Bird count along the Bosque River Trail July 22, 2026. Too hot for birds, especially Cardinals.
Weather - Clear, no wind, temp ~80 degrees at 7:15 am. Very hot by 10:00 am. Supposed to be 104 again this afternoon.
Bird scarcity - I think its too hot for the birds, except fot the Scissortail Flycatchers. The types of birds I saw was low, as was the total number of identifiable birds I saw.
Cardinals - I only saw two Cardinals today. This is a record low for this generally dependable bird.
Scissortail Flycatchers - These birds don’t seem to be bothered by the weather. They were very active today, swooping around, chasing each other, and chattering loudly away.
Bird types - 16 Number of birds - 58
Number Type
8 Scissortail Flycatchers
7 Mississippi Kites
7 Grackles
6 Mourning Doves
6 House Sparrows
5 Black Belly Whistling Ducks
3 Western Kingbirds
3 Barn Swallows
2 Cardinals
2 Carolina Wrens
2 White Winged Doves
2 Summer Tanagers - a male/female pair. Flying around the grounds of the city museum.
1 Woodpecker - type unclear - It looked like a Gila Woodpecker. I have several pictures and it looks like a Gila Woodpecker in them. However, this is very far out of the range of Gila Woodpeckers. Gilas live in southern Arizona. So, I guess maybe the unknown woodpecker was a Golden Fronted Woodpecker.
1 Robin
1 Mockingbird
1 Painted Bunting - female
1 Unknown - large bird - black on top - light brown belly, long black beak.