Texas sits at the mouth of a funnel for flights of migrating birds coming down the east side of the Rocky Mountains and those coming down the Mississippi River that don’t want to battle prevailing winds by flying straight away across the Gulf of Mexico to winter in warmer climates, said Mark Klym of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in Austin.
Thus, Texas is home to four of the top 12 North American birding sites and is the No. 1 birding destination in the United States. The Rio Grande Valley is the state’s premier watching area in Texas, with more than 465 species cataloged at one site.
“The fall migration is a very spread out migration,” Klym said. “It’s nothing like spring when we have four to five weeks when you have a real push of birds and they are moving north very quickly. During the fall, bird migration may be very scattered, with a few birds at a time trickling south.”
The migration started two months ago, and continues into mid-December.
“Hummingbirds are basically through, and hawks are moving through in huge numbers,” Klym said. “Pelicans will be moving in huge numbers in a couple of weeks, as will wood storks. Ducks and geese will be starting in about a month and whooping cranes will start next month.”
Backyard birders who live in wooded areas may see warblers now, he said.
“Look in any wooded area,” Klym said. “Warblers don’t fly high above the trees, they fly from tree to tree moving through.”
Dr. Lucile Estell of Rockdale, a Master Naturalist and lifelong birder, said last week she photographed a Baltimore oriole in a Rockdale backyard. Dr. Estell has visited birding sites in South Texas, and currently is photographing birds for a Master Naturalist publication.
Milam County’s El Camino Real Master Naturalists are out en masse as the annual southern migration continues, said Paul Unger, chapter president.
“Ornithology training in the Master Naturalist class prepares the budding naturalist for observing and identifying unusual birds coming from the north,” Unger said. “They are ready for the birds coming. Two groups of Roseate Spoonbills have been spotted recently, a very rare observation for Milam County as spoonbills are normally residents of south Texas.”
Some species that bear their young up north fly over and rarely touch ground in Texas. Others stop on their way south to feed and rest. Those are the ones the Master Naturalists hope to observe, Unger said.
TPWD biologists do not anticipate Hurricane Ike impacting migrant birds coming through Central Texas this fall, said spokesman Tom Harvey.
It’s a different story, however, for ducks and geese making their autumn pilgrimage from Canada to winter in South Texas. Waterfowl may be impacted in the extreme upper coast of southeast Texas in the Beaumont-Port Arthur region where storm surges from Hurricane Ike deluged freshwater coastal marshes and left behind saline drenched wetlands, Harvey said.
“That might have a lot of effects on wintering water fowl,” Harvey said. “Most of the plants they need to eat are going to be gone.”
TPWD hunting and wildlife experts rank birding as one of the most cosmopolitan outdoor activities in existence. Ranks of birders are growing simply because birds appeal to a sense of aesthetics, because birds are beautiful, dazzling to the eye, complex behavior is intriguing and the songs they sing are ear pleasing.
Birds occur in a wide variety of places and are out and about night and day. Birding can be pursued while taking part in other outdoor activities including gardening, walking, jogging, or working in the kitchen. Texas Parks and Wildlife has established eight driving trails to direct birders to the best spots in the state to observe wildlife. Texas is the first state to establish birding and wildlife viewing trails. The Prairies and Pineywoods Wildlife Trail-West encompasses the area of Temple, Cameron, Rockdale, Rosebud and College Station.
A small reservoir outside Rosebud on Falls County Road 347 provides easy access to wetlands and open grassland. A loop road reaches most corners of the lake. In winter, interested people may check for a variety of waterfowl, including the American coot and Ruddy duck. Spotted sandpipers may be seen there during the fall migration. Grasslands offer birders the opportunity to see eastern bluebirds, eastern kingbirds and dickcissels. In the summer, cliff and barn swallows may be seen.
Alcoa Inc. near Rockdale conducts birding opportunities for the public in the winter, but the property otherwise is closed to the public.
There are many Milam residents who love the birds in their backyards, pastures, woods and fencerows, and those who want to learn more about birds are welcome to join Milam County’s Master Naturalists chapter. A class will start in January.
“This diversity of subjects will give the trainee the well rounded knowledge needed to begin to make wise decisions for managing their property. Birds and other wildlife will benefit and so will the natural environment,” Unger said.
“Next spring the Master Naturalists are planning to survey the birds calling Milam County home. Information from this survey will become part of Master Naturalist’s long tern goal to identify all of Milam County’s nature resources,” Unger said.
