Rare Bird Alert: December 1, 2011

(The Austin area Rare Bird Alert is a service of the Travis Audubon Society. This update is as of 7:00 on December 1, 2011. Send interesting sightings–complete with species name, location, and contact information–to Kenny Anderson.)

Rarities Found This Week

A Mountain Bluebird was photographed on Llano County CR309 on 11/25.

A Green-tailed Towhee was photographed on on Llano CR309.

A Calliope Hummingbird was photographed at a private residense feeder in Dripping Springs in Hays County 11/26.

A Common Nighthawk was above Fullmore Middle School in South Austin 11/25.

Zone-tailed Hawk, a juvenile, was observed at Commons Ford Park 11/25.

Say’s Phoebe was reported at Lake Pflugervile in Travis County 11/29.

Lark Buntings (2) were seen at Hornsby Bend 11/24. (Travis County)

Sage Thrasher was seen at Stillhouse Hollow Lake’s Chalk Ridge Falls Park on 11/25.

Continuing Birds From Previous Week/span>

Sage Thrasher was seen again at the INaccessible Parking Lot at Reimer’s Ranch Travis County Park on 11/22.

Sage Thrasher was seen again on Pecan School Road in Bell County 12/1

70 Lark Buntings are being seen on Pecan School Road in Bell County 12/1.

Lark Buntings are reported on FM2268 and Sypert School Road in Bell County 12/1.

Say’s Phoebe has been at Graham Cattle Co. in Gonzales for about a month. Photo’d 11/30.

Rusty Blackbirds are gracing Hornsby Bend with 2 reported on 11/30 at the Upper Island View and 5 reported around 1 West 12/1.

2 Great Kiskadees were seen at Big Webberville Park on 12/1- 1 was photographed.

Reports for the Austin area RBA cover a 60 mile radius, centered from the Capitol in downtown Austin. The circle extends north to Belton (Bell County), south to Leesville (Gonzales County), east to Somerville WMA (Lee Burleson County), and west to Blumenthal (Gillespie County). Bird sightings mentioned here have been filtered and scrutinized by the compiler and are believed to be genuine. When documentation or photographs were provide, that is mentioned along with the other information about the bird(s) being seen.

For questions or updates about birds mentioned here or to report rare or unusual bird sightings in the Austin area, please send an e-mail to nollanderson@sbcglobal.net.

-Kenny Anderson, Rare Bird Alert Compiler, Travis Audubon Society

To view our archive of previous RBA reports, click here.