Highlights of 2008-09 Winter Season
Sage Thrasher in Jim Hogg Co.
The most commonly reported bird species were turkey vulture, mourning dove, golden-fronted woodpecker, northern mockingbird, orange-crowned warbler, and northern cardinal. There were 6 new species that had not previously been reported during any previous winter season; these included the greater scaup, clapper rail, whooping crane, barred owl, broad-billed hummingbird and Williamson’s sapsucker. The Williamson’s sapsucker sighting in Kleberg County, a western U.S. woodpecker, represents the first South Texas record for this species!
Some of the other rare or unusual species noted this past winter include muscovy duck, surf scoter, white-winged scoter, long-tailed duck, masked duck, lesser black-backed gull, and rose-throated becard (a type of flycatcher). Another species of note was the sage thrasher, considered a very irregular winter resident throughout much of South Texas, it was reported 7 times and in 5 different counties during this past winter but was not reported during any of the 3 previous winter seasons.
A big thank you to all those who submitted observations! Here’s looking forward to another interesting winter season!
