SMGA News: January-February 2025
OUTGOING BOARD MEMBERS
The board reluctantly says good-bye this month to members Greg Moore, Eric Weeks, and Alan Holzgrafe. Thank you for your years of service in leadership of SMGA. You will be missed!
TRAIL CREW MEMBERS AT WORK
February 4-5, 2025
Installation of the gate to the service road connecting River Recharge to Limestone Link
January 23, 2025
We started an hour later to let the sun work its magic and warm the thermometer up from freezing. One crew worked on Beatrice in Lower Purgatory to improve the trail. Another crew worked at connecting Limestone Link to River Recharge. Team Flora spread more wildflower seeds and shade-friendly seeds along the trail. And management worked on the gate and repairing fences. A lot was going on in the natural areas as we get ready for Spring. The opening of the connector trail is coming soon. Don’t miss the annual SMGA meeting Feb. 16 (4-6 pm) at the Espinoza Hall in City Park for all the latest news. (Thanks to Crystal and Tom for the photos)
Photo caption: Jakob opening the ground for seeding
Scott works on fixing a gate 
Moving from full sun to shade 
Minnette preparing the ground for seeds 
Charlie & Melissa sowing wildflower seeds 
Beatrice gets a facelift 
Beatrice gets a facelift 
SMGA & the City work together on projects like this 
SMGA & the City work together on projects like this
Dec. 22, 2024
SATURDAY TRAIL CREW
Five members of the Saturday crew tackled a couple of projects at the Limestone Link property owned by Hays County. Daniel led the crew in removing some cactus and a dead tree. The crew sometimes continues with trail work started by the Thursday crew but also performs trail maintenance in all the natural areas.
Daniel going over the tasks for the day
Daniel using a McLeod to clear cactus 
Three of the crew removing dead limbs from a tree
CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT
The 2024 San Marcos Christmas Bird Count was a huge success! Even though the morning was a bit slow for most groups, we still had outstanding participation (over 70 people!), and even more impressive, we had the highest species count we have ever had over the 9 years we’ve surveyed the circle. Drumroll please!…..
Our total count for 2024 – 139 species! WOW!
Our previous highest total was 131 in 2018.
There were so many highlights, but here are a few shoutouts!
- Zone 1 (Jesse Huth): Louisiana Waterthrush, Green Heron, and Gray Catbird
- Zone 4a (Shelia Hargis): White-tipped Dove and Peregrine Falcon
- Zone 8 (Stephen Ramirez): Western Flycatcher
Other amazing finds included Anna’s Hummingbird and Barn Swallows by Justin Bosler, and two other birders within the CBC Thrasher and a Yellow-headed Blackbird and were willing to share these observations with us. Incredible!
Though we are still tweaking final numbers of individuals for each species, the total species count should not change. If you’re interested in seeing the eBird Trip Report, you should be able to view it here. (Please note that the total on the Trip Report is a bit wonky and does not have some of the observations entered, while other species like Egyptian Goose don’t count towards CBC totals. But for the most part, it is fairly up to speed!)
Every year I am blown away by the dedication and talent of the section leaders, as they are truly the wheels behind this operation. So thank you so much for giving your time and energy. And thank you to all of the participants for showing up, getting out there, and hopefully seeing some cool birds and making connections with others. That’s what the Christmas Bird Count is all about!
Wishing y’all the best,
Rebekah J. Rylander, PhD
American Bird Conservancy
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