[texbirds] Lubbock yardbirds 101, 102, and 103
- From: Anthony Hewetson <terrverts@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "leas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <leas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2012 09:15:46 -0700 (PDT)
Greetings All:
As excited as I was to tally the 100th species of bird for my yard (Summer
Tanager) back in April, I figured that the rest of 2012 would be pretty slow
for my townish yard.
In August I had the great good fortune to look up when cormorants were flying
over and nabbed my 101st - Neotropic Cormorant. As this species was, until
recently, considered accidental to the region that was definitely the yardbird
for August.
In September a bright male Western Tanager (#102) flew from the mulberry tree
in my front yard to the pecan tree in my back yard before heading across the
alley to the pines in a neighbor's yard. A rarish but regular migrant ... and
interesting that I got both expected tanagers so late in the game.
Last week the October contribution set up house in the deadwood thicket I have
constructed along an isolated fence in my backyard: my yard's first Bewick's
Wren (#103). This species is fairly easy to find in the region but not so easy
in the bland yards of my particular neighborhood.
I would expect that most folk would take one look at my yard and think it
fairly amazing that my list has topped 100 in less than a decade but, truth be
told, birding is, to a large extent, what we make it. Every thing I have done
to my yard since I moved in has been done to improve habitat for birds (right
down to leaving the maximum height stump allowed for a dead tree that had to be
removed - come on woodpeckers) and/or butterflies. I doubt I will make it to
200 but who knows what might happen when the cactus patches mature and the
liveoaks start locking branches and forming a proper migrant rest area.
Anthony 'Fat Tony' Hewetson; Lubbock
Other related posts:
- » [texbirds] Lubbock yardbirds 101, 102, and 103 - Anthony Hewetson
