You know it's spring when Green Anoles perch on your azalea flowers ...
and when male Green Anoles start puffing up their throats to attract females.
Another sign of spring is when snakes start showing up. I saw two banded water snakes at Edith Moore Nature Center on Sunday.
I missed getting a photo of a ribbon snake on the CyFair nature trail but a rat snake stayed to pose.
Also at CyFair, our flock of Cedar Waxwings has now grown to over 1,000 birds. We get a few dozen Waxwings at home, too, and they've been busy the blossoms on our neighbor's pear tree.
The arrival of spring means that most of our winter resident birds have now moved on. The male Rufous Hummingbird in our backyard is an exception.
Other exceptions were the American Goldfinches I saw at Edith Moore.
Luckily, as winter residents move north, spring migrant songbirds and shorebirds begin passing through our area on their journey north. Examples are the Pectoral Sandpipers and American Golden Plovers (below) which have arrived at Paul Rushing Park.
Spring migration is the most exciting part of the year for birders in the Houston area. So Dee and I will start visiting High Island, Galveston and Bolivar Peninsula looking for warblers and shorebirds. Our first trip to the coast will be on March 29th but I hope to see migrants at closer sites before then.
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Jeff,
ReplyDeleteWhat area of Paul Rushing is good for seeing Golden Plovers? I broke my heel a month ago and have a cast and crutches so my birding has been limited lately but parking in the right area gives me some opportunity for a little birding.
Thanks in advance.
Eric
When I saw some yesterday, they were on the cricket pitch. So you could see them from the easternmost parking lot
ReplyDeleteThanks. I parked down the paved path on cricket field and crutched my way to first bench by lake. As I sat there 12 showed up and slowly worked their way from cricket field to grass near lake. Had really do views. Was a life bird for me!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you managed to see them, Eric!
ReplyDelete