When it's 40 deg F in the morning and 98 in the afternoon. Actually--when the OLD Mesquite trees start putting on leaves, spring has officially arrived in west Texas. The young ones will lie to ya.
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08:21 AM
Cadillac Jack Member
Posts: 1165 From: Jacksonville, IL, USA Registered: May 2003
When it's 40 deg F in the morning and 98 in the afternoon. Actually--when the OLD Mesquite trees start putting on leaves, spring has officially arrived in west Texas. The young ones will lie to ya.
While I was hog hunting this spring (Feb) I saw zillions of bright red cardinals. Do these winter in southwest Texas or was this a "spring" thing?
They winter in Mexico and further south mostly. You probably encountered their migration back north, tho Feb is a bit early for that, depending where you were at in Texas. There is not a lot of forage or cover here, and a large number of predators like hawks, so we don't see a lot of Cardinals any time of the year except late fall/early winter. Once they start back north, I suspect they either continue on north, or go to the east, where there are real trees.
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11:34 AM
Toddster Member
Posts: 20871 From: Roswell, Georgia Registered: May 2001
They winter in Mexico and further south mostly. You probably encountered their migration back north, tho Feb is a bit early for that, depending where you were at in Texas. There is not a lot of forage or cover here, and a large number of predators like hawks, so we don't see a lot of Cardinals any time of the year except late fall/early winter. Once they start back north, I suspect they either continue on north, or go to the east, where there are real trees.
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01:06 PM
sonic50 Member
Posts: 3873 From: All over the USA Registered: Aug 2004
Now that was interesting my message didn't post! But the quote did! As i was aying although you didn't know: We were between San Antonio and Laredo late in Feb. It was miles to the nearest ranch house. There was plenty of cover, although no real trees as you pointed out. The scrub was 15-20 tall in some places and poked, scratched, cut or otherwise lacerated nearly anything that tried to move through it fast. The birds were very aware of the many flying predators and stayed relatively low in the scrub. They came out mostly around sunup. They weren't in groups but I saw at least 35 birds within 300m of one elevated blind I occupied. They drove the bobcats crazy! I enjoyed observing the flora and fauna there. Thanks for the info!
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01:14 PM
PFF
System Bot
doublec4 Member
Posts: 8289 From: Oakville, Ontario, Canada Registered: Jun 2003
: We were between San Antonio and Laredo late in Feb.
Ahh--that's South Texas. A lot different than West and SW Texas. I've traveled thru S.Texas, but not spent much time there at all. Beleive it or not, they get a lot more rain than we do.