Texas Region
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land,OK Apr.30 (VB),with two in Okla- Tom & Sara Shane, Lawrence & Ruth homaMay 11 (NG). LazuliBuntings that Smith,Bill Trelk, Max Thompson, Beverly crepteast of mostwere found Mayes, OK VanDyke, Phil Wedge, David Williams, Texas Apr.26-30 (LR), OklahomaMay 7 (RJ), LarryWinghold, Judy Young, Michael Saline,KS May 10 (BT), Cowley,KS May Zeitz.NEBRASKA: Stephen J. Dinsmore, 14 (MT), and Washington,OK May 9 Laurence Falk, Kevin DeGarmo, Marlin Region (LSt);a maleand female were noted at the French,Joe Gubanyi, Thomas Hoffman, latter May 10-23 (P&IH). About 17 HelenHughson, Bill E Huser,Jan Johnson LazuliBuntings were discovered on terri- (JJo),Gerald Jorgensen, Joel Jorgensen, toryin theWichita Mrs., Comanche,OK Alice Kenitz, R. Kerbes (RKe), Lucy by the end of May (JAG).A Painted Koenig,Tom Klubertanz, Sandy Lemmon, Buntingin Rush,KS May 8-(SS)was the LarryK. Malone,Jim Mountjoy(JMo), GREGW. LASLEY,CHUCK SEXTON, firstfor this fringe county of itsrange. BabsPadelford, Loren Padelford,lnez Rat- MARKLOCKWOOD, AND Rufous-sided Towhees were noted to zlaff, Neal Ratzlaff, Don Roberson, WILLIE SEKULA May 20 in l•goner,OK (DV, JM). A DorothyJ. Rosche,Richard C. Rosche, No oneseemed totally disappointed with Green-tailedTowhee May 13 in Scott,KS Loni Schlothauer, W. Ross Silcock, thespring migration, despite an incredible (T&SS)was the easternmost reported for Gertrude Wood. OKLAHOMA: Jim W. diversityof conditionsacross this vast state. the season.A CanyonTowhee May 13 in Arterburn,Bill Beall,Vicki Byre,Bill Car- Heavyrains caused typical fallouts in the Morton,KS (L&RS)was beyond the fringe rell, Ella Delap,Melinda Droege, Dave easternhalf, while strong wind shifts in the ofthe species' normal range. Evans,Neal Garrison,Joseph A. Grzy- drought-riddenwest were thought to con- A Sharp-tailedSparrow May 20 in Jeer- bowski,Jim Harman, Vanessa& John tributeto migrant pileups. Temperatures gy- son,KS (DLS) addedto a scarceset of Harris, Berlin Heck, Paul & Iris Hefty, ratedwildly through March and April. A se- springobservations for this species. Vera Jennings,Rick Jones,Dan King, desof earlyfronts perked observers' interest Amongtardy emberizidsparrows were an Nathan Kuhnert,Jo Loyd, LouisMcGee, in late Marchand earlyApril, primarily Am. TreeSparrow May 4 in Dawes,NE Jeri McMahon, K. Meisenzahl,Terry alongthe coast. Action was moving towards (RCR),and May 6 atCrescent Lake (MF); Mitchell, Coy Montgomery,J. Munn a peakwith a goodgrounding April 23-24. aVesper Sparrow May 13 in Cleveland,OK (J.Mu), Patti Muzny,John G. Newell, With a strongfront bruising its way across (NK); a LeConte'sSparrow May 20 in JamesNorman, Mitchell Oliphant, James thestate, touching off very serious thunder- Dixon,NE (JJo);a HarrisSparrow singing Ownby,Dan L. Reinking,Leann Rogers, stormsin centraland north Texas, May 3-5 May 19 in Comanche,OK (JAG);White- Aline Romero,M. Rugg,Pat Seibert, producedrave reviews from migration ob- crownedand Harris' sparrowsMay 28 at LloydStevens (LSt), Jim Thayer, Jack D. serversliterally statewide. Records ofsignifi- Dawes(NR, IR, JJ);and a Dark-eyedJunco Tyler,Don Varner, Nadine Varner, Ernie cantnumbers of migrantsand rarities on May21 at Sioux, NE (SL).Also tardy was a Wilson, E&B Womack, Jeff Webster those dates outnumbered all other dates LaplandLongspur Apr. 24 atAdams, NE (JWe),Jim Woodard. combined(see Table 1). May 8-9 produced (SJD).Four McCown's Longspurs Mar. 27 --JosephA. Grzybowski,715 Elmwood anothergood avian display, atleast in central in Pawnee,KS (pJ)were the only recent re- Drive, Norman, 0K73072. Texas.Mid-May was brutal everywhere, not portsfor the central strip of theRegion. An earlyYellow-headed Blackbird vis- ited a feederin OklahomaMar. 10 (JGN). LesserGoldfinches were noted in several ßAmarillo areas,including Muskogee,OK May ß Buffalo Lake 19-22 (JH). Two Red CrossbillsApr. NWR 30May 13in Sedgwick,KS(JB) provided theonly observations outside the Sandhills ß Muleshoe NWR •Nichita ßHagerman NWR ofn.w. Nebraska. Falls ß Lubbock Foil Worth Corrigendum ß ß Dallas A Chestnut-collaredLongspur reported ß El Paso Nat. from Norton,KS Sept.5, 1994 by Scott Park ß Midland Nacogdochesß Seltmanwas incorrectly assigned to Mor- Wacoß ton, KS (NASFN48:67). Davi•...•s.ßBalmo•ea L. Cited observers(area editors boldfaced): KANSAS:Richard Bean, Joseph Brewer, Harlow & David Butcher, Ted Cable, TEXAS•Austi.Høuser.,ø•t'• ß SteveCrawford, Joyce Davis, Cliff Ericson, ß San Antonio BobEvans, Peggy Hockett, Pete Janzen, RitaKenney, Dan LaShelle,Harold Mc- Fadden,Mick McHugh, Lloyd Moore, Kingsvilleß GregNichols, John Northrup (JNo), Galen Pittman, Mike Rader, John Rakestraw,Leonard & BettyRich, Richard '•e BeritserlState ..• Rucker,John Schukman,David Seibel Park (DS*), Diane Seltman, Scott Seltman, VOLUME49, NUMBER3 FIELDNOTES 273 Table 1. Unusual warblers in North and West Texas, spring 1995 datereported for the Blue-footed Booby at L. Bastropwas Apr. 12.An amazing11,000 Am. White Pelicans streamed over Ausun Species Dates Location Observer Apr. 7 (B&JR).American White Pelicans Blue-winged Apr.22 Ft. Davis KB,PAb werealso unusually numerous in w.Texas, Golden-winged Apr.14-15 BigBend m.ob. thelargest group reported was 117 at Mc- Tennessee Apr.25 BigBend P,W NaryMar. 27 (BZ);a singlebird at Big Bend Chestnut-sided May 19 El Paso BZ Mar.20 (fideMF)was very notable. We had CapeMay Apr.28 MayI Ft. Davis J&RM,ph. KB 2 inlandreports of BrownPelican; one at Black-throatedBlue May 13 BigBend CEd SanAntonio in May (WS)was almost rou- Hermit May4 Lubbock PK tine,however Haynie was surprised by one Pahn May13 BigBend MF atL. ProctorMay I 1 (firstComancherecord) Blackpoll May3 BigBend P,W Out-of-placeNeotropic Cormorants •n- Prothonotary Apr.19-23 BigBend DK, SBo cludedone in LubbockApr.22 (JC)and an- Prothonotary MayI7 Alpine WC otherMay 9 at SamRayburn Res., Walker Worm-eating(3) Apr.22-May 9 BigBend m.ob. (CSh, RSch). American Bitterns, seldom Worm-eating May9 Midland $St,m.ob. Hooded May3 BigBend P,W observed in the Panhandle, were seen at Hooded May4 E1Paso LJ AmarilloMar. 4 & 25 (EK). Other individ- Canada May3 BigBend P,W ualswere in LeeApr. 13 and May 12 (HB) Unusualheron/egret sightings included a Little Bluein MidlandApr. 13-15 (DKe, m.ob.), a Tricoloredat Big Bend'sR•o GrandeVillage Apr 2 (VN), andanother justin southTexas where Laredo reached Hummingbirdsin one season isa remarkable TricoloredinTemple Apr. 24-May 10(RP) 114ø E, May13; on the same date, the Inter- number.One of these had first shown up two UnusualWhite Ibis reports included one at nationalMigratory Bird Count was a disap- wintersago, presumably went "home" some- FortWorth Apr. 30 (CH) andanother at L pointmentin mostareas of Texas.Heavy where to the south, then returned in Fall BalmorheaApr. 22 (KB, GP).There were at rains in the Panhandle and central Texas 1994and now simply won't leave. As for the least11 Glossy Ibises reported at 61ocalines, May 29-31 broughta finalpunctuation GreatKiskadee reported in Tarrant,it would primarilyalong the coastbetween Mar markof migrants; Seyffert remarked that, at beremarkable if this individual simply moved 13-May29; mostnotable were two at Fort hismore northerly latitude, birders are get- upfrom the Lower Rio Grande Valley within WorthMay 4 ('?MR).A 2ndConcho Valley tingused to "missing"the main migration Texas,considering the abundanceof the recordfor RoseateSpoonbill was provided earlierin Mayonly to berewarded for their speciesin drought-stricken northern Mexico. by a singlebird at LakeO.C. Fisher,7bin patiencewhen they get out in thelast week Wespeculate that all of theseunprecedented Green,May 16(AK). Ten Wood Storks were of the month. eventsare too many to be coincidental. reportedat variouscoastal localities and •n- JimMorgan shared a yardstickthat he landto LeeinApril and May; the sp. is most andTed Eubanks have used to gauge fallouts Abbreviations:Ft. Bliss(Fort Bl/ss sewage unusualin thespring. The Laguna Atascosa on theUpper Texas Coast in thepast: If the pon&,E/Paso); G.M.N.E ( GuadalupeMoun- GreaterFlamingo remained through Aprd sumtotal of all migrantindividuals iu a rainsiV../?); L.R.G.V. (LowerRio Grande Val- (m.ob.),while another flamingo sp. was re- givenevent numbers at least 1000, it's a "fall- ley);L.S.U. (LouisianaState Un/vers/ty); portednearTivoli Apr. 20 (HM).The origin out."Morgan failed to recordsuch an event S.N.A. (StateNatural Area); TB.R.C. ( 7•xas of these birds is controversial. thisseason, but John Arvin attestedthat the BiMRecords Committee/IFxas Ornithological May4 "clearweather" grounding in Smith Society);U.T.C. ( Upper7Fxas Coast); V.C.- Waterfowl Woodsat HighIsland met the mark: Arvin D.B. ( «llage CreekDrying Basin, ]•brt A 2nd countyrecord was provided by a talliednearly 2000 individuals ofthe most Wbrth).The followingare shortened names Black-belliedWhistling-Duck in Angehna numerousscore of migrantspecies. None- for therespective county, state, or national May 19 (NB).Two Tundra Swans that over- theless,all reportersagree that such events parks,wildlife refuges, etc.: Anahuac, Aran- winteredat L. Marvin,Hemphill, lingered aregetting fewer and farther between. sas,Balmorhea, Big Bend, Brazos Bend, Buf- until Mar. 14 (PA, RSc).A GreaterWhite- Thedrought conditions ofnorthern Mex- faloLake, Hagerman, Laguna Atascosa, Lost frontedGoose dropped in onE1 Paso May 6 ico,which we described as providing only a Maples,Packery Channel, and Santa Ana. (TB. DE), a late date for this rareTrans- "wrinkle"on patterns of occurrenceinTexas Pecosspecies. The Brantin w. Harrisre- lastwinter, now appear to bea drivingforce Loonsto Flamingo portedlast season lingered until Mar. 5. We behindmore widespread avian phenomena. Two winteringPacific Loons at L. Bal- got hintsthat theremay have been more Rareneotropical species are not unexpected morhea,Reeves, remained until lateApril duckslingering late into theseason than in Texas;more often than not, their visitsto (fideKB). The latestHorned Grebes in- usual.Notable among these were 140 Gad- Texasare fleeting. This season, however, a cludedone in CalhounMay l 3 (PH & JT) wallsand about 100 Am. Wigeonsin the numberof these southern immigrants simply andanother at RedBluff Res., Loving, May Rockportarea May 19 (CC),a Canvasback tookup residence.