(The Austin area Rare Bird Alert is a service of the Travis Audubon Society. This update is as of 5:00 on January 13, 2012. Send interesting sightings–complete with species name, location, and contact information–to Kenny Anderson.)

Rarities Found This Week

2 Tundra Swans found on the Georgetown CBC were positively identified and photographed on 1/10. The birds are on a privately owned property in Williamson County.

1 Tundra Swan continues to be reliably seen at Salt Lake in Guadalupe County. The area around the lake is Private Property, but the bird may be seen from the ROW. Latest reports 1/5-11.

5 Mountain Bluebirds were found on a private property west of Liberty Hill on 1/9.

An Anna’s Hummingbird was photographed at an Austin Lake Estate’s home in Travis County on 1/7-11.

An Anna’s Hummingbird continues to visit an Utley home in Bastrop County 1/11

Continuing Birds From Previous Week

Whooping Cranes are regularly reported from Granger Lake. Two families, 4 adults and 2 juveniles are in the area. Both groups reported at the lake on 1/6,11. One family reported 1/7,8,10.

Hutton’s Vireo was relocated at Blunn Creek Preserve in Austin on 1/7.

A Sage Thrasher, originally found 11/10 on the greenbelt behind Sunset Valley’s Town Hall, was relocated on 1/6 (photographed 1/8). The bird continued through 1/12 in Travis County.

2 Black-bellied Plovers were refound at Granger Lake on 1/11 (Williamson County).

A Broad-tailed Hummingbird was photographed at a Liberty Hill residence. Bird coninues 12/7-1/12.

A Western Grebe lingers on Lake Georgetown 1/7 in Williamson County.

17 Rusty Blackbirds were seen on Witter Lane in Temple on 1/9 and at least 2 Rusty Blackbirds are seen around Pond 1 West at Hornsby Bend in Austin 1/11,12.

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.