Birding with Jerry Hall: Many avian comings and goings as fall migration approaches

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A rare masked duck was identified in Hidalgo County recently.
A broad-billed hummingbird was also spotted recently in Jeff Davis County.

September 12, 2009

By Jerry Hall The San Marcos Record Sat Sep 12, 2009, 12:45 PM CDT

Lordy, lordy, don’t the days hurry by. Fall migration is underway and seems like only yesterday I was awaiting my first hummingbird of spring.

As the days grow shorter, there are lots of comings and goings in the avian arena. Golden-cheeked warblers started leaving in late July, swallows and swifts are collecting in large flocks to head south and most hummingbirds will be gone by October. Streams of hawks, kites and vultures will spiral high overhead and many will pass over the bottleneck of Veracruz, Mexico, on the way to Central America.

For the next few weeks, we should enjoy a wider array of hummers as these tiny buzzers pass through our area headed for the coast. Some will fly 600 miles across the Gulf of Mexico and others will follow the coast down into Mexico and points south. A very few, mostly the rufous variety, will over-winter in our area and especially further south in the Houston area.

If you’re really lucky and leave your sugar-water feeder up, you might even attract a rare Costa’s hummingbird, like Howard Williams of Dripping Springs.

While many birds are leaving, some newcomers are showing up. Fall warblers are especially welcome and Dell Hood of Wimberley and Benge Elliott of San Marcos both reported seeing yellow warblers.

Around the nation, some of the most notable late August sightings came in the California/Nevada area I recently visited on a birding trip. Unfortunately, I did not see any of the rarities reported. A red phalarope was seen in Washoe County, Nevada. (I saw a Wilson’s phalarope.) A Nuttall’s woodpecker was seen Mono County, California. (I saw a hairy woodpecker.) A little stint was seen on Owens Lake, California. (I saw a least sandpiper.)

In Texas, rare sightings included a broad-billed hummingbird seen Aug. 30 at Davis Mountain Resort in Jeff Davis County, a masked duck seen Aug. 30 in Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in Hidalgo County, and a curlew sandpiper seen Aug. 29 at Oso Bay in Nueces County.

Closer to home, an immature roseate spoonbill was seen at Aquarena Center in San Marcos on Sept. 2.

And you might keep an eye out for a cockatiel, colored yellow with gray and white feathers. She is named Tim and is an escapee. Her owner, Ginger Walden, of Wimberley, misses her dearly. If you come across this little pet and can make a capture, call me at (512) 847-3730 and I’ll arrange for bird and owner to be reunited.

Finally, Kurt Johnson, a newcomer to San Marcos, would like some help compiling information for a new Web site he is developing on birding in the San Marcos area. His goal is to provide birders with information about birding locations and what they can expect to see at each, ease of access, level of development of trails, security of parking areas, etc. Check out www.sanmarcosbirding.com for more information.

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