First-of-Season (FOS) sightings

[Connie Sandlin]

Purple Martins are now being seen in South Texas. The first week of February is often when the first Purple Martins scouts show up in North Central Texas (although they might have a rough time this year with the kind of winter we're having!).

Pleae post your FOS sightings for spring migrants on this thread for 2007. Spring migration starts now and continues into June, with species showing up at various intervals. Please give the location, time, and date for your sightings.

Connie

[Vern]

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Saw my first one of 2007 today. 3-24-2007 at 8:00am in Collin County (Lavon) Just a single and the only one I saw today.

[Vern]

Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Male)

3-25-07 @7:50 a.m. northern Kaufman County. Visiting my feeder.

[betsy]

Friday eve, 3/23/07, WRL's hatchery:

Blue-gray Gnatcatchers (seen)
White-eyed Vireo (heard)

[Maestro]

Scissor-tailed flycatcher @ 12:00 on March 25, 2007 in Midlothian, Ellis County.

[Connie Sandlin]

Chimney Swift, FOS, Farmers Branch, 3/21 - per Sheryll

[betsy]

Yes -- I saw those zipping about overhead last Friday evening (3/23), too, when I was over at the hatchery. Didn't think to mention 'em.

[Perry]

Sunbelt Creek in Allen

White-eyed Vireo - 3/27

[Connie Sandlin]

Yellow Warbler 3/24
Northwest Dallas

[Perry]

Open fields between the Colony and Frisco walking with the cows!

Cattle Egret - 3/29

[Sheryll]

We had (and photographed) a cattle egret at UTSW during the Big Day.

I'm going to head up to McInnish tommorrow to see if the storm blew anything interesting in...

[Perry]

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher - 4/1

DFW Airport

[Song]

4/2 - Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
3/30 - Cattle Egret (Near downtown Dallas by the longhorns)

[Perry]

Swainson's Hawk - 4/5

Flying over Bush 190 in Carrollton

[lei]

4/5/07: Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Is the ID correct?) in AH today:
http://www.pbase.com/3stones/image/76937443.jpg

On the other side of fence, I also found a LB Woodpecker: :)

[Perry]

Chimney Swift - 4/6

Flying by my office window in Carrollton.

[Susan]

Black Chinned Hummer (male) in north Irving, Saturday, 4/7. Came in with the snowflakes!

[betsy]

Tree Swallows, photographed by JR Compton off WRL's Dreyfuss Point 4/6/07.

[betsy]

At SWMC rookery April 8th (my first visit to the rookery this year):

1 Tri-colored Heron, perched.
1 Anhinga, flying.
Lots of Snowy Egrets
Several Little Blue Herons


(Note: JR photographed Anhingas there on April 1st. He saw at least two. He also got photos of Little Blues.)

[lei]

I was at SWMC rookery last Tuesday April 3rd. Besides what Betsy listed, I also saw and photoed at least 50 White Ibis hovering above the woods. Several BCNH too.

[betsy]

Oh, good. I figured White Ibis were there, but I wasn't there early or late enough to see them. I saw 7 BCNH myself, but since they're in Dallas year round I didn't list them, any more than the zillions of Great Egrets. No Cattle Egrets at SWMC yet.

[betsy]

Tuesday, 4/10 at WRL's Sunset Bay:

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, a pair, photographed by JR Compton: http://www.jrcompton.com/photos/The_Birds/J/

This is apparently only the second time anyone has told Jim Peterson about seeing this species ar WRL, judging by the "1 record" notation on his WRL checklist, though I rather think we've had other reports of their passing through on their way to Village Creek or wherever. (Unless the report I recall from the previous forum is the one he mentions!)

[betsy]

We seem to have missed posting some of the FOSs on this list.

Purple Martins -- how did we fail to note these! Alan mentioned seeing them at WRL on 3/7: http://www.audubondallas.org/forum/showthread.php?t=123&highlight=Purple+Martin

Horned Grebes: EastLawther mentions seeing them at WRL "about a month ago" April 8th in the Eared Grebes post.

Eared Grebes: EastLawther mentions seeing them on March 30 and April 8th at WRL: http://www.audubondallas.org/forum/showthread.php?t=182

Northern Parula: WRL hatchery, 4/5/07 (I just learned from Chris on 4/12!)

[dihoekstra]

I saw an Eastern Kingbird hanging with four scissortailed flycatchers last night (8:00 PM) at Breckinridge Park. The scissortails were hunting insects in mid air. Very entertaining!

[Susan]

Saturday, 4/14, in cold winds and clouds, at a field thick with bluebonnets among mesquite (Las Colinas Blvd. just south of 161).....3 scissor-tails, 3 Eastern bluebirds, 1 Western Kingbird, and a small flock of Chipping Sparrows. Springtime!:)

[T. David Griffith]

We saw a very dark blue Indigo Bunting this afternoon in Plano. Don;t know if it is a migrant and haven't seen it yet reported under the FOS, so am adding it here. It was in a Black Willow about 1/4 mile northwest of the corner of Alma and Park.

The bird was a much darker blue than the Indigo Buntings we remember seeing down in Galveston. Its entire body was blue, but we never saw any iridescence. It was high in the tree while those we have seen before were at or below eye level. But, its beak was definitely light colored which would eliminate it from being a blue bunting. Also, it is too far north for the latter.

[Perry]

Western Kingbird - 4/16

Plano fence line while driving to work.

That's odd - I just posted this sighting by hitting the submit button. I look up and out my office window. A Western Kingbird flies right at my office window and then veers straight up at the last minute to land on the top of the building out of sight! Very serendipitous!

[Perry]

FOS's at WRL looking for and finding Eared Grebe.

Bank Swallow - 4/17
NRW Swallow - 4/17
Cliff Swallow - 4/17

[Vern]

Western Kingbird 4-19

My first of the year. A little east of Dallas at Wills Point.

[Perry]

I just returned from a weekend of birding on the coast. I dropped my nephew off at Prairie Creek to bird this morning. He just called with the following birds:

Tennessee Warbler - 4/23
Nashville Warbler - 4/23
Black-throated Green Warbler - 4/23
Least Flycatcher - 4/23
Scarlet Tanager - 4/23
Great Crested Flycatcher - 4/23

[Perry]

Prairie Creek

Baltimore Oriole - 4/24

[Vern]

Dickcissel 4-26-07 Near entrance to Lake Tawakoni State Park

[Song]

Swainson's Thrush - 4/28
Grey Catbird - 4/29

Just saw the catbird a few minutes ago hanging out in my backyard! I hope he sticks around...

[range02]

4/28 Cedar Ridge Preserve
Painted Bunting male. Observed singing less than 10' away.

[Siva]

I went to Tawakoni this morning (4/29). Driving along Rte 47, there were dozens of Dickcissels. In the park there were many actively singing painted buntings.
Some sightings among others:
Loggerhead Shrike
Baltimore Oriole
Eastern Meadowlark
White-eyed Vireo
Forster's Tern

[butterflydigital]

here is the dickcissel from lake tawakoni 47 this weekend below...
http://www.eagles-r-us.com/DSC_2970_5x7xyzxyz.jpg

[Siva]

Very nice photo indeed.

[karalennox]

This is not exactly FOS, but I had at least two Swainson's thrushes in my back yard this morning. I heard one singing yesterday at a little nature trail near my house and got a fleeting glimpse of it flying away. Then, this morning, I heard one singing outside my bedroom window! I got up and went looking for it. It sat on a branch very cooperatively and sang while I watched it. Another in the neighbor's yard was singing, too, and another was in my yard hopping around (not singing).

I'm a freshman birder as you might guess.

Kara

[DTR]

Painted buntings. Apr 29th. Poetry Texas

[Vern]

4-30-07 Northern Kaufman Co.

Summer Tanager
Painted Bunting

[Susan]

Sunday, 4/29, Arapaho Creek (SE of Hillcrest and Arapaho):

2 Yellow warblers
1 Nashville warbler

[Vern]

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Wednesday 5-09-07 North central Kaufman County

I had been hearing what I thought were these birds for past several days. I finally saw a pair today, up in the trees overhead. Working on being parents.:D

[Vern]

Baltimore Oriole----White Rock Lake

5-10-07 3:30 P.M.

[Vern]

Blue Grosbeak

5-13-07 North Central Kaufman County

[Susan]

Chimney Swifts have been cruising my neighborhood in Irving the last few days May14-16th.

[Perry]

FOS in small wooded area near Alma and McDermitt in Plano.

Mourning Warbler - 5/23