I was very happy that this year I could once again lead the Birding on Broadmeade team to compete in the annual Great Texas Birding Classic birdwatching competition that Texas Parks and Wildlife organizes. Once again we competed in the Big Sit category, in the Heart of Texas East region. The day we picked to compete was Saturday, May 7, 2022. And our spot was the same as last year, the Braes Valley Lake Creek Trail trailhead where the sidewalk makes a circle that's just about the perfect size, and offers both views of the open sky and dense woods. Early May is about the peak of spring bird migration through central Texas, but it takes a weather event like a thunderstorm or shift in prevailing winds to cause traveling birds to accumulate in patches of good habitat where they wait out and recover from challenging flight conditions.
Last year we got lucky with the weather and had an amazing day. But this year's spring was the driest and windiest in several years. Sustained southeast winds gave north-bound birds a tailwind, and they were less likely to stop and give birdwatchers a chance to see or hear them. May 7 was no exception to the hot and breezy conditions we'd had for weeks before. But there were still some birds around and here are some highlights of what we saw and heard.
We started at about 6 AM when Purple Martins and Cardinals were already singing. At 6:25 when it was still too dark to see very well, we heard a loud squeaky call in a nearby tree that we were able to identify as a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Around 8 AM we counted our 40th species, a Mississippi Kite. And we continued to see at least one and often more kites in the sky all day long. This species has made an amazing shift over the past few years to use our neighborhood has breeding habitat. They are now a common neighborhood summer bird.
We were hoping to see more migrating hawks and falcons in the open sky, but the only one we saw was a lone Swainson's Hawk at 1:28 PM. As the hot afternoon crept on we moved our chairs into the shrinking patch of shade at the edge of the circle. Like the kites, Broad-winged Hawks have started breeding in our neighborhood more and more, but we kept remarking to each other that we hadn't seen or heard one all day. Finally at 4:38 we spotted one flying towards us from Braes Valley. As we watched, it got closer and lower, until it folded its wings and almost dove right in front of us and zoomed low into the woods. This was our first new species in over 2 hours, and it was worth the wait!
We held out until about 6:15 PM and ended up with 63 species, about 10 fewer than last year. But conditions were more difficult this year for all the teams, and our 63 species was enough to put us in first place again! As a winning team, we got to select a conservation project (from a list of those that had applied) to receive a $1,000 grant from TPWD. This year we selected the same project as last year, improvement of Ecology Action of Texas' Circle Acres Nature Preserve in southeast Austin. We were happy to support this local preserve again.
Here's most of this year's team (minus Rich Kostecke who could only be there in the morning):
No. | Species | Time |
1 | Northern Cardinal | 6:00 AM |
2 | Purple Martin | 6:00 AM |
3 | White-winged Dove | 6:00 AM |
4 | Blue Jay | 6:00 AM |
5 | Yellow-crowned Night-Heron | 6:13 AM |
6 | Carolina Wren | 6:15 AM |
7 | American Crow | 6:15 AM |
8 | Common Grackle | 6:15 AM |
9 | Great-tailed Grackle | 6:20 AM |
10 | Green Heron | 6:21 AM |
11 | Common Nighthawk | 6:23 AM |
12 | European Starling | 6:24 AM |
13 | Chimney Swift | 6:25 AM |
14 | Rose-breasted Grosbeak | 6:30 AM |
15 | Cliff Swallow | 6:34 AM |
16 | Red-bellied Woodpecker | 6:40 AM |
17 | Downy Woodpecker | 6:42 AM |
18 | Cedar Waxwing | 6:51 AM |
19 | Crested Caracara | 6:53 AM |
20 | Black-crested Titmouse | 6:54 AM |
21 | Scissor-tailed Flycatcher | 6:55 AM |
22 | Inca Dove | 6:55 AM |
23 | Lesser Goldfinch | 6:58 AM |
24 | Ladder-backed Woodpecker | 7:00 AM |
25 | Painted Bunting | 7:04 AM |
26 | Red-winged Blackbird | 7:05 AM |
27 | Orchard Oriole | 7:11 AM |
28 | Bewick’s Wren | 7:12 AM |
29 | House Sparrow | 7:13 AM |
30 | Great Crested Flycatcher | 7:20 AM |
31 | Dickcissel | 7:27 AM |
32 | Brown-headed Cowbird | 7:27 AM |
33 | Northern Mockingbird | 7:30 AM |
34 | Common Yellowthroat | 7:32 AM |
35 | Baltimore Oriole | 7:33 AM |
36 | Swainson’s Thrush | 7:33 AM |
37 | White-eyed Vireo | 7:46 AM |
38 | Mourning Dove | 7:47 AM |
39 | Black-bellied Whistling Duck | 7:52 AM |
40 | Mississippi Kite | 7:58 AM |
41 | Gray Catbird | 8:18 AM |
42 | Franklin’s Gull | 8:25 AM |
43 | Wilson’s Warbler | 8:30 AM |
44 | Western Kingbird | 8:35 AM |
45 | Great Egret | 8:40 AM |
46 | Carolina Chickadee | 8:42 AM |
47 | Indigo Bunting | 8:43 AM |
48 | Cooper’s Hawk | 8:58 AM |
49 | Turkey Vulture | 9:09 AM |
50 | Red-shouldered Hawk | 9:13 AM |
51 | Yellow-billed Cuckoo | 9:17 AM |
52 | Black Vulture | 9:23 AM |
53 | Red-tailed Hawk | 9:48 AM |
54 | Eastern Wood-Pewee | 9:54 AM |
55 | Snowy Egret | 10:25 AM |
56 | Barn Swallow | 11:33 AM |
57 | Sharp-shinned Hawk | 11:50 AM |
58 | Swainson’s Hawk | 1:28 PM |
59 | Great Blue Heron | 2:12 PM |
60 | Yellow Warbler | 2:26 PM |
61 | Broad-winged Hawk | 4:38 PM |
62 | Rock Pigeon | 6:11 PM |
63 | House Finch | 6:15 PM |
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