Hey, y'all, I've been checking NEXRAD II radar to spot the local Austin-metro purple martin roost (looks like it's in Round Rock this year, btw). And I see that there's also signs of a roost in College Station and the San Antonio area. I was wondering if anyone here has put eyes on those other roosts?
Here's the GIF from a couple of days ago. The expanding rings are the radar signature of hundreds of thousands of purple martins leaving their roost as the sun comes up. As it happens, you can also see the millions of bats going back into Bracken Cave in Schertz (just north of San Antonio) as the sun goes up. One shift ending, another begins!
Hey! Absolutely stunning radar! Well done!
I'd imagine this will get some folks going to the roosts.
There's two here in corpus ill go visit, one almost entirely of the fledges and the other older birds. Not near as big as those two you found, David Newstead from costal bays and estuaries estimated 30-40 thousand birds. Big enough for me, if there are folks who have never seen a roost, go. I like your plug for Bracken cave...it is just like a bat flight in reverse.
Thanks for sharing, love it!
Tom
A good house sparrow is a dead house sparrow.
HOSP: 17. Starlings: 23
Hey! Absolutely stunning radar! Well done!
I'd imagine this will get some folks going to the roosts.
There's two here in corpus ill go visit, one almost entirely of the fledges and the other older birds. Not near as big as those two you found, David Newstead from costal bays and estuaries estimated 30-40 thousand birds. Big enough for me, if there are folks who have never seen a roost, go. I like your plug for Bracken cave...it is just like a bat flight in reverse.
Thanks for sharing, love it!
Tom
Hope to one day. I don't see any within 5 hour drive of where I live. The Roost page seems to be pretty outdated from my limited searches in a 6 hour radius here. Maybe one day there will be one a little closer.
"Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you." - Lao Tzu
Hey! Absolutely stunning radar! Well done!
I'd imagine this will get some folks going to the roosts.
There's two here in corpus ill go visit, one almost entirely of the fledges and the other older birds. Not near as big as those two you found, David Newstead from costal bays and estuaries estimated 30-40 thousand birds. Big enough for me, if there are folks who have never seen a roost, go. I like your plug for Bracken cave...it is just like a bat flight in reverse.
Thanks for sharing, love it!
Tom
Hope to one day. I don't see any within 5 hour drive of where I live. The Roost page seems to be pretty outdated from my limited searches in a 6 hour radius here. Maybe one day there will be one a little closer.
Hope to one day. I don't see any within 5 hour drive of where I live. The Roost page seems to be pretty outdated from my limited searches in a 6 hour radius here. Maybe one day there will be one a little closer.
@Jones4381 it looks like you're located in a NEXRAD shadow, too many mountains I guess. But I'll make a note to look into roosts in your area in August. All of my birds will be gone by then, I'll need something to keep myself occupied.
Hope to one day. I don't see any within 5 hour drive of where I live. The Roost page seems to be pretty outdated from my limited searches in a 6 hour radius here. Maybe one day there will be one a little closer.
@Jones4381 it looks like you're located in a NEXRAD shadow, too many mountains I guess. But I'll make a note to look into roosts in your area in August. All of my birds will be gone by then, I'll need something to keep myself occupied.
Thank you Mbey! Lot's of big ones here in Appalachians, love to here of one in the area.
"Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you." - Lao Tzu
I scouted out the Round Rock, Texas roost site last night, and they were where a couple years ago, in the roundabout next to Applebees. My phone camera is terrible, but it was a lovely sight:
Great photo mbey! That has to be a wonder feeling for all that get to experience it.
I was laughing on your previous reply to me being in the radar shadow here in the mountains. More I thought of it, the phrase, "nice to be off the radar" came to mind...a big smile came over my face...lol.
"Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you." - Lao Tzu
