MEMORIES OF DECEMBER 1989
I can personally comment mostly on Armand Bayou, Buffalo Bayou, and Brazos Bend CBC's.
6°F in pre-dawn hours; high was about 30° (Buffalo Bayou CBC)
<< As for the Wilson's Warbler. That was the coldest [ BF TX] CBC I can remember and the second coldest count I've ever been on including the last three years here in New England (the coldest was Aransas in 1978 or 79). The pond was frozen over and Kate, Dave Rubin and I were walking along the Buffalo Bayou (which had ice growing from its banks out toward the center as far as 2 feet) heading up under the railroad trestle [at the southeast corner of the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center] when we spied the Wilson's perched on a cable suspended about 6" above the bayou. We stopped and watched the bird for a minute or two before we approached. The warbler did not seem to be too concerned about us and did not fly away. When we were within 5 feet, the "Willie's" tried to fly and that is when we realized that it was frozen to its perch. It tried in vain to fly away but was unable to lift from the cable. We surmised that it had hopped into the open water below it (under the bridge there was no ice) as it drank and afterwards perched on the cable while its feet were still wet. Like Flick to the flag pole in "A Christmas Story" our little warbler found itself stuck tight to the cable before it could get free. We were able to free the warbler by cupping our hands around its body and the cable and blowing our warm breath across its feet. After just a moment it was freed from the ice and flew off. >>
—from Doug Williams, emailed 29 September 2000
Archilochus sp. hummingbird seen on the Buffalo Bayou CBC by Mary Ann and Bob Moore. On count day, to help the bird survive, they kept putting out warm concentrated sugar water fortified with vodka, and periodically changing the feeders to prevent the liquid from freezing.
Per Susan Billetdeaux, who had a Rufous Hummingbird at her yard: << I do indeed remember that week well. We had a frozen pipe & visiting relatives which made it hard to forget. I was amazed the Rufous survived. What I did was replace the hummer nectar with warm (room temp) nectar every couple of hours or so. I forget now how many days I had to do that, perhaps 2? It was all worthwhile, though, since the hummer came through in fine shape and stayed with us till sometime in March. And we only had minor damage from the frozen pipe. >> [Compiler's Note: Susan probably replaced the nectar for longer than 2 days -- if memory serves, the temperature never got out of the 20s for at least 5 days.]
Undoubtedly, others with hummingbird feeders in other CBCs had similar experiences.
The two parties in Bear Creek Park/Addicks Reservoir and in the central, heavily wooded portion of Cullen-Barker Park (Barker Reservoir) along Barker-Clodine Road did not observe a single Carolina Wren. This species is usually very (extremely?) common in these areas.
Not a single cowbird on the Armand Bayou CBC this year!!!!
--Bob Honig, Compiler
(Buffalo Bayou Christmas Bird Count web pages are hosted by the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center)