Today we want to celebrate the unique migratory travelers and the local birds found here in the Wimberley area.
There is an amazing website that gives lots of information regarding bird migration right here in our area. Google the “Hays County, Texas BirdCast Migration Dashboard,” and you will see that 5 to 7 million birds have been flying over the county per night lately, with around 700,000 estimated to be the greatest number flying over at one time. The site numbers are updated for each night. There are graphs showing when particular birds migrate through our region. For example, it shows that summer tanagers and indigo buntings are at the peak of their migration now. In order to help the migrating birds find their way, it is important that we continue our DarkSky efforts. This includes only using light when it is really needed at night, aiming lights downward to the degree possible, using as dim a light as you can, and using a warm color of light. Following these guidelines will go a long way toward helping migrating birds make their journeys.
The City of Wimberley has recently been recognized as a Bird City Texas community for 2025, a remarkable honor awarded by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in partnership with Audubon Texas. Wimberley Parks and Recreation department will be sponsoring the Wimberley Migratory Bird Day Seminar on May 10th from 9am until 2pm at the Community Center. This event will offer a unique opportunity to learn from expert speakers about bird conservation, creating bird-friendly habitats, and the incredible journeys of our feathered friends. Keep Wimberley Beautiful will have an information booth there so please stop by to say hello.
Finally, please keep your cats indoors when you can. American Bird Conservancy estimates that our tens of millions of outdoor cats kill about 2.4 billion birds a year in the U.S. Let’s do our part to reduce that number.
We hope you get a chance to see some of the wonderful migrating birds. They help Keep Wimberley Beautiful.
