new park bird I could ask for.
GREEN JAYS! With poor docushots, but a GJ pic in
the park. First I heard some across the river near
top of the island. I took a long distance shot of
one in a pecan across river, whence it promptly
took off, flew over river straight at me and landed
in a Cypress right over my head. At least two more
quickly followed into the northmost end of the natural
area in the woods. All kinds of calling, the full
monty of vocalizations as they foraged in the trees
kibbutzing. I could not believe what I was seeing and
hearing. Standing in a spot I stood a couple thousand
times, without any Green Jays except in my dreams. And
there they were calling seemingly every call type including
the hawk imitation call. As they moved away I counted
four birds. They went north into the (private prop.)
big live-oak motte adjacent north of park. I went south
through woods to main park area, where there were two
more Green Jay in the live-oaks there in main park area.
But only two. So it seems like there were six total.
I don't see how they would have split up, and two
got that far that fast, without me hearing them on the
way. While I was trying to get a docushot of those two,
an adult Zone-tailed Hawk flew over. Can't help but
wonder if it is the immature that wintered often roosting
in the park last year. When I first got to the park, I
watched an 5.5 foot Indigo Snake swim across the river
from the island to the other side. It was amazing how
fast it was in the water.
The golf course pond by the Waresville Cmty. had
nothing but 20 Red-winged Blackbird and a couple
Dainty Sulphur. A distant flock of Meadowlark was
on the driving range area. Heard a couple Audubon's
Oriole at the 360 xing. At last light I heard a
hummingbird fly off a feeder here, but did not see it.
Is the Broad-tailed still here or is there something
else? Stay tuned, don't touch that dial!
Nov. 7 ~ Low was about 52F for a few hours after
midnight, but was near 60 by sunup, the Gulf flow
return of low stratus. I did not see any hummer
early, nor did we detect the Nuthatch today. There
was a FOS American Goldfinch at the sunflower tube,
so I am beyond sure that is indeed what I heard
across the road yesterday. Some Robin around for
a bit, the two Scrub-Jay showed, a couple Kinglet
(Ruby). Best bird though Kathy saw at the bath,
a Nashville Warbler. A great late date, only a
very few early Nov. sightings. Had work biz to
do so didn't get out. Otherwise was just the
repeat offenders in the yard. Will make sure to
sneak out tomorrow.
This is a Green Jay at Utopia Park Nov. 8, in bad light.
Surprisingly easy to overlook, especially when silent.
It is species #270 for the park list, in 15 acres. There
were at least four, probably six that day. Two were heard
across the river from park on Nov. 11. The yellow is
the underside of the tail.
a bonus pic...
This one was at our birdbath Oct. 21. Green Jay is a bird worth seeing.
~ ~ ~ last prior update below ~ ~ ~
Nov. 6 ~ Low about 55F, some low stratus from the
Gulf. Saw the hummer early, and it finally called,
but not until after I could see it is absolutely a
Broad-tailed, now on day 3. A kinglet (Ruby) was
on the edge of birdbath a few times briefly. It
looked three White-crowned Sparrow out back, so,
still, for about 4 days now, as with the half-dozen
Pine Siskin. Kathy heard the Nuthatch. Afternoon
one (2nd winter) Audubon's Oriole came in for a
quick drink. Town run so a stop at the park. Only
new item was a FOS Golden-crowned Kinglet, always
great to hear. Barred Owl was there and called a bit
for ambiance. Little Creek Larry said he had some
Gadwall there last weekend one morning. He also said
he has never seen a Cactus Wren locally here, to put
that rarity in perspective, and he has been here forever.
Thought sure I heard an American Goldfinch across
the road in the draw a few times. Thought I might
have heard one yesterday too but blew it off since
distant.
Nov. 5 ~ It was about 51F at midnight last night,
and was 62F at sunup this morning. The south Gulf
flow and low stratus is back. Saw the hummer early,
before good light, but it is a Broad-tailed. Big
as an Anna's, bright green, peach wash on
sides, big tail extends past wings. Had another
brief look in afternoon, still looks Broad-tailed
in better light, and still has not called. About
6 Pine Siskin came in to sunflower seed feeder spillage.
A Robin was in the pecan squawking, the Red-breasted
Nuthatch was around a couple times at least.
Still White-crowned and Lincoln's Sparrows
to go with the Chipping and Field. The slow fall
defoliation continues. Got up to 80F at some WU
local stations, was 76 in shade on front porch.
Monarch was on the Blue Mist, plus a couple Queen.
Caught the Lincoln's Sparrow inside the
cottage and let it out. How does one come about
to repeatedly flying into a (an admittedly rustic)
building with a door open? Distance from bird: in
hand. Which I wish to report was distincly better
than two poor looks in the bush.
Nov. 4 ~ Low was 38F, still nice and dry and
sunny, but we need rain. Kathy saw the Nuthatch
come in to the bath a couple times between 9 and
10. Not seeing any hummingbird though. Still at
least a couple white-crowned Sparrow. At least
four (big bearded toms) Turkey over in the corral.
In the afternoon I was in the cottage with door
open getting birdseed to toss and a Linclon's
Sparrow flew in the doorway into the room, circled
around me and flew back out, landing on the patio
just off the step, which was when ID was made.
?A Hermit Thrush was at the bath, which is likely
one hanging around, some junipers right over the
fence have berries. Later Kathy spotted a hummer
at the feeders a couple times late in afternoon.
It must have just showed up, we were 48 hours of
hummer free since the Calliope left Monday afternoon.
The light was bad but it looked like a Broad-tailed.
Was an imm. male. I silently begged for it to call
as it flew off, but noooooo.
Nov. 3 ~ Low was 33F, sunny and dry, wonderful.
Early saw the Red-breasted Nuthatch but not the
Calliope Hummingbird. I think it left yesterday
but as quick-of-visit as it was, it will take a
couple days to be sure. There were two Scrub-Jay
at the bath, we haven't seen or heard more
than one in about a month. Kathy saw a couple
White-crowned Sparrow come into the bath too.
Couple Turkey in the corral. Nearing noon and
over 70F, I saw a Julia's Skipper and a
Mimosa Yellow on the Blue Mist Eup at front porch.
Then an Ocola Skipper came in! A couple Queen,
a Gulf Frit, Large Orange Sulphur, Dogface,
Sleepy Orange, but leps are fading fast.
Nov. 2 ~ I saw 36F but 30 min. before peak low, when
KERV hit 32 briefly, it probably hit 34 here. Dry
and sunny, great. Saw about 35 Robin go by early.
The Red-breasted Nuthatch is still here, as is the
Calliope Hummingbird and 2 Pine Siskin. Two
Audubon's Oriole came in to the bath. These
are 2nd winter birds, which superficially look like
adults, but the black head is not complete and the
underparts are very worn pale year-old feathers, not
the yellow of adults. Missed a shot though since cold,
window was closed. These are the same two that have
been visiting the bath every few weeks for the last
three plus months, so watching them change is great.
When I first got here 17 years ago I thought these were
first winter birds, they are not, they are second winter.
The standard field guide's coverage of the plumages
besides adults, has been weak at best. I had to learn
them myself by watching them, lots, closely, and taking
photos to study, for years. But which is about the
funnest thing you can do birding. Discovery.
A quick run to town before noon and a check of the
park. The woods had a couple Lincoln's Sparrow,
and heard at least one Sapsucker from the island,
neither were detected yesterday. Even better was the
first WINTER WREN I have seen in a few years. Calling
to get my attention, feeding amongst big water lily
leaves that are on bare mud now. Staying in the shade of
course so only barely an ID docushot. Heard a Belted
Kingfisher and a couple Myrtle Warbler, saw at least
5 White-crowned Sparrow at the entrance deco garden.
A couple Autumnal Meadowhawk were at top end of island,
after a probable FOS yesterday.
Back here there were at least 3 White-crowned and
2 Lincoln's Sparrow besides the usual Chippy
and Field Sparrows. One local Red-tailed Hawk in
the afternoon. A Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak came into
the Blue Mist Eup., fresh and mint, as was a Funereal
Duskywing that stopped by briefly. Sachem and Fiery
Skipper, Little Yellow and Sleepy Orange were there
too.
November 1 ~ Ten down and two to go. Low was 42F.
Nice sunny morning, but nothing different for birds
first few hours. Save some Robin going over, a dozen
or two, one came down to the bath like it knew it was
there. Heard a few Siskin. We did a couple and a
half hour spinabout to see how it looks post front.
Yesterday was the annual parade and dinner at the
school, and Halloween, so this morning the annual
town TP job was evident. There were a few Robin
everywhere, we saw over 50 total. Saw a couple
Flicker near the 360 xing, one was a good Red-shafted,
the other we leave as Northern Flicker. Water
flow at the 360 xing looks about 100 gallons per
minute, tops. A rivulet.
We checked the park, the woods were dead. A flock
of about 15 Common Grackle flew south on other side
of river. One Ringed Kingfisher flew by at north
end of island, that was it. Maybe it had been
accipitered recently. I heard a pipit fly over
town that sounded a Sprague's. Will let it go
but it probably was. Then we checked the pond by
the W'vl Cmty. On UvCo363 on way there was
an orange-billed gray-lored Gambell's White-crowned
Sparrow, a western type. At the pond still a few
dozen Red-winged Blackbird, 3 Savannah Sparrow, one
male Vermilion Flycatcher continues, a couple Mockingbird,
6 Robin, a White-crowned Sparrow, and the bird of the
day. Kathy spotted it inside one of the two little
Hackberry adjacent to pond, a CACTUS WREN. They are
very rare here, I have had a couple poor looks in
17 years, despite being common just south of us down
in the flatlands of the brush country. Got a couple
docushots. There are lots of extensive patches of
Prickly Pear here, that do not have any Cactus Wren.
Also at the pond had a quick look at what surely was
an Autumnal Meadowhawk dragonfly. Very few odes left
out there after the last week of cold mornings. One,
first-year (a foot-long) W. Ribbonsnake was in the
pond.
Then we went down to UvCo 361 and cruised the first
mile-and-a-half. Kathy saw a Vesper Sparrow, and we
saw one lone Chipping Sparrow. There were a hundred
Meadowlark, they looked Western to me but none ever
called, they are in fresh plumage when hard to tell
and I wasn't in a meadowlark mood. Best was
after a couple Mockers seeing a SAGE THRASHER along
the road, my first in a few years locally. Got a
poor docushot. Didn't see anything in the
pastures though, and no hawks or Say's Phoebe.
Then back here at the hovelita in the afternoon.
After lunch Kathy had a glimpse of a what she thought
sure was a Red-breasted Nuthatch at the birdbath.
A couple hours later it returned and drank. FOS.
We did not record one last winter, they are less than
annual here. About 2:30 I saw a Great Spreadwing
damselfly, I think the only one of the year, they are
less than annual here for me. It kept moving and so
no pho(to). Just before 4 p.m. I was near the front
porch when the Calliope Hummingbird flew in and tanked
up! Where is it spending all but one minute of the day?
Two days in a row. About 4:30 a Zone-tailed Hawk flew
low over the yard and worked upriver, only hawk of the
day. A couple Pine Siskin were on the patio. Half-dozen
Field Sparrow still here. Saw a Sharp-shinned Hawk
later in day. At last sun about 5:30 (!) the Calliope
Hummer came back.
What a selection of birds here today. The male Cardinal
are bright as heck again. Fair numbers of Eastern Bluebird
are around, it seems some winterers from elsewhere have
added to numbers. Saw a few Golden-fronted and a couple
Ladder-backed Woodpecker, lots of Black-crested Titmouse,
a few Carolina Chickadee, lots of Carolina Wren, a Caracara,
and Turkey were in the corral late. The goodies list
today was amazing: Cactus Wren, Sage Thrasher, Calliope
Hummingbird, Zone-tailed Hawk, Red-breasted Nuthatch,
Ringed Kingfisher, Gambell's White-crowned Sparrow,
a Common Grackle flock, and a male Vermilion Flycatcher.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ October summary ~ ~ ~
It was a dry one, the .65 of an inch late in
month was it. Was a little on the warmish side
to go with it. Fall flower bloom was very weak
due to the drought conditions. The river is at
least three feet below the spillway overflow.
Trees are drought stressed, we lose some every
big wind now. Saw a Ringtail here this month.
Butterflies were few on the grand scale, but
there were some great things seen. There was a
little bit of movement from the south. A Purple-washed
Skipper was probably best, on the 1st. My third
here, the only 3 UvCo records. I likely saw it again
subsequently a day or two later. A Coyote Cloudywing
was first in 4 years, and a White-patched Skipper was
one of only a few in the last five years. The Zebra
Longwing from late Sept. stayed 9 days to Oct. 6,
it was first in 4 years too. Anything less than
annual (LTA) is always great to record. Soldier
showed well, over a half-dozen stopped on our
Blue Mist Eupatorium.
The Blue Mist saved our butterfly fall here. It's
the Blue Mist man. When I was a kid it was the
Purple Haze. Now I am all grown up, and it is the
Blue Mist. It was awesome, whilst the local deco
gardens and even the library butterfly garden were
all but dead. We have one big Lantana, some Red
Turkscap, a Frostweed, the Frogfruit finished first
week of month. So not much, but there was so little
blooming out there it was a major magnet. Some days
had 25 species at the front porch, and it was where
all the rare stuff was seen. The visual net cast is
of course a big factor, I check it once or twice an
hour all day, every day. I count 50 species, essentially
all were seen from the front porch! Up 4 from Sept.,
but making August at 57 sps. the best lep month this year.
A couple Texas Wasp Moth showed well, and an Obscure
Sphinx (moth) was photographed.
Odes were weak. They were shot for the year early
this year. The drought is killin' 'em here
literally and figuratively. Much of the river is dry.
It was only the most common regular species, and
in general very few of them. Did get an October
Thornbush Dasher at the Waresville golf course pond.
The rest was very unremarkable. It was a dismal 13-14
species for the month. Last Pepsis Wasp was early
in month. A Hister Beetle was nice to see, came into
a night light. Firefly flamed out early, it was a poor
fall flight, a few larvae seen late in month, last
few adults were early in the month.
Birds were great, they always are in fall, especially
in Sept. and Oct. when everything is on the move.
There were two outstanding finds this month. Three GREEN
JAY visited our yard for a week Oct. 19-26. First
locally since the only area other record, winter of 2008-09.
Then at the park, a calling CORDILLERAN FLYCATCHER on
the 14th is my first photo record locally, have seen
a couple prior but no pix. An imm. male Red-NAPED
Sapsucker tied my early date Oct. 4. A CATBIRD was
in our yard Oct. 24-26, and tardy Calliope Hummingbird
showed up Oct. 31. A Western type Yellow-breasted Chat,
late, on Oct. 23 is noteworthy. Might be the first ever
of that type I have postively seen here. I count a
hundred species I saw very locally around Utopia.
Others saw a few I didn't.
~ ~ ~ end October summary ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ October update header archive copy ~ ~ ~
October! The first good bird of the month is a
butterfly. On Oct. 1 a PURPLE-WASHED Skipper was
at our Blue Mist Eup for photos. Very rare this
far north, with only a few county records. My FOS
House Wren were two on Oct. 2. A bunch of FOS
birds on Oct. 4: Black-throated Green Warbler, a
record early Red-naped Sapsucker, a Kestrel, and
a Marsh Wren. Oct. 5 brought my FOS Orange-crowned
Warbler and a heard southbound Greater Yellowlegs.
In the last week the Hilbigs had Sandhill Crane,
Northern Harrier, and a female American Redstart
at their fountain the 7th, out W. Sabinal Rd.
A White-patched Skipper on the 8th on our Blue Mist
is a rary here. The Zebra from late Sept. was last
seen Oct. 6th. Lots of Monarch in the park woods.
My FOS Sharp-shinned Hawk was Oct. 11. Oct. 12 we had
Sandhill Cranes southbound on the northerlies.
A Coyote Cloudywing (butterfly) on Oct. 13 is the
first I have seen in four years. A CORDILLERAN
Flycatcher at Utopia Pk. Oct. 14 is a very rare find.
Oct. 16 the day after a big frontal passage brought
several FOS sightings of winter type birds: Northern
Flicker, Hermit Thrush, White-crowned Sparrow, and
American Pipit. Oct. 17 two FOS Spotted Towhee
were in our yard. Oct. 18 we saw FOS Vesper and
Savannah Sparrow, and Eastern Meadowlark. A Ringtail
(Cacomistle) on Oct. 20 was nice, as were a couple
FOS Pyrrhuloxia that day. Three GREEN JAY went
through our yard most days Oct. 19-26 so far! Mostly
just 5 minute visits, but we'll take it. My
FOS Pine Siskin were 6 in the big Pecan the 23rd,
an hour later a dozen flew by. Later on the 23rd
there was a FOS female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
in the front yard, a male Yellow-bellied Sap was
in the yard the next day. My first and only Catbird
of fall was Oct. 24-26 in yard. The first sub-freezing
chill factors were Oct. 27, the whole day spent in the
mid-30's F, with chills in upper 20's. Weewow!
Oct. 29 there was a FOS Robin. Closed the month out
with a one-minute-wonder Calliope Hummer on the 31st.
~ ~ ~ end October update header archive copy ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ back to the daily drivel ~ ~ ~
This is the Cactus Wren that was at the pond on the golf
course by the Waresville Cmty. Nov. 1. Bad light, I know,
but my first local Cactus Wren photo. Rare bird here.
Here is one of the 3 Green Jay that visited our
yard on Oct. 19, 21, 22, and 23 so far. Whaddabird!
Winter '08-09 some small flocks invaded north
into the plateau getting up to Leakey and Bandera, at
least. That was the winter Syd and Jackie Chaney had
a few coming in to their corn feeder a mile south of town.
One pic just isn't enough. Don't worry, if I get
them in the sun, you will get to see more ...
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ above is 2020 ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~
July through Oct. 2020 is now at Bird News Archive 34.
Bird News Archive XXXIV
July 1 - December 31, 2020
January through June 2020 is now at Bird News Archive 33.
Bird News Archive XXXIII
Jan. 1 - June 30, 2020
Black-capped Vireo. Note gray nape, not completely black.
This is another third year male, still without fully black head.
Second year male head is mostly gray like females, but have a
few black flecks and small patches of a few black feathers
here and there when return the first time. Definitive
(fully mature) adults have fully black heads with no gray.
The older weekly break bird photos are now at the 2020 photos page.
2020 pix
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
To Top of Recent Bird News
Back to Top
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Links to all 17+ years of archived bird news pages below.
Broken into 6 month increments. One day I'll quarter it
out by season as well, so all of each season are
together, perhaps making say, searching springs easier.
Odd numbered archives are January through June.
Even numbered archives are July through December.
(except a couple when the split missed, prolly due
to excessive amount of drivel in spring)
Here is a master index page of them:
Bird News Archives Index
Index page with links to all 'Old Bird News' pages.
Bird News Archive XXXIII
January 1 - June 30, 2020
Bird News Archive XXXII
July 1 - Dec. 31, 2019
Bird News Archive XXXI
January 1 - June 30, 2019
Bird News Archive XXX
July 1 - December 31, 2018
Bird News Archive XXIX
January 1, 2018 - June 30, 2018
Bird News Archive XXVIII
July 1, 2017 - December 31, 2017
Bird News Archive XXVII
January 1, 2017 - June 30, 2017
Bird News Archive XXVI
July 1, 2016 - December 31, 2016
Bird News Archive XXV
January 1, 2016 - June 30, 2016
Bird News Archive XXIV
July 1, 2015 - Dec. 31, 2015
Bird News Archive XXIII
January 1, 2015 - June 30, 2015
Bird News Archive XXII
July 1, 2014 - December 31, 2014
Bird News Archive XXI
January 1, 2014 - June 30, 2014
Bird News Archive XX
July 1, 2013 - December 31, 2013
Bird News Archive XIX
January 1, 2013 - June 30, 2013
Bird News Archive XVIII
July 1, 2012 - December 31, 2012
Bird News Archive XVII
January 1, 2012 - June 30, 2012
Bird News Archive XVI
July 1, 2011 - December 31, 2011
Bird News Archive XV
January 1, 2011 - June 30, 2011
Bird News Archive XIV
July 1, 2010 - December 31, 2010
Bird News Archive XIII
January 1, 2010 - June 30, 2010
Bird News Archive XII
June 1, 2009 - December 31, 2009
Bird News Archive XI
January 1, 2009 - May 31, 2009
Bird News Archive X
July 1, 2008 - Dec. 31, 2008
Bird News Archive IX
January 1, 2008 - June 30, 2008
Bird News Archive VIII
July 1, 2007 - Dec. 31, 2007
Bird News Archive VII
January 1, 2007 - June 30, 2007
Bird News Archive VI
July 1, 2006 - Dec. 31, 2006
Bird News Archive V
January 1, 2006 - June 30, 2006
Bird News Archive IV
July 1, 2005 - Dec. 31, 2005
Bird News Archive III
January 1, 2005 - June 30, 2005
Bird News Archive II
June 1, 2004 - Dec. 31, 2004
Bird News Archive I
Winter 2003-04 Summary Notes
and Mar. 31 - May 30, 2004
Birds
Utopia Birds
Birding Sites
Bird List
Bird Photos
Bird Guide
Reports from Lost Maples
Winter Bird Count
Butterflies
Butterfly Photos
Butterfly News
Butterfly List
Rare Butterflies
Dragonflies
Critters, Bugs, & Stuff
Lost Maples
Garner State Park
Local Site Guide
Home
Our E-mail