Bird Photo pages news ~ We have removed over two dozen
of the fuzzy poor photos and put up a few dozen new
ones that are much less hard on the eyes, we think.
The three pages that have the most new stuff are the
REGULARS, ASSORTED, and the HAWKS & SUCH page.
There are also some more new pictures now on the pages for
Brush Country, and Hill Country "specialties"pages.
We will work to get the rest of the fuzzy stuff off shortly.
For the meantime those pages will entertain anew.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The BIRDING SITES page has been completely updated, finally!
The BIRD LIST page has also been updated, now over 300 species
known from the Sabinal River Valley, with status of each.
***A note for sending bird reports***
A bird report should have a date, species, location, observers,
and most important some details of the observation and bird,
like field marks *that you saw*, and how you eliminated similar
species. These are the standard minimum basic requirements
for any level of bird reporting. Just take a picture,
it is easier! :) But don't send to me if over a meg!
I thank you all for your reports! :)
I am collecting Uvalde County rare bird photos if you have any.
Please no pictures over 1 meg, and prefer 200-400 kb small files.
If you need help in resizing them, I have written instructions.
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Okay finally ... here's the news:
Male Cinnamon Teal coming out of eclipse plumage
at Utopia Park Sept. 12, 2009, Blue-winged Teal to right.
Check out the all new page with a wildflower and tree list.
CRITTERS-plants
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ BIRD & NATURE NEWS ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
March ~
Feb. 28 ~ The first Purple Martin I've seen this year flew over
the hovel on SR in the a.m.. There were 3 Audubon's Orioles
about the yard, and still the Junco flock, Siskins, Waxwings, Robins,
125 Chipping Sparrow, the wintering Orange-crowned Warbler, and
rain is on the way. This next week Golden-cheeked Warblers
start to return and Black-chinned Hummingbirds should be back too,
as should be Barn Swallow, with more to quickly follow! Get your
hummingbird feeders out, cleaned and ready for the new season.
Since Lesser Goldfinch has begun to overwinter here in small numbers
I can't tell when the first spring birds return. The last 6 years
it was the last week of February 21-26, but now that is undetectable.
Good thing I got some data before this change occurred.
Feb. 27 ~ A brief look in town found 4 Turkey Vulture roosted at
UP, and a glimpse of a FOS damselfly I couldn't refind to ID.
There was a Mockingbird singing, the first of that I've heard
this year. There were a couple FOS butterflies in the
warmth: a Northern Cloudywing, an Olive Juniper Hairstreak,
and about 5 dark swallowtails over the day of which 3 were
Black (which we've had already this year) and two looked like
Pipevines which we haven't had yet this year. Still some
old leftover beat worn (last years') Variegated Fritillary and Snout.
Feb. 26 ~ Early in the a.m. a couple Turkey Vulture flew over
SR, the first at the house this year, and another was about late
in the p.m.. Down in town there were 5 Starlings today!
There are very few places that would be news, I guess that is
why they call it Utopia!
The highlight of the day was having a Collared Peccary (Javelina)
come and feed under the sunflower tube for a few minutes mid-day,
about 1: p.m.. I got a couple ID shots for this new beast
for our yard list, and the first one I've seen up here. Based
on its size and being alone it must have been a boar.
Feb. 25 ~ A sure sign of spring is the FOS Starling singing
in town. It was on top of the star (!) with lights (not on)
on the confier used for a Christmas tree in the park on Main St..
I heard a Purple Martin down in town too.
Feb. 24 ~ One American Goldfinch on the sunflower tube was the
first I've seen in a month or more. At 11 p.m. there was
a flock of White-fronted Goose flying north over SR.
Feb. 21 ~ At SR I heard another Purple Martin high overhead,
they sure seem ecstatic to get back every year. Hutton's
Vireo singing a little. One fresh male Black Swallowtail,
and worn old leftover Snout (2) and a Variegated Fritllary.
Feb. 19 ~ At least four Oregon Juncos in the Junco flock
now, and 2 Pink-sided, plus about 8 Slate-colored of a
couple flavors. Heard a Ruby-crowned Kinglet pass
through the yard northbound, probably a spring migrant.
A dozen House Finch now, 6 males. The 3 Spotted Towhee
continue at the seed here, 2 male and 1 female.
Feb. 18 ~ Couple hundred more geese at 10:15 a.m., and you
could set North on your compass by their heading.
A couple hundred Cedar Waxwing were about as well.
At Utopia Park (UP) in the afternoon during a P.O. run
I saw the adult female Black-and-white Warbler again,
a good "still present" date to get. Also
there was a FOS Turkey Vulture! So one is back!
Locally, only Black Vulture winters up here in the hills.
A few TV's usually winter along Hwy. 90, except when it is
real cold like this winter, when they may even bug out of
that rather constant food supply for warmer climes.
Feb. 17 ~ A great show in the a.m. was a few flocks of
White-fronted Goose, from 8 a.m. to 8:15 I counted well
over a thousand, about 1150, in groups of 300+. Who
knows how many flocks I missed before or after. It
is likely lots of them headed north today. They were
about 1000' up above Seco Ridge, but over the west edge
of the valley, and not calling, so if you didn't see them,
you missed it. There was a single flock of about
400 Cedar Waxwings that came in and landed nearby feeding
on Juniper berries. A few dozen Robins were about too.
Feb. 16 ~ 'Twas about 25 deg.F in the a.m.! A female
N. Harrier passed northbound about mid-day at migrant altitude.
Another spring migrant passed over northbound in the dark
at 8:30 p.m., a Greater Yellowlegs called twice.
Still no Turkey Vulture up here.
Feb. 15 ~ probably upper 20's here in the a.m., chills low 20's.
8 Pine Siskin, 7 Lesser Goldfinch continue, no Americans around.
Half dozen House Finch maybe, and as many Cardinal, less than
half the normal Cardinal numbers.
Feb. 14 ~ The best FOS of the day was heard only as usual,
in the early afternoon a Purple Martin somewhere high up
was apparently very happy to get back to Utopia! Last
year my first was Feb. 13.
We made a couple quick stops around town, best was 3 fresh
(new, just emerged) Black Swallowtail! First new fresh
butterflies of the year, others overwintering are worn beat
last season's leftovers. We also saw a fresh Gulf Fritillary
a fresh American Lady, and 2 fresh Dainty Sulphur, so 4 species
of newly emerged butterflies was a sign of spring coming if
I've ever seen one. There were a few old Snout,
Sleepy Orange and Variegated Fritillary about too, for a
whopping 7 butterfly species day! We had a quick look
at what was probably a Question Mark too. We looked for Elfin
and Olive Juniper Hairstreak, but didn't see either. The
Redbud doesn't even have signs of buds yet. It warmed
to a toasty 70+ deg.F in the afternoon ahead of the front!
A fairly good check of the shore edge at the pond at the park
yielded ZERO dragon or damselflies yet. The shallows are
shockingly devoid of sunfish, that is the Lepomis such as
Bluegill, Red-breasted and Longear, Bantam, the 'perch' are missing.
I think when the water got low and everything was forced into
a very reduced area, the big bass ate everything. It also
likely affected ode larvae, with them too being concentrated
in the reduced area with all the predators. It will be
interesting to see how things play out this season. Even
Gambusia numbers are very low, and I don't see any wild native
minnows like e.g. Texas Shiner (Notropis amibilis), that should be
present. I'll have to take the raft out for a critical survey,
but from shore it looks like a moonscape compared to the last
6 years. We've had late Jan. and early Feb. odes before,
and there should be two hundred Lepomis sunfish along the shore.
There were the regular wintering birds, but nothing different.
Bluebirds are singing though, and that is nice. The
Great Blue Heron and 4 Pied-billed Grebes continue.
Down at the horse corrals near the 360 crossing a couple
miles south of town there was a flock of Brewer's Blackbirds.
Amongst them was a very early Brown-headed Cowbird, and a
male Common Grackle, the latter two are FOS sightings.
Feb. 13 ~ Note if you'd read to Feb. 6 before (already), stuff
was added from Dunbar Lane in Uvalde that was missing.
Either the 13th or the 14th a Summer Tanager female was
reported from Concan. This is almost surely the bird
reported there in late November, as it is 5 weeks before
migrants show up, and more likely then a wintering bird,
which is exceedingly scarce hereabouts. One also wintered
in San Antonio this year.
Here you can get idea of how cold, windy, and generally
un-birdable it has been.... hiding inside watching birds
isn't such a bad thing to do on cold days anyway....
One interesting thing is the peck order at the peanut feeder.
The Bewick's Wren and Orange-crowned Warbler are the only
two species that will share presence on it. Black-crested
Titmouse chases both of them, and Carolina Wren away, sometimes
with a 10' dive at the feeder with wings in V over back like a
Kite dropping on prey, or Chimney Swifts in rocking display.
Both Bewick's and Carolina Wren pairs mutually feed, with both
members of the pair, one bird hammering away with reckless
abandon, obviously not trying to grab pieces, but rather to create
peanut shrapnel, so as to knock food down to its mate. They
also keep an eye on when the Orioles or Jays are on the feeder,
since they are so messy there will always be lots of free food
falling when they are on it. Even the Orange-crowned Warbler
pays attention and dives in for scraps, scavenging the bigger birds.
The texana Scrub-Jay clears everything out except Audubon's Oriole
which displaces them at will. The Orioles have a peck order
within themselves, each usually patiently waiting for their turn.
Pine Siskin (PISI is the 4 letter code, ironically) can get real
pisi at the feeders sometimes; I've seen them chase the resident
Carolina Chickadee and Titmouse off the sunflower feeder to the
point them going to the other tube feeder.
Feb. 12 ~ Hutton's Vireo, 65 White-winged Dove, 150 Chipping
Sparrow, 8 Pine Siskin, 7 Lesser Goldfinch, 30 Cedar Waxwing,
11 Robin, 4 Inca Dove, 3 Oregon, 1 Pink-sided and 6 Slate-
colored Junco, 1 Field Sparrow, 4 Audubon's Oriole.
Feb. 9-11 ~ cold, barely 40 deg.F for a high, drizzle, and
5 Audubon's Orioles at the sugar water. On the 11th I
saw flowers of Dutchman's Breeches, the 3rd species of flower
I've seen bloom this year.
Feb. 8 ~ Hutton's Vireo about the yard.
Feb. 6 ~ Uvalde area for a few quick stops, best thing we
saw was one Ken Cave. :) Other things of
interest were the first Turkey Vulture I've seen since
early November, probably a spring migrant, as they arrive
around Valentine's Day up in the Utopia area. Another
FOS was a Northern Rough-winged Swallow at the hatchery.
Also there were a couple dozen Ring-necked Ducks and Gadwall,
but most of the waterfowl seems to have departed already.
At Cook's Slough there was a Golden-crowned Kinglet,
which have been scarce this winter. The rest there was
the regular expected suspects, virtually no waterfowl left.
That is a real sign winter is nearing its end. The ducks
follow the melt north, if there is open water, that's all
they need.
We checked Dunbar Lane a mile or so west of Uvalde, north off
Hwy. 90 where there are some good ag fields, often productive for
cranes or geese, early is better because heat waves can kill
distance viewing quickly in a scope, and in big barren fields
the birds are often far away. We saw about 1200 Sandhill
Crane, a few hundred White-fronted Geese, and mixed in with one
flock of them was 3 Snow and 4 Ross's Goose. There was
a flock of a couple hundred Mountain Plover far out in a field,
that I could only see because they flushed and got above the
10 a.m. heat waves. I saw a flock of about 20+ Longspurs,
which looked like McCown's Longspurs to me, and probably the
only species likely in those numbers, in that habitat, here.
There were lots of Vesper and Savanah Sparrows, and numbers of
White-crowned, Say's Phoebe, N. Harrier, Western Meadowlark singing.
Feb. 4 ~ a pair of Bushtits went through the yard, the flocks
apparently already having split up for the breeding season.
It could have been 5" of rain by time it was all done.
Feb. 3 ~ Started raining late on the 2nd, and looks to be a
major soaker, perhaps 24 hours or more worth, by morning we
were way over 2", and nearing 4" by the p.m. from this event!
February 2 ~ The Hutton's Vireo was whinnying about the
yard today. About 150 Chipping Sparrows now, and still
15 Juncos including 3 Oregon and 1-2 Pink-sided amongst
the Slate-coloreds, 3+ Audubon's Orioles, and an ad. Sharp-
shinned Hawk that views this as his feeding station.
February ~ February !?!?! January was the 4th wettest ever
on record at Del Rio, and 10th wettest at San Antonio.
We would likely be somewhere in between those two sites.
The El Nino came just in time, because we so badly needed
extra rain after a nearly 4 FOOT deficit over the prior 2 years.
January is normally the driest month of the year here,
and we probably had 4" of rain, at least, which is the
average total in our wettest months. Outstanding!
Dec. 09 had the most snow cover of 43 years of records
for that in the U.S., and Jan. 2010 was the 8th most snow
cover in a month for 43 years they've kept track of that.
Both months colder and wetter than averages in most areas.
I think history shows more of the same for February then.
Jan. 31 ~ I did a chilly quick look through for a few hours
at Garner St. Pk.. The best bird was my first mid-winter
record of Spotted Sandpiper. The ground was carpeted in pecans
in those groves, which support quite a large number of birds.
In places you could walk and crack shells and turn around
and Titmice and Chickadees would be down on the ones you
just stepped on. There were about a couple hundred
Myrtle Warblers feeding on them, and a couple hundred plus
Chipping Sparrows too. Twenty or so White-winged Dove are
also probably pecan dependents as well. I saw one each
of Audubon's, Orange-crowned and Pine Warbler.
I still can't get over how they butchered the most extensive old-
growth closed canopy live-oak grove they had. It is deplorable
habitat management, at taxpayer expense. My understanding
is that this butchery was many many thousands of dollars.
A 500 year old closed canopy now looks like city park tree
trimmers went overboard.
Jan. 30 ~ Green and Belted Kingfisher were at UP, the first
Green I've seen since Dec., or maybe Nov.. They were
quick to bug out when it got cold in Dec.. Blue Jay and
Black Phoebe were about the park too.
Jan. 29 ~ We got another inch of rain today, for about
2" in two days, and maybe over 4" in January, normally
the driest month of the year. Maybe a good sign?
Jan. 28 ~ I found a dead male Fiery Skipper in a bucket,
in fair condition, so it hasn't been there long, a week
at most. It was a worn leftover, not a fresh one,
and is butterfly species number 5 for the month.
We got about an inch of rain today.
Jan. 27 ~ At least 700 American Robin, and 100 Cedar Waxwing
went over SR, the Robins mostly westbound, but a couple
hundred descended on the junipers for berries in the yard.
Jan. 25 ~ Heard a Flicker out back, been a female Yellow-
shaft around. Better was a male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
flying into the live-oak out back while I was on the
back porch, 15' away! I had been watching Robins
eat juniper berries from as close as 5' away.
Here's an interesting behavior observation, which to me
is the funnest part of bird watching or study....
I was working at the desk/computer when motion caught
my eye on the shelf below the window. There was
one of the Carolina Wrens, soaking wet to the bone,
must have just been in the bath. It went to a
shallow vegetable tray with dry good soil in it,
and proceeded to spend over a minute taking a dirt
bath. While soaking wet!?!?!? Water and dirt
equal ? Mud? I'm sure there is a good explanation,
like mud smothers bird mites or something, but it was
fascinating and amazing to see it, and wonder what
it is all about. My mom told me to stay out of dirt
when I was wet.
Jan. 23-24 ~ Weekend was a blowout due to winds but another
flower bloomed, a Parralena, and the Sida is still going,
so there are two species of flowers open outside.
Jan. 22 ~ About 50 Robin and 30 Waxwings stopped to eat
Juniper berries, always a treat, they seem to be hitting
the trees here near daily the last couple weeks.
The astounding avaian event of the day was the first
spring migrants of the year passing over northbound,
at 10:15 p.m., White-fronted Geese! Last year I
first detected them January 27, and the 5 previous years
FOS was in February. Down in the lower Rio Grande
Valley and on the coast, a few Purple Martins have
been seen, the first landbird to return always, and
incredibly early too for an insect eater. We don't
get them till later up here.
Jan. 21 ~ Amazing now after a couple days of 70 deg. F,
a veritible burst of butterflies appeared, overwintering
worn, beat as they are. A dozen Snout, and
3 FOS Sleepy Orange, a FOS Red Admiral, blasting us up
to four species for the year with the Variegated Frit
that is about. More unexpected was a flower that
opened on Sida, the FOS flower this year.
Jan. 20 ~ A quick stop at the park and I saw the female
Black-and-white Warbler amongst the regulars there, one
hatch year Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a Golden-crowned Kinglet
which I haven't seen lately, and finally a local Winter Wren.
There were four Pied-billed Grebes at the pond in the park.
We should get some more new stuff that gets pushed down by
all the cold and storms. Saw a Snout butterfly or two today!
TWO species of butterflies for the year now.
Jan. 18 ~ 1 beat worn Variegated Fritillary butterfly is I think
the first butterfly I've seen around the yard this year.
Jan. 17 ~ Here at SR early there were 130 Robin, 100+ Cedar
Waxwing, a No. Flicker, and amazingly four Shoveller flew over!
Then while down in Uvalde we stopped at Ft. Inge for a quick
look and heard Green Jays and Olive Sparrow, saw Long-billed
Thrasher, Green Kingfisher, Kiskadee, Verdin, 100 Lincoln's
Sparrows, 1 Grasshopper Sparrow, White-eyed Vireo, and the
regulars. At Cook's Slough there were several Couch's
Kingbird and Vermilion Flycatcher, and more of the regulars.
Over the trip we saw about 20 resident Fuertes' Red-tailed Hawk,
3 standard Eastern type Red-tails, and at the Hwy. 90 bridge
over the Frio at Vulcan in Knippa, a western Rufous morph
Red-tailed Hawk! About 3 mi. N. of Sabinal on the way
back we saw (been looking) what is surely a returning winterer,
a HARLAN'S (Red-tailed) Hawk, which should be re-split, but
for the meanwhile means we saw 4 subspecies of Red-tails today!
Jan. 15 ~ We had a good rain today, probably an inch plus,
and the 14th we had a half inch and change, so chalk some
up for the aquifer.
Jan. 12 ~ Great show at the bird bath ca. 11 a.m. here on SR.
A veritible parade of feathers, the medium sized stuff steals
the show. Both sexes of Cardinal, Scrub-Jay, Spotted Towhee,
Robin, interspersed with several Audubon's Orioles. As at
the peanut and sunflower tube feeders, the Audubon's Orioles
dominate the larger Scrub-Jay. One AO moved down to the
bath where a Jay was at the edge and jumped right in and splashed
the SJ. The Jay made a couple quick lunges toward the AO.
As at the feeders the AO opens its beak so the mandible and
maxilla at 90 degrees spread, like two stilletos or daggers
aimed right at the SJ. The fully open beak reveals a bubble-gum
pink interior mouth lining, which is very impressively eye-
catching next to the blue spots at the base of the lower mandible.
With two big sharp dagger knife blades sticking out of it.
The SJ did not lunge again, so the AO did not lunge at the SJ,
which moved away to the nearest perch and made noises while
squirming like a child trying to hold a potty while the AO
bathed putting up a splash like a motorboat. When it was done
it left. The Jay moved in and acted though it were going
to bathe. Another AO flew down, and SJ retreated immediately,
that AO bathed, and left, and the SJ finally got its chance,
when the orioles are done. It really seems to perterb the SJ's
as all the other birds respect them enough to stand down like
good birds.
Jan. 11 ~ A bit warmer, I hate to say that at 20 deg. F this
a.m.. But it got much warmer in the day, a smokin' 50 deg..
15 Robin, 30 Waxwing, 9 Pine Siskin, 2 Common Raven, 2 other raven,
and that dang Hutton's Vireo passed through the yard, now that
count week is well over, finally. Some Cardinal quiet singing.
Jan. 10 ~ Not to lighten up it was still only 15 in JCT, 16 in KVL
and 18 in HDO, so we were probably 17 deg. F here this a.m..
Can't wait till this breaks! Birds going through seed,
peanut butter, and bird bread like gangbusters. 5-6 Audubon's
Orioles using lots of sugar water too. Small Waxwing and Robin
flocks, a few Siskins and American and Lesser Goldfinches. The
Chipping Sparrow flock is maybe pushing 125 now, with a couple Field.
Still over a dozen Juncos with a couple few Pink-sided and Oregon
amongst the Slate-colored, and 3 Spotted Towhees still.
Jan. 9 ~ Brrrr it's worse! Was 8 deg.F in JCT and I heard in
town folks said 8 deg. F here too, and up to 14 deg.F on the
ridges this a.m.! I thought about 12 at Seco Ridge.
They say record coldest here in a long time. Certainly
the coldest since we got here (fall '03). Was freezing
or below Thursday evening to Saturday mid-day, 40 hours or so!
And only broke freezing for 4 hours or so and its teens tonight!
The highlight of the day was the frostweed ice flowers!
I'll have to get a good description of what exactly occurs,
but the moisture within the stems of the frostweed exits the
stem and curls down as it does, making a ribbon of ice, that
often loops and it is not uncommon to have all four sides of
the stem do it making a big ice flower shape at the base of
each stem. I did get some pix and will put them up shortly.
They are stunning beautiful as they are delicate. I expect
it takes a certain amount of cold for it to occur, and it is the
first time I've seen it here in now 7 winters, down at the park.
Jan. 8 ~ WOW its cold !! About 20 in JCT, 21 in KVL,
and maybe 22 here on SR. If any birds show up I won't
know because the windows are too fogged to see out.
The high temp. might have broken freezing by a degree, maybe.
Jan. 7 ~ A big arctic front and blow hitting pre-dawn,
winds gusting to 35-40 mph, temps around freezing, chill
factors in the 20's. Lovely. Supposed to be
in teens in the a.m. tomorrow, with wind chills near ten!
To address some hooey I heard, this does not mean global
warming is not occurring. Another proper term is
climate change, which means there will be more extremes,
like hotter summers, and colder winters. Does this
not sound a familiar theme to anyone? :) Some years
colder winters will result from the planet's overall warming.
Jan. 6 ~ I heard Carolina Chickadee singing whistled song
for the first time this year. Kathy says she heard it a
couple days earlier, apparently she is keeping secrets.
A couple each Lesser and American Goldfinch around, and
a Pine Siskin.
Jan. 5 ~ Last day of count week, picked up a single calling
American Pipit flying over SR. That was it, so 8 sps.
for count week, with 59 count day, makes for a total of 67
species detected count week. Missed Turkey, Caracara,
and Hutton's Vireo, for 3 dumb ones off the top of my head.
Here at SR there were also 6 Audubon's Oriole, and the
Junco flock was 8 Slate-colored, 2 Oregon, 2 Pink-sided.
Chorus frogs are still going very well around dusk daily.
White-winged Dove gave a single burst of under-the-breath
quiet-song. Was 25 deg. F. in the a.m..
Jan. 4 ~ I had to run to town for the P.O., so took a
quick look at the park, hoping for a Green Kingfisher.
No love there, but a Great Blue Heron flew off, for a
count week bird. Saw the Black-and-white Warbler
and the Canyon Wren we missed on the count. The wren
treats giant cypress trunks like a cliff face. There was
an Orange-crowned Warbler there we'd missed too. Again
thought I heard a Pine Warbler, and saw at least 50 Myrtles
along the river. Saw two Autumn Meadowhawks (odes).
They won't make it through the arctic blast on its way.
Tomorrow is last day of count week, and could use a few
dumb easy ones: Caracara, a live Great Horned Owl, Turkey.
Jan. 3 ~ Shortly after sunup 26 Robins dropped out of
the sky into the yard. Where were they yesterday?
Any time you do a count something silly avoids your gaze
all day, and the next morning they fall out of the sky
calling (if your lucky that's all) on your head! I
thought I heard Hutton's Vireo down the draw.
Jan. 2 ~ We did our 7th annual first week of the new year
bird count, our sort of mock pretend CBC, with the same
one party (Kathy & me) doing the same roads and spots, now for
the 7th year. As long as coverage is consistent over the
years, results are comparable, and educational. We saw
59 species around Utopia and up the valley, plus 3 subspecies.
This was our lowest diversity total in 7 counts, and counted
1679 birds, darn near one at a time, scratching for them all day.
Best was the male Vermilion Flycatcher at the park, quite
scarce up here in the hills in winter, and the adult
White-eyed Vireo was still hanging around at the library garden.
127 Myrtle Warblers was astounding, as was not seeing a
Pine (thought I heard one in 3 places). 166 Vesper
Sparrow was impressive and 2 each Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
and Yellow-shafted Flicker was nice. But no Robin!!
Or Turkey, or Caracara, there are always some dumb misses.
That is why there is a count week, 3 days before and after.
The 5 deg. below normal cold all Dec. may have run the
Green Kingfishers off, we didn't see one of them either.
Somewhat surprising was not finding anything unusual though.
Kathy found a couple DOR (dead on road) birds, both freshly
hit/killed, an Eastern Phoebe and a Great Horned Owl.
Now the owl was clearly just hit last night, or it would
have been scavenged, ants would have been on it, etc., so
it was absolutely positively alive, here in the circle,
during count week. And that is not good enough to count
it as a tick for the total. :)
January. 1 ~ HAPPY NEW YEAR !!
2010
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
We'll pause briefly for a numerical intermission...
I added a couple lists up I kept this 2009, one a green year list.
The birds I saw without using any gas, walking around the
yard, house, property, wherever I went without burning fuel.
If I had a bike, I'd have rode to town (the river), and surely
then could get much better diversity. But, for being
too far from the river to see the avian traffic using that
highway, up here at 1500' in a juniper patch with oak/grassland,
I think it was a good total, 147 species. All seen from
the yard in 2009. You don't have to run all over the place
to see a good number of birds. But learning birds by call
and in flight will make a big difference, some were only detected
as nocturnal migrants!
I saw about 245 species in 2009 in Uvalde County, which is
funny because the TOS county year list threshold is 250.
A regular average birder should not be ashamed of a 200
county year list here. So their cutoff may be reasonable
for coastal areas, or places with large rivers and lakes, but
obvioulsy one size does not fit all counties as a yearlist threshold.
If one lived in Uvalde near the water hotspots I'm sure one
would get another 10 or 20 more species, but the average
birder might find 250 tough in a year in UvCo. In a
*good year* with *serious skilled effort*, if you were based
near the watered hotspots, 275 may be possible in a year in Uv.Co.
Now my all time Uvalde County (UvCo) list by the most strict
count is about 323. There's a few things I've seen that
wouldn't count if officially submitted, like Gray-breasted Martin.
The 323 is the bare bones. That is 6 years and a couple months
worth. It is right about what I had after 3 years in Bexar Co.
in the late 1980's, with its big deepwater lakes, gulls and shorebirds.
My Bandera Co. list is now about 232, and of course covers
only about the <3% of that county that is the Sabinal River Valley
and canyon up to Lost Maples. An incidental by accident total,
I do not go around the county looking for birds, it is what I've
seen birding locally in my patch. I have had 210+ years ('04)
in my few % of Bandera Co., but didn't keep track this year.
The butterfly list for the year was about 89 species locally
around Utopia. With the rains since fall, we can expect a
next year a better season than this year's dismal offering.
It was the first year here I did not see a Crimson Patch.
I guess the biggest mark hit in 2009 was my 300th species of
bird seen in the SRV, the Sabinal River Valley. That is
roughly a mile wide on average and less than 20 miles from
Clayton Grade to Lost Maples, with a river that would be
called a creek in most places and no significant lake.
End of brief numerical appreciation pause.
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End of 2009
Bdbdbdbdbdat's all folks!
WEEWOW glad that's over with!! Hey next year can only
be better, right !?!? I hope you had a good year, and
We wish you all the very best in 2010 !!
Dec. 31 ~ Best was at Utopia Park I saw the Black-and-white Warbler,
which scores for count week, the 3 days before and after count day,
which we'll do in a day or two, so at least we have it for the week,
and it shows its presence. Which is spectacular as the first
overwintering Black-and-white Warbler on the plateau last year,
to have returned for a second winter. Quite a rare known instance
hereabouts, where there are very very few proven records of vagrant
passerines returning multiple winters. No Kingfishers though.
Did have a Canyon Wren upriver in the giant cypresses again.
Dec. 30 ~ A Merlin here was the first I've seen this winter
around Utopia. There were at least four Audubon's
Oriole about, probably 5. Stunning was a DAMSELFLY
here at SR, seemed like a teneral GREAT SPREADWING!!
It had it's wings spread when I found it, but closed them
when I took the picture, and it flew off quickly.
There were a few Bushtits that passed through the yard.
An Eastern Screech-Owl was calling after dark.
Dec. 29 ~ WOW Sleet !! turned to rain shortly but there were
piles of white ice pellets about here on SR around 9 a.m.!
It sure looked like snow for all intents and purposes!
It was probably a whopping quarter inch of preciptation.
Over 50 White-winged doves, 100 Chipping Sparrow hit the seed
we toss about. Still 16 Juncos including 3 Oregon and
2 Pink-sided, 3 Spotted Towhee, 2 Rufous-crowned Sparrow, a very
few Cardinals, a pair each of Carolinas, Wren and Chickadee,
pair of Bewick's Wren, a peanut, peanut butter, and sugar water
feeding Orange-crowned Warbler believed to be a returnee,
for perhaps its 3rd or 4th year now (!), and 3 Audubon's Orioles
is most of it for now. Oh a few House Finch, and occasionally a
couple Lesser and American Goldfinch. Maybe a Myrtle or
Kinglet (Ruby) will drift by once a day or so, and the Hutton's
Vireo about weekly will be around a couple days.
Dec. 28 ~ another 25 deg. morning. Did a Uvalde run and
some more brush country and fallow ag field birding. We saw
4 MOUNTAIN PLOVER south of Sunny Clime Farms. There were
some scattered Lark Buntings, hundreds of Vesper Sparrows, a
hundred White-crowned, lots of Savannah, some Lincoln's and Lark.
100+ American Pipits, 12 Fuertes' Red-tailed Hawks, a Say's Phoebe,
and it seemed like a hundred Mockingbirds. There were over
30 at once just around a tank south of Knippa! Over at the
fish hatchery there were lots of ducks, several hundred, mostly
Green-winged Teal, American Wigeon, Shoveller, Pintail, and some
Blue-winged and a Cinnamon Teal. Two Ring-necked and
10 Ruddy Duck, 2 Bufflehead were good diving ducks at the hatchery,
and the Neotropic Cormorant continues since early Dec..
So do the 51 Great Blue Heron in the bare dirt field to the west.
We saw 2 Greater Yellowlegs and 25-30 Least Sandpipers, Verdin,
Pyrrhuloxia, Marsh Wren, Common Yellowthroat, Orange-crowned and
Myrtle Warbler, and amongst sparrows, Song, Savannah, Field,
and a rarer in winter Clay-colored, and especially a CASSIN'S
Sparrow there. There were a few hundred cranes over WSW of
Knippa, and a few over the hatchery, no geese, or longspurs.
A couple Harris's Hawks were along Old Sabinal Rd., one on a
dumped (poached) deer carcass. A Merlin WSW of Knippa.
Lotsa Western Meadowlarks, good numbers of Loggerhead Shrike,
Some Caracara, and a couple non-fuertes Red-tailed Hawk.
Dec. 26 ~ A little warmer, 32 felt nice. 3 Audubon's Orioles
at least, a couple Lesser Goldfinch, and the rest of the regulars.
Dec. 25 ~ Wow about 25 deg. F again here on SR in the a.m.!
It's almost cold enough to be Christmas! HO HO HO :)
Merry merry happy happy joy joy.
Dec. 24 ~ We got about a half inch of much needed rain!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!
Dec. 23 ~ A very sweet treat was a singing FOX SPARROW here
at SR, the first I've noted in a couple years or more here,
since one wintered here a few years ago. There were
two Starlings outside the park.
Dec. 22 ~ A N. Harrier was coursing the grasslands on the juniper
covered slopes of SR. At the park a quick look yielded
only one thing of note, a calling RINGED Kingfisher upriver.
At SR a sub-ad. Audubon's Oriole bathed in the bath.
I ran into Syd Cheney and he said there are still two
GREEN JAYS sometimes coming into his place south of town.
Did they attempt breeding, is the $64k question. There is
no record ever of them breeding on the plateau, so the
idea of them having stayed the year is most interesting.
Dec. 21 ~ Three Audubon's Orioles (at least) coming in
daily now here at SR. Best though was a heard only
bird flying over at 8:30 a.m., a RINGED KINGFISHER!
It was so high I couldn't pick it up against the sky.
Just kept hearing that slow measured 50 caliber chak! note.
I've seen them going over the house before, so not a new
yard bird anyway, but I'm at 1550', and a couple miles
from the river, so it never ceases to amaze me. One
Lesser Goldfinch here was the first in a while.
Dec. 20 ~ Around the park and town we saw about 20 Myrtle
Warblers, but nothing else. A Belted Kingfisher was
at the county line road crossing (UvCo 356). Some
Vesper and Savannah Sparrows were out West Sabinal Rd.,
and a hundred Meadowlarks that are probably Westerns.
On Spring Branch Rd. at the West Fork crossing we caught
a bit of a drinking frenzy with 200 Cedar Waxwings, 75 Robin,
a few Eastern Bluebird, a Pine Warbler, two Pine Siskin,
and an Audubon's Oriole. On one of the roads out
thataway we had a Say's Phoebe.
Dec. 19 ~ Hutton's Vireo about the yard, as well as all the
regulars. Early in the a.m. 175 Robins went by SR,
and about 40 Cedar Waxwing. A Variegated Fritillary
(butterfly) was sps. #11 for the month here.
Dec. 18 ~ 3 Audubon's Orioles at least here at the SR yard
peanut and hummingbird feeders. The herd of Juncos and
Chippies continue. A major wave of Myrtle Warblers
hit sometime in the last few days since Monday. Around
town and at the park I had 50 (FIFTY) of them, the biggest
warbler movement of the year, or nearly so. There were
a dozen plus around the library garden, joined by an Orange-
crowned Warbler and an adult White-eyed Vireo. Then at
UP there were 35 Myrtles, a couple Audubon's Warblers, another
Orange-crowned, the wintering adult female Black-and-white,
and new were 2 PINE Warblers. Other things there were
a returning (same hole) adult female Yellow-shafted Flicker,
2 HY (hatch-year) Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, plus a heard
Sapsucker, Green Kingfisher, Blue Jay and Black Phoebe,
Ladder-backed and Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Eastern Bluebird.
I must say it was amazing seeing 5 species of warblers today at
the park! That is counting Audubon's Warbler as a seperate
species, which it is. Sometimes AOU loses their way and
mistakenly lumps things they later go back and resplit (fix their
mistakes) like Baltimore and Bullock's Orioles. Such will
be the case eventually with Myrtle and Audubon's Warblers.
Consider their digestive tracts are so different only one can
digest the wax myrtle berry, allowing them to winter in much
colder climates (without insects). Guess which.
A couple Dogface (butterfly) today were local species #10 for Dec.
Dec. 16 ~ 16 Junco for sure. Photo of 12 in one frame.
Will try to get pix of some of the funky ones.
Dec. 15 ~ At least 15 Junco now in the daily flock hitting
the seed with about 75 Chipping Sparrow and a couple or few
Spotted Towhee, maybe 4 Cardinal. 3 of the Junco are
good Oregon, most are various flavors of Slate-colored
including western ones with beige sides (females), and a
couple are big black-lored good pure Pink-sided Juncos.
One mucky Slate-colored shows two decent wing bars.
Dec. 14 ~ A Queen (butterfly) was the first of the month.
Dec. 11 ~ A quick look around at Lost Maples was our first
visit since the major cliff collapse at the day use picnic
area. WOW !! I would have loved to been there
and seen it happen! Not many birds as usual in winter, but
a few American Goldfinch. The Lacey Oaks were in very
good color, yellows and golds mostly, and a few Buckley Oaks
were still in good color too.
Dec. 10 ~ Both an adult and an immature Sharp-shinned Hawk
are stooping on the seed eaters daily here now. The
White-winged Dove flock still numbers about 45.
Dec. 9 ~ The Junco flock hitting the seed daily remains
10 birds, with 2 Pink-sided, 2 Oregon, and 6 Slate-colored.
Dec. 8 ~ About 30 Robins came in a roosted at dusk.
Chorus frogs going bonkers again tonight. Lovely!
Dec. 7 ~ The only thing of note today was the Chorus Frogs
still chorusing away, as if it were spring, and it wasn't
20 deg.F two mornings ago! How do they do it, anti-freeze?
I asked Kathy that and she said maybe that's why they're green!
There were 3 Spotted Towhee calling here at SR, the meow cat-call
that sounds like a Catbird, of subspecies arcticus or montanus
methinks. The Chipping Sparrow flock is 75 birds now.
Dec. 6 ~ A Uvalde supply run, and we took the slow way down
Old Sabinal Rd. to look through some brush country and barren
fields, which were unfortunately, barren of birds too.
Lots of sparrows along some of the roads. A couple hundred
Vesper, a hundred plus Savannah, 50+ each Lark and Lincoln's and
50+ White-crowned too. Two different times I had quick
looks of what looked like Harris's Sparrows but they got away.
A dozen Lark Buntings were SE of Knippa, 60 American Pipits,
a couple dozen plus Pyrrhuloxia (more than Cardinals), and
10 Say's Phoebe at various fields along the way.
We had great views of a PRAIRIE FALCON soaring right over us
for 5 minutes, south of Sunny Clime Farms. No Longspurs,
Mountain Plovers, Sprague's Pipit, only 10 Geese (White-fronted),
and about a hundred Sandhill Crane. At a tank south of Knippa
there was a beautiful male Wood Duck, a flock of 20 Ground-Dove,
an immature male Vermilion Flycatcher, and lots more sparrows.
Over at the fish hatchery SW of Uvalde we saw an adult Peregrine
Falcon which at one point stooped on a Snipe, which flushed but
knew all it had to do is keep climbing, which it did, so the
Peregrine gave up quickly when it saw the Snipe knew its way
out of that threat. Lots of ducks are in now, there were
5 male Cinnamon Teal, gobs of Green-wings, bunch of Blue-wings,
Gadwall, Wigeon, and Pintail, and 3 Ruddy Duck which are good here.
The best duck we got scope studies of, a GREATER SCAUP, the first
I've seen here in over 6 years now. It flushed so we got
to see the white wing stripe that extended nearly to the wing tip.
There were 7 Greater Yellowlegs, 10 Least Sandpiper, 1 Solitary
Sandpiper, 3 Killdeer, and 5 Snipe. Then there were 14
Double-crested and 1 Neotropic Cormorant, an amazing 50 (FIFTY!)
Great Blue Heron standing in a barren ploughed dirt field west
of the hatchery, and a few score of Coots. Landbirds
about were Verdin, several Common Yellowthroats, Orange-crowned
Warbler, some Myrtle Warblers, Marsh Wrens, Am. Pipit, Song
Sparrows and Black Phoebe.
Finally, just leaving town I saw a Merlin, again near mega-mart,
so completed a falcon slam with a boatload of Kestrels, the
Peregrine, Merlin, and the Prairie Falcon. Along the way
we saw at least a dozen Fuertes' Red-tailed Hawks, one non-Fuertes.
Dec. 5 ~ WEEWOW about 20 deg.F here on SR this morning!!! It
was down to 18 in JCT and KVL, and 22 in HDO! It's warmer in
Massachusetts! A surprise was flushing a CASSIN'S Sparrow this
morning from a patch of 2'tall dry grass outside that I purposely didn't
weed whack all year, to see if something like this could happen.
The patch is only about 15' by 5' or so. It is the first winter
record I have up here in the hills. Also interesting was
the first insect to move of the day,under the searing 1 p.m. heat
of 45 deg.F, a male Variegated Meadowhawk (dragonfly). They
must have anti-freeze in there somewhere. I did not see the
Selasphorus hummingbird today, hope it made it through the night.
Down at UP there was Song Sparrow, 3 Pied-billed Grebe, 125 Black
Vulture, a few Myrtle Warblers, a Spotted Towhee, and a Blue-headed
Vireo, perhaps the one that I saw Nov. 10. At the hackberries on
Cypress St. there were 6 more Myrtle and 2 Audubon's Warblers. Also
4 Lesser Goldfinch were there feeding in the weeds with Bluebirds.
I had to hit the brakes to miss a Roadrunner that jumped out right
in front of me on SR. 2 Audubon's Orioles about the hovel.
Dec. 4 ~ In the morning there was a solid 20 minutes nearly with
SNOW flurries! Temps to drop in afternoon, and hit about
20 deg.F by tomorrow morning, the first hard freeze of the year.
What appears to be the Nov. 25 Selasphorus hummingbird is back
at the feeders, since it seems to be an adult female (Rufous or
Allen's) with the same exact pattern of gorget color.
Dec. 3 ~ One lone American Goldfinch was at the sunflower tubes,
the rest was the regulars. Still a bit chilly. A spectacular
report on Texbirds was a photographed Northern Goshawk in Kerrville!
Dec. 2 ~ The Junco flock here at SR is now 10 birds, with one
good pure male Oregon, 2 good pure Pink-sided, and most of the rest
Slate-coloreds of various flavors, perhaps one good female Oregon.
December 1 ~ A 1/4" or so of cold rain over the day, with a high
temp of 40 deg.F! 2 Audubon's Orioles and Hutton's Vireo at SR.
I keep forgetting to mention, there is a strange absence of Cardinals
here for over a month now. A male or two, maybe 2 females, and
that is it!?!?!?! We've never, not had, a dozen plus at this
time. So the question is, "Is there an abundance of native food
locally that they are capitalizing on, or are they gone?"
Notice the use of the double negative? It can be done! :)
Some November wrap-up....
November totalled 42 species of butterflies, so-so, its been
60 in good years, but was a surprise since it was the best
November flower bloom I've seen in 7 Novembers here. The
timing of the drought-ending rains made everything sprout,
and the lack of a hard freeze in October made for a great
flower show, comparitively, into November. But due to the
drought, there just weren't many butterflies out this year.
Some of the flowers blooming in November were Tropical & Mealy
Sage, Gay-feather, Navajo Tea, Parallena, Yellow Wood-Sorrel,
Eupatorium havanense, an Aster (White?), Zexmenia, Blackfoot
Daisy, Fireweed (Lobelia), Shrubby Blue Sage (Mejorana),
Black Dalea (early Nov.), Turk's Cap, Slender-stem Bitterweed,
Brickell-Bush, several sunflowers, and a bunch of other stuff.
It appears we made it into December without a hard freeze.
Amazing methinks? I heard the Maples weren't all that great
this year, but the Buckley (Spanish) Oaks were outstanding as
always. They are the real color show here, and you don't
have to fight the fall Lost Maples crowd to see it. Drive any
road across the divides between drainages Thanksgiving weekend.
The Ode (dragonfly and damselfly) season is all but over now,
until next March. Oh there will be a few more leftovers
still in Dec., and a few will emerge in February, but even in
March it is just barely starting. Hope ya had fun this
season! Uvalde Co. added I think about 10 species to its
official county list this year, and now sits at 99 species of
Odes known from the county! The entire state of California
has 113 known species to compare Ode diversity.
One report posted to Texbirds of interest was a Green-tailed
Towhee at Concan I think over Thanksgiving weekend. This
species is surely far more common in Uvalde Co. than reports
indicate. Someone else had a Summer Tanager there too!
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We've moved Nov. 30 and prior to June 1 to Old Bird news archive # 12.
(first link below)
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