The Austin-Area Rare Bird Alert is a service of the Travis Audubon Society. This update is as of 9.00am, January 25th, 2007:
-- Rarities found this past week ---
Two CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS (Spizella pallida) visited private property
near Utley in western Bastrop County on January 24th.
Over 100 RUSTY BLACKBIRDS (Euphagus carolinus) are present along FM 1209 west of Bastrop, with sightings from January 22nd and January 24th.
Also on FM 1209 was a LESSER YELLOWLEGS (Tringa flavipes) on January 22nd.
On January 21st, a PACIFIC LOON (Gavia pacifica) was seen on Canyon Lake, in the bay on the east side of the Canyon Park road. Also in the area were at least a dozen GREATER SCAUP (Aythya marila).
Six BURROWING OWLS (Athene cunicularia) were seen at various spots in the Granger area during a Travis Audubon field trip on January 21st.
A GREEN HERON (Butorides virescens) was in far northwest Austin on January 21st.
Along County Road 280 (Williamson County) northwest of Leander, a CLAY-COLORED SPARROW (Spizella pallida) was carefully studied amongst a large group of other sparrows on January 18th.
Two WHITE-EYED VIREOS (Vireo griseus) were at the Schaezler's Warbler Woods property near Cibolo on January 18th.
A CAVE SWALLOW (Petrochelidon fulva) was over Meadow Lake in Round Rock on January 18th.
--- Continuing birds from previous weeks ---
On the Schaezler's Warbler Woods property near Cibolo, a BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK (Pheucticus melanocephalus) has been present since January 6th (last reported January 23rd).
Fifteen MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS (Sialia currucoides) along State Highway 201 between the Killeen/Fort Hood Regional Airport and Highway 195 first seen on January 15th were still in the area as of January 21st.
A SAY'S PHOEBE (Sayornis saya) first noted on County Road 491 on the southeastern edge of Williamson County on January 3rd was still present January 10th.
On January 3rd, RUSTY BLACKBIRDS (Euphagus carolinus) were found at separate locations northeast and also east of Elgin in Bastop County, as well as in southern Lee County. Two were present northeast of Elgin on January 10th.
A large concentration of several thousand geese are apparently wintering a couple miles east of the community of Oenaville (Bell County, east of Temple). Mostly SNOW GEESE (Chen caerulescens), there are also smaller numbers of other geese mixed in, with counts of 500+ GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE (Anser albifrons), 9 CACKLING GEESE (Branta hutchinsii) and a up to 300 ROSS'S GEESE (Chen rossii) noted
as recently as January 9th.
-- Rarities found this past week ---
Two CLAY-COLORED SPARROWS (Spizella pallida) visited private property
near Utley in western Bastrop County on January 24th.
Over 100 RUSTY BLACKBIRDS (Euphagus carolinus) are present along FM 1209 west of Bastrop, with sightings from January 22nd and January 24th.
Also on FM 1209 was a LESSER YELLOWLEGS (Tringa flavipes) on January 22nd.
On January 21st, a PACIFIC LOON (Gavia pacifica) was seen on Canyon Lake, in the bay on the east side of the Canyon Park road. Also in the area were at least a dozen GREATER SCAUP (Aythya marila).
Six BURROWING OWLS (Athene cunicularia) were seen at various spots in the Granger area during a Travis Audubon field trip on January 21st.
A GREEN HERON (Butorides virescens) was in far northwest Austin on January 21st.
Along County Road 280 (Williamson County) northwest of Leander, a CLAY-COLORED SPARROW (Spizella pallida) was carefully studied amongst a large group of other sparrows on January 18th.
Two WHITE-EYED VIREOS (Vireo griseus) were at the Schaezler's Warbler Woods property near Cibolo on January 18th.
A CAVE SWALLOW (Petrochelidon fulva) was over Meadow Lake in Round Rock on January 18th.
--- Continuing birds from previous weeks ---
On the Schaezler's Warbler Woods property near Cibolo, a BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK (Pheucticus melanocephalus) has been present since January 6th (last reported January 23rd).
Fifteen MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRDS (Sialia currucoides) along State Highway 201 between the Killeen/Fort Hood Regional Airport and Highway 195 first seen on January 15th were still in the area as of January 21st.
A SAY'S PHOEBE (Sayornis saya) first noted on County Road 491 on the southeastern edge of Williamson County on January 3rd was still present January 10th.
On January 3rd, RUSTY BLACKBIRDS (Euphagus carolinus) were found at separate locations northeast and also east of Elgin in Bastop County, as well as in southern Lee County. Two were present northeast of Elgin on January 10th.
A large concentration of several thousand geese are apparently wintering a couple miles east of the community of Oenaville (Bell County, east of Temple). Mostly SNOW GEESE (Chen caerulescens), there are also smaller numbers of other geese mixed in, with counts of 500+ GREATER WHITE-FRONTED GEESE (Anser albifrons), 9 CACKLING GEESE (Branta hutchinsii) and a up to 300 ROSS'S GEESE (Chen rossii) noted
as recently as January 9th.
An immature REDDISH EGRET (Egretta rufescens) has been at Stillhouse Hollow Lake since October 28th (last reported January 7th).
A PRAIRIE FALCON (Falco mexicanus) has been present in the Granger area since early in the fall. The latest sighting of this bird was on January 6th on the south side of Country Road 354, a couple miles west of its intersection with County Road 352.
A VIRGINIA RAIL (Rallus limicola) first detected along the southern edge of Pond 1 West at Hornsby Bend on October 28th was still present as of January 6th. Up to two individuals have been seen or heard at this location.
A ZONE-TAILED HAWK (Buteo albonotatus) first seen at Palmetto State Park on December 27th was last reported on January 5th.
LONG-BILLED THRASHERS (Toxostoma longirostre) are being heard and seen regularly on the Schaezler's Warbler Woods property near Cibolo. COMMON PAURAQUES (Nyctidromus albicollis) can be seen at this
location, too, with the most recent sighting on January 6th.
Lingering and perhaps wintering LITTLE BLUE HERONS (Egretta caerulea) and SNOWY EGRETS (Egretta thula) remain in our area with the following recent reports: 25 Snowies and 15 Little Blues on Town Lake as
recently as January 8th; 1 Snowy at Meadow Lake, Round Rock on January 18th; and 1 Snowy and 1 Little Blue at Hornsby Bend as late as December 20th.
Wintering BLUE-WINGED TEAL (Anas discors) include up to 2 at Hornsby Bend (last report January 20th).
--- Rare sightings from previous weeks ---
An ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER (Myiarchus cinerascens) was in Mountain City (Hays County) on January 14th. Another Ash-throated was in southwest Copperas Cove on January 12th.
A ROSS'S GOOSE (Chen rossii) dropped in on the big pond (Pond 2) at Hornsby Bend on January 10th.
A SAY'S PHOEBE (Sayornis saya) was along County Road 103 (Brown Road) near McDade on January 10th.
A GRAY CATBIRD (Dumetella carolinensis) was near Tahitian Village in Bastrop on January 8th.
A LESSER YELLOWLEGS (Tringa flavipes) was in west Bastrop County along FM 969 on January 8th.
On January 7th, a SOLITARY SANDPIPER (Tringa solitaria) was seen in a neighborhood in far northwest Austin.
A PRAIRIE FALCON (Falco mexicanus) was northeast of Bertram on FM 234 on January 7th.
A GREATER SCAUP (Aythya marila) was noted on Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir (Bell County) on January 7th.
At Commons Ford Park on the west side of Austin, a RED-NAPED SAPSUCKER (Sphyrapicus nuchalis) was carefully studied on January 6th.
A NEOTROPIC CORMORANT (Phalacrocorax brasilianus) and 2 CAVE SWALLOWS (Petrochelidon fulva) were present at Meadow Lake in Round Rock on January 6th.
A HARRIS'S HAWK (Parabuteo unicinctus) and a SAY'S PHOEBE (Sayornis saya) were along County Road 284 west of FM 304 in Gonzales County on January 6th.
A VERMILION FLYCATCHER (Pyrocephalus rubinus) was east of Wrightsboro (Gonzales County) on January 6th.
At Richard Moya Park in southeast Austin, a PALM WARBLER (Dendroica palmarum) was detected in the Pecan grove there on January 5th.
--
Eric Carpenter
Rare Bird Alert Compiler, Travis Audubon Society
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