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FOR THE BIRDS
Spring has sprung!
The Marsh Bird Monitoring Protocols Workshop that I attended in Alabama was informative. It was designed to teach the standardized techniques of counting and recording marsh birds in order to monitor their numbers and determine how stable or in many cases, how unstable the population is. This is basically done by broadcasting calls and counting -- by ear -- the responding birds.
By standardizing these survey methods, surveyors will produce hard and believable data; then if a species is in real trouble, perhaps some measures can be instigated in time to prevent a crisis.
Here is a statistic for you; the king rail population has decreased in North America by 6.6 percent annually since 1965. Makes you feel sick, doesn't it? Much of this is simply due to the draining and filling of marsh and wetlands.
There was a curse of sorts on the workshop and return trip, and I wrote an article about it for last week's paper, but it got bumped. If any of you want a copy, please email us.
The birds are coming and the birds are going. Spring migrants are arriving and the geese, ducks and sandhill cranes are thinning out and leaving, and others will follow.
Here we are again, at the beginning of migration. Over the last few weeks the change has started; slowly at first, but the pace has quickened, and it is exciting to see the migration with your own eyes.
My car was almost hit by a black-and-white warbler the other day just south of Station Street. I squeezed on the brakes to let him slip by, and then made my next stop the Scott and Joan Holt Paradise Pond to see what was in.
Sure enough, a male blackand white warbler, a blue-gray gnatcatcher, a Wilson's warbler, a white-eyed vireo, and several Lincoln's sparrows were all dropping in to catch a meal. The yellowcrowned night herons are now using Paradise like a bed and breakfast; a little food and rest on their way back up to their breeding grounds.
Since then, Paradise has been hopping with new birds. Take a look at the list: Nashville warbler, black-and-white warbler, Louisiana waterthrush, northern parula, Lincoln's sparrow, swamp sparrow, most of the swallows, and a Mississippi kite.
For new shore birds, the State Highway 361 Wetlands Overlook (across from the post office) has had: Baird's and pectoral sandpipers, plus many short-billed dowitchers.
We took a trip out to the San Patricio, Knolle Farms, and Sandia area the other day and picked up our first of season: Scissor-tailed flycatchers, American golden plovers, and a Swainson's hawk.
We were on the Fennessey Ranch all day on Sunday, March 16, and had a remarkable sighting of an adult zone-tailed hawk. We had him up-close as he flew right over our heads at tree-top level! I would have liked more of him, and we waited for him to rise and circle, but we were not on his busy schedule, and he was gone.
I have seen the juvenile "zoney" before, but never the adult, and the white bands on the adult tail transfixed me. I could easily see the larger white sub-terminal band and then the next very narrow white band.
I really think I saw two very narrow bands, which, according to the author and well-known hawk specialist Bill Clark, would indicate a female. But, considering the short viewing time, I'm not positive, so the bird's gender is unknown. Only a few zone-tailed hawks are seen in South Texas each winter.
Also on Sunday, the Fennessey also gave us our first chimney swifts of the season. And, last week the Fennessey had another FOS: A swallow-tailed kite.
The bald eagles are back on their nest at the Fennessey this spring, and they seem to be feeding young. One adult stays snuggled down in the nest. The mate comes in regularly and perches on the side of the large and messy nest. Then, with his head down he seems to stay very busy.
So things are starting to happen in South Texas. Spring is here, migration is here, and now is the time to get out and see what you can see.
Good birding!
Birding enthusiasts Nan Dietert and Lyndon Holcomb are reporting on local and area birding. To report a sighting, contact them at lyndonholcomb@yahoo.com.
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