Texbirds,
On Tuesday, 25 June, I stopped to check Lake J.B. Thomas near Ira in Scurry
County. If I am short on time I only make one stop at the Colorado River
Municipal Water District recreation area at the south end of the dam. With
persistence, you can almost always count on summer surprises there and at
most reservoirs in the western half of the state, for that matter.
Last year, I had 2 southbound Caspian Terns at Lake J.B. Thomas on 20 June.
So I wasn't too surprised to find a lone adult Caspian Tern on 25 June this
year. To me, it is much more logical for these late June records to involve
southbound migrants from Pacific Northwest breeding populations as opposed
to wandering birds from the Gulf Coast population. This is something I'd
like to see better addressed in the 3rd edition of TOS Handbook of Texas
Birds. Latter June marks the very beginning of southbound fall migration,
not early to mid-July. I suspect this is the result of observer bias versus
an actual shift in migration timing.
With a stroke of luck and patience, a solitary Aechmophorus grebe ventured
close enough to the south shore to confirm and obtain photos of my first
Clark's Grebe at the site. I will embed photos in my eBird checklist
shortly. Western Grebes are expected in small numbers year-round and there
were at least 35 much farther out or seemingly closer to the north shore.
There were also about a dozen summer resident Interior Least Terns and 3-4
Black Terns in addition to 3 summering Ring-billed Gulls. I was surprised
by the lack of shorebirds. Even the breeding Snowy Plovers have departed
the reliable waters of the reservoir for area playas that are much more
food rich.
Good birding!
Justin Bosler
Austin, Texas
