Migration is happening!! Tons of yellow warblers and gnatcatchers at Hornsby and a few others sprinkled in like Clay-colored Sparrow and a Flycatcher someone can ID. Also 14 species of shorebirds including Avocets and Semipalm Plovers.
Today I saw my 39th of the 40 shorebird species likely to be seen in Texas for my 2023 scoreboard. Found a WIlson’s snipe at the Pecos River. (Didn’t get a pix today, this was from elsewhere). Saw 32 species in Central Texas (mostly Hornsby and Cedar Point), 1 more in west texas, only needed…
ID bird 2
Good news/bad news from my first trip to Hornsby during fall migration. Good: Fall migration is here!!! Good: lots of floating mud habitat at Hornsby. Good: Lots of shorebirds — 1000 plus I estimated. Good: 9 species of shorebird. Good: temp is manageable from 6:30-10:00am or so. Good: lots of Stilt and whistle duck chicks….
15 species of shorebird yesterday at Hornsby. But this Chestnut-collared longspur was a treat. Seems to be a young male with a hint of black on belly and a hint of chestnut on collar. Good looks at Baird’s Sandpiper, American Golden Plover and both yellowlegs were also a pleasure!
Had a great trip with the 2024 Gulls Class to Galveston etc. Highlight was the California Gull initially found by Sarah “blue legs” Womack!! Palm Warbler found by Doug was also a great bird!! We had 6 gull species and numerous shorebirds.
Made an early morning visit to Hornsby yesterday. I don’t recall seeing the water levels in ponds quite this low. Lots of floating mats in pond 1W and an island has appeared in pond 2 that birds are enjoying. 14 species of shorebirds including American Golden Plover is a pretty good total for Hornsby. Here…
