Counting Birds

10th Annual Christmas Bird Count
San Marcos, Texas

Betsy Cross

For the tenth year in a row, Rebekah Rylander, PhD—Science Coordinator of the Rio Grande Joint Venture for the American Bird Conservancy and good friend and mentor to bird enthusiasts across Hays County—organized and led the San Marcos Christmas Bird Count (CBC).

Here’s what Rebekah had to say about the 2025 San Marcos bird census finale:

I am excited to share with y'all our final tallies from this year's San Marcos Christmas Bird Count! Though the weather was less than ideal for much of the day, we still ended up with 116 species, which overall is not a shabby showing at all! What was equally as impressive is that we had over 80 participants and leaders join us for the event. So thank ALL OF YOU so much for your dedication to birds, nature, community science, and making memories.
I want to give a special shout out to my team leaders, too. Without them, our CBC would not be nearly as successful of an operation. It's been an honor working with most of y'all for 10 years, if not the majority of those years, which is mindblowing to think about!
Though total species numbers were down this year in comparison to previous years, we still had some really interesting finds. These included a Burrowing Owl (Kenneth in zone 5), a White-tailed Hawk (Colton in zone 7), a Winter Wren (Shelia in zone 4), Peregrine Falcon (Suzanne/Doray in zone 1), and Least Grebes, Common Gallinules, and Greater White-fronted Geese (Justin in zone 7).
To access the eBird trip report (which is available for public viewing), here is the link.
Please note that the trip list is counting Egyptian Goose towards our total on eBird, and that species does not count towards the CBC total (116), so that's where the discrepancy lies. This is also a representation of the number of individuals of each species that was seen during our CBC. However, some of the numbers need to be adjusted (are inflated) because sometimes leaders go back into hotspots later in the day to find new species, and some common species (blackbirds, for example) get double counted. This will be fine-tuned in our official CBC report to Audubon.
Thank you again for all of your help, positive energy, and smiles. I always look forward to this CBC, and I hope that many of y'all will join us again next year for the event!

—Rebekah J. Rylander, PhD

At the end of the day, the birders gathered at Industry in San Marcos to share stories and warm up with a little food and drink. Photo courtesy Rebekah Rylander.

Observations from the Zone 1 Team—
Every Bird Counts!

The Zone 1 Team members, with leaders Suzanne James (red jacket) and Doray Lendacky (blue jacket), gathered at 7:15 a.m. on December 14, 2025 at Crook’s Park in San Marcos.

A pair of Red-shouldered Hawks, spotted by team member Jane Jones, posed for this portrait.

Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets lined the bank of a pond adjacent to the A.E. Wood Fish Hatchery.

To the delight of our team, a Peregrine Falcon made several passes over the fish hatchery.

An Oprey guards its catch at the fish hatchery.

The Osprey takes flight with its partially eaten prey.

Wood Ducks—two males and a female—on the Texas State University Campus

San Marcos Christmas Bird Count - Zones Covered
December 14, 2025

Zone 1: Leaders – Suzanne James & Doray Lendacky This section covered much of downtown San Marcos, including river access, greenbelt parks, and the State Fish Hatchery.

Zone 2a: Leader – Derek Richardson & Emily Richards This team covered the old National Fish Hatchery, several small ponds with waterfowl, Hunters Hill park, and did some car-birding.

Zone 2b: Leader – Saunders Drukker This team birded at Lower Purgatory Creek, Upper Purgatory Creek, and Prospect Park.

Zone 2c: Leader - Silas Ott This team covered Ringtail Ridge and cruised the backroads near Hugo Road and Bridlewood Estates for waterfowl and sparrows.

Zone 3: Leader – Anna Matthews This team birded at the Freeman Center, a large Texas State University owned property covering a multitude of habitats.

Zone 4a: Leader – Shelia Hargis This team’s section included locations with access to the Blanco River, birding on private lands, and some fun back roads.

Zone 4b: Leader – Sonia Duran and Grady Terry This team’s section included Five Mile Dam, birding access to a private ranch, and locations along Lime Kiln Road.

Zone 5: Leader – Kenneth Bader This team covered Blanco Shoals Park and many open fields perfect for scanning and flushing thousands of birds.

Zone 6: Leader – Amanda Haverland The gem of this team’s section was Spring Lake Preserve and the Meadows Center, as well as a couple of other nearby parks.

Zone 7: Leader – Colton Robbins This team covered the most ponds, tanks, and depressions for waterfowl, with opportunities to pick out several species of raptor that hunt the open fields of the area.

Zone 8: Leader – Stephen Ramirez This team covered University Camp along the Blanco River, the pecan bottomlands off of Fulton Ranch Road, and the back roads of some great hill country habitat.

Observations from the Zone 1 Team—Every Bird Counts!

Land Stewardship is for the Birds

Review: Is A River Alive?

Observations from the Zone 1 Team—
Every Bird Counts!