"BOTH times of the year can be excellent for birds in S TX, but someone
needs to define "good birds" before I agree or disagree with the
recommendation of January."
Amen...
**********************************************************************
Brush Freeman
Senior Wildlife Biologist/Partner. Bio-Spatial Services Inc, TXESA,
Independent consulting.
www.biospatialservices.com <http://www.biospatialsevices.com>
503-551-5150 Cell
120 N. Red Bud Trail. Elgin, Tx. 78621
Finca Alacranes., Utley,Texas
On Thu, Nov 26, 2015 at 9:25 PM, Clay Taylor <Clay.Taylor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Stevan and North Dakota friends -
BOTH times of the year can be excellent for birds in S TX, but someone
needs to define "good birds" before I agree or disagree with the
recommendation of January.
1) if by "good birds" you mean species that cannot be seen in North
Dakota, then the South Texas regulars are a given - Chachalacas, Kiskadees,
Rainbow (aka Green) Jays, Least Grebes, etc., are always there. Come on
down anytime!
2) the species that will make the locals drop everything and rush to see
them are either a) Northern Vagrant species like Redpolls, Cassin's
Finches, Sage Thrashers, etc., (which North Dakotans probably could care
less about) or b) vagrants from Mexico and Central America like jacanas,
odd flycatchers and thrushes, Roadside Hawks, etc., which EVERYBODY likely
would drop everything to chase. I am guessing that this is the group you
are referring to, right?
The tricky part about Option 2b is that some years they arrive in December
and stay all winter, other years they show up early in the winter, stay a
few days, and then disappear. Still other years they do not show up until
Feb - March, and then may or may-not stick around.
And some years there are NO southern rarities......
Overall, January will be a good time to escape a North Dakota winter, but
March will get you early neotropical migrants, migrating raptors, breeding
action among the local specialties (species like tyrranulets, Tropical
Parulas, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owls, etc., are more territorial, vocal, and
thus easier to find), early arriving breeding migrants, and the weather is
GORGEOUS (especially if you just endured January and February in ND!)
Bottom line - you will have a great time in either month. If you have to
make arrangements NOW, how badly do you want to escape the snows of ND? ;-)
Clay Taylor
Calallen (Corpus Christi) TX
Clay.taylor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent from my iPad
On Nov 26, 2015, at 12:24 PM, Mary Beth Stowe <mbstowe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
IMHO is
I concur with Dan: make it January! :-) Actually, the optimum time
late April/early May for spring migration, but is CAN get a little warmby
that time!texbirds-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Mary Beth Stowe
Alamo, TX
www.miriameaglemon.com
-----Original Message-----
From: texbirds-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:
On Behalf Of Stevan Hawkinsin
Sent: Wednesday, November 25, 2015 2:45 PM
To: TexBirds
Subject: [texbirds] RFI: South Texas in January vs March
TexBirders:
Two of my Internet friends from North Dakota are planning on coming down
either January or March. On one hand they want to get away from thecold;
on the other hand they want to see some good birds while avoiding oursummer
heat. Is the birding in the Lower Valley in March better or worse thanin
January? Does it ever get all that hot in March in the Lower Valley?When
do they stop feeding at Salineno?permission
Thanks!
Steve
Stevan Hawkins
San Antonio TX
Edit your Freelists account settings for TEXBIRDS at
//www.freelists.org/list/texbirds
Reposting of traffic from TEXBIRDS is prohibited without seeking
from the List Ownerpermission
Edit your Freelists account settings for TEXBIRDS at
//www.freelists.org/list/texbirds
Reposting of traffic from TEXBIRDS is prohibited without seeking
from the List OwnerEdit your Freelists account settings for TEXBIRDS at
//www.freelists.org/list/texbirds
Reposting of traffic from TEXBIRDS is prohibited without seeking permission
from the List Owner
