Any birds for you in Texas?

Go to them?

Bingo!

Well, really, my entire reason for the thread was to ask why I no longer have birds in my backyard, not to say that I don't know how to go out and get some shots of them.
I mean, if your birds in your backyard mysteriously vanished or unaccounted for you'd probably be wondering why too. I still am wondering, I am guessing at this point that it has something to do with their flyway, it may have been altered by weather or fires, or...
Since we have had one of the latest Falls in recent history that more than likely prolonged the growing season and so things have not been on schedule.
I'm not whining. heheh

Anyway, I'm still wondering and forgive me if I publicly fret from time to time.

Randy

Wasn't being critical, Randy, just messin' with you. I've been known to yowl a bit here, too. I'll find out the situation in Port A in about 4 weeks.

No, I know you weren't, I was just saying that in case Santa says that I don't have any proof and I might not get anything I want this year, that's all. heheh

As far as your upcoming stay down here at the coast, I know from pictures that I have seen for weeks that you won't have that problem, matter of fact it looks like it's one of the better years for birds from what I have seen.
I'd go and see for myself but that means I'd have to leave my house!

Randy

Ah, sarcasm!

Really it was just a failed attempt at humor, I think I'm funny, but most everyone else, not so much!
My humor will be 'normal' again if I ever get any birds, I rarely post much of anything, so if I am out shooting I won't post my whining threads. It's a win-win! heheh

Randy

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recrisp wrote in post #18200513
O.K., I am officially sick of not having any birds...
It's been well over a month since I had any, probably longer, but it's been right at a month since I made this thread, enough is enough!

Well over a month? Hmmmmm. It's not as bad as you seem to think it is - you said that on Dec 1, yet you had posted the following on November 8th:

recrisp wrote in post #18179421
WOOT! WOOT! WOOT!

I just was watching birds in the tall trees in my backyard with binoculars, the birds are coming!

Within just 10 minutes or less actually I saw the below.

Red-bellied Woodpeckers (2)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
White-Breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper (I know it was a Creeper but it looked slightly lighter than I remember, I haven't looked it up)
Tufted Titmouse
Chickadee (a few actually)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Early for it as far as I know)
Some unknown possibly female bird that was probably a Warbler of some kind, I am not up on my Warblers. retty high for the most part.

Hey! It's a start, it makes me feel a LOT better, it's horrible not having birds around, they are still not at my feeders, well, the Nuthatch did fly in once while I was sitting there.

Just hang in there and be patient. For two or three months out of each year, birds will come in to feeders, so long as they already know where the feeders are and are used to using them. It may take a couple of years to get that established.

I think that you will be very likely to have yardbirds from mid/late December until mid/late February. The rest of the year they really won't have much need for feeder food (in your area).

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Well, I posted "the birds are coming!", or so I thought, that was only for that day, that did not last. When I say, "Over a month", it is actually more than that, I didn't time it but it is more than likely longer than that, I am definitely not trying to stretch it out and make it sound worse than it is. I only jinxed myself, that's all. (I just checked and it was actually 8-1-16 the last time I got any pictures of the regular visitors that I had) I started concentrating on the Hummingbirds while they were still here, after they left I really took notice of the lack of birds, I mean, when the White-winged dove leave that is a really strange thing, for me they have always been a year round bird..
Believe me, when I saw the birds on that one day recently I assumed all would be fine again, but it hasn't, I know birds, I know how they do at feeders, and I know enough about weather that I feel I have a certain grasp on things, but this really defies logic to me. I'm definitely not saying that I am a real birder, those guys can run circles around me, all I mean is that I have been feeding backyard birds for many, many years. Granted this is a new place for me in this particular house. (Please don't read this as being argumentative, I'm not, I find all of this just really odd and it is frustrating, I'll say that, but mostly I miss my birds entertaining me, I LOVE birds!)

I have been patient, that is the problem, this is a whole 'nother thing as far as I am concerned, this entire thread makes it seem as though I am fretting so much I don't do normal things anymore like eat, bathe, etc. It's just flat out strange, that's all, not me bathing, I mean the birds!
Earlier in this thread I mentioned that the previous owners fed birds, they used some good stuff too, not as good as what I have out there now, but the birds were here aplenty! I had all kinds, way more than I was used to at my previous house, and I was really happy too. Nothing has changed but the weather, it was hot, they were here, then, during the latter part of the Summer in August (if I remember right without me going and re-reading my own post) they left and haven't really returned.
So, established they are.
If you'll remember when I said earlier too that in my old house they would disappear every year, I always expect that, but not to this extent, that's all, it's gets to a point of being ridiculous really.
I was in my last house for 40 years, I knew my birds, and although I haven't been in this house anywhere near that, just by looking at other people's posts here and on Facebook everywhere and even somewhat near me, my case 'appears to be' different. That doesn't mean it is, it's just weird. Also if you'll remember reading that all of the birds I saw on that one day recently were at the tops of the trees, I saw some of that this morning. I saw a male and female Downy, a Red-bellied woodpecker, 2 Bluejays and one small bird possibly a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, or something along that size. So while I can and do see some birds, they are not at my feeders, they are very high, I know, there is food there, but as far as the Bluejays are concerned they are more than likely the same ones that were here before or their brood that was born close by. They regularly ate at our feeders several times per day, every day too, not just sometimes.
What does all of this mean? Well, that is why I made this thread, and the answer is I don't know, and so far nothing at all makes any real sense, or, at least it doesn't make any to me because the bird gods decided to mess with me.
Also, I go out several times per day, I just 'go out to look at nature', plus we have 3 dogs and they need to go out a lot, so I am constantly looking around, and up, so it's not a lack of trying.

Just in case that anyone that reads this thinks I am being way too critical or I'm a whacko, (the latter may be true) a lot of this is in pure fun, but I am seriously missing my birds, that's about all there is to it.

For what its worth, I think it's a flyway/food thing, I don't see birds out anywhere like I feel I should, and of course I may be wrong, I did see a Dark-eyed junco yesterday while I was driving through my neighborhood, on a bush, flitting around, I rarely ever see them in a bush, but there he was.

We're about to, (as I am sure others have been, or are about to) get hit by weather in the 20's for a couple of days, that ought to fix my whining, hoping...

According to my rough estimate it's been 4 months now since they disappeared, or started to actually thin out.

Randy

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The whole situation does, indeed, seem strange. And I can feel your pain.

Have you been in touch with local birding experts, or with the most local chapter of the Audubon Society? I would think that obsessive lifelong birders that live in your community would be able to let you know exactly what you can expect with regards to resident birds, migrations, etc.

I have found that in almost every community, even very small ones such as the community in which I live now, there are some extremely accomplished birders who have a very complete and accurate knowledge of the seasonal patterns of the local birds and the migrants alike. If I were you, I would be seeking out any and all locally based conservation organizations and inquiring about expert birders among the membership. Then I would contact these folks and get to know them. Any effort short of this would seem like an exercise in futility, given the situation you have described thus far.

EDIT:
Here are some places where you may be able to get connected to local birding experts and conservation professionals familiar with your exact area:


Natural Resources Conservation
1745 Ballard DrParis, TX 75460
(903) 785-0644

__________ __________ __________ __________

http://tx.audubon.org/​chapters-centers/chapters

__________ __________ __________ __________

Great Texas Birding Classic - Shelly Plante
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
4200 Smith School Road
Austin, Texas 78744

__________ __________ __________ __________

Wildlife Biologist Ragan White - 903-784-2610

__________ __________ __________ __________

Wildlife Diversity Biologist Dave Holderman (spelling?) 903-566-1626

__________ __________ __________ __________

You may try contacting Michael Middleton on Flickr. Three of the photos he shared in the "Paris, Texas" Group Pool feature birds:
https://www.flickr.com …09435/in/pool-paristexas/
https://www.flickr.com …07745/in/pool-paristexas/
https://www.flickr.com …07741/in/pool-paristexas/

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Is it possible a group of feral cats are lurking in your area, Randy, and somehow have escaped your notice? Just a thought. Or possibly an aggresive raptor(s)?

That's funny you bring that up, from what I can see there is no birders really to speak of that I can find. Looking under Audubon as you suggested didn't really pan out much either, maybe I am in a REALLY dried up area bird-wise? From all of the Google searches that I have done nothing really comes up. Not just that but as far as I can see no camera clubs or groups are here either. I do know at the local city college that they have a beginners photography course from what a lady I talked to once mentioned, but aside from that, I don't know.

Now 1-1/2 hours west of me there is plenty going on, but that is not local to me, although I do plan on going to that place soon.

Anyway, from my searches all I can see is a naturalist wrote a book back in 1908 and a few really old posts on eBird about this county, nothing at all that helps in the here and now, which that in itself is weird.

Thanks for the ideas, I hadn't looked under, "Audubon" as you suggested, but even that didn't turn up anything, just the above. As an aside note I was a member of an online Audubon forums for the area from which I moved, that is a long way off though, maybe I should go back home and shoot... heh

Someday I am sure I will run into someone with a camera and we'll discuss this, maybe they will be a bird lover too.

Randy

ardeekay wrote in post #18205222
Is it possible a group of feral cats are lurking in your area, Randy, and somehow have escaped your notice? Just a thought. Or possibly an aggresive raptor(s)?

Well, yes and no, there are cats, but as far as I can tell, they aren't feral, but I have seen them stalk birds, no casualties yet that I am aware of, but I am not omnipresent. (As much as I'd like to be) heheh I am aware that ANY cat will kill birds, I have already gone through that at my last house, they kill them for sport too. I had a nice pond in my backyard there and I had cats killed all of my frogs that would wander there and that were hatched there. They would swat my fish in the pond and then play with them until they were dead, they also killed ALL of my Green Anoles, and God knows what else. Cats are very destructive and I have seen it firsthand far too many times.
I watch them quite close, but the thing is, at my last house I had about the same amount of cats, that didn't stop the birds from showing up. Here it's almost the identical set-up as far as bird feeders go, height, distance, that kind of thing. The people here think that since this is a small town near fields and actual countryside that they are doing us ALL a favor, I think when they let out their beloved, "Whiskers" for us all to enjoy. As much as I love where I am living now that is one of the downfalls. Still though, I had those cats when I had LOADS of birds, it didn't faze the birds then, so that is why I'd say that even with 'Whiskers' on the loose, I don't believe that is the problem. All of the "Whiskers'" around my backyard know the sound of my BB rifle, or the window being raised, that is the only way of trying to keep them at bay, I don't kill them I just pop them a good one in the butt. (Squirrels too!)

I have not seen one raptor in my backyard since I have moved here, I am fairly sure that is not the problem, I have had that problem in the past at my other residence. There I had a Coopers, a Sharpy, I saw several Red-tails but one only killed one squirrel in the front. I would not even venture to say they were a problem, the birds had hiding places, the hawks were still alive so that to me says that they ate pretty good. In all of the years I have lived there I have only seen what I assume was a Coopers eat a dove out back. Actually, I take that back, I heard a 'THUD!' at my back sliding door a few years ago and I saw a Grackle about 4 feet from me that was stunned, I was about to open the door to help him and a Coopers (or a Sharpy, I didn't know birds back then) swooped down underneath my patio roof and grabbed the bird. I have never in my life seen anything so shocking in my life, here I was feeling bad for a Grackle of all things when a killer came and took him away! Weird When I say I was stunned that is an understatement! So I guess you can say I am aware of predator birds and cats, raccoons and possums too really.

Hopefully by around Friday I will see a change after the cold fronts, usually that does it, I am sure hoping it does.

Thanks for the idea though.

Randy

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I edited my last post, post #40. I added a bunch of info that could serve as starting points for deeper research. Basically just a bunch of contact info for folks and/or organizations who may have useful information about birds in your area.

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Thank you, Tom, I will definitely look through those, that is very helpful.

I do want to say that just last week was the last of my long, LONG, moving experience that has had my playtime at a standstill. We finally sold our house and I have more time on my hands, it's not like I have been looking all day every day for birding places, I have looked a lot, but nothing notable turned up.
Now my time is about to turn to redecorating this newer house to our liking, I am looking forward to that, but I am also looking forward to some time away and shooting something, and somewhere besides my lifeless backyard.
You in just a few minutes came up with more than I have in total! heheh Just goes to show...

I'll definitely let you know too, and again, whether or not I find a place from all of that it's the best start I've had, this is one of the reasons why I started this thread, helpful people.

Thank you!

Randy