Rare Bird Alert: January 5, 2012

(The Austin area Rare Bird Alert is a service of the Travis Audubon Society. This update is as of 7:45 on January 5, 2012. Send interesting sightings–complete with species name, location, and contact information–to Kenny Anderson.)

Rarities Found This Week

8 Mountain Bluebirds were found on the Burnet County CBC. They were photographed on CR115 on January 3.

A Hutton’s Vireo was described at Blunn Creek Nature Preserve on 12/4. The bird was vocal and the call described. It was relocated and photographed 12/5. (Travis)

A female Purple Finch was at an Utley feeder on 1/3 in Bastrop County.

A Zone-tailed Hawk flew over Warbler Woods in Guadalupe County 1/2.

A Common Goldeneye female was seen on Granger Lake during the CBC on 12/31.

A Rusty Blackbird was found on the Bastrop CBC in Bastrop State Park on 1/1.

2 Say’s Phoebes were reported from Pace Bend Park on 1/3. 1 was near the park entrance and 1 was in the “Wildlife Viewing Area”.

3 Western Grebes were on Lake Bastrop 1/1,4.

1 Sage Thrasher was at Doeskin Ranch in the Balcones Canyonlands NWR on 12/31. (Burnet)

Southeastern Johnson County had a mighty big reporting of Sage Thrashers. 9-10 reported on CR 1110 and 2 on CR1224 on 12/31. That’s a lot of Sage Thrashers, I would like to see a photo.

A Dunlin was seen on the Granger CBC on Granger Lake 12/31.

Perhaps the most interesting new find is the possible Pacific Wren that was photographed and recorded on the Granger CBC. It is the second possible Pacific Wren reported within the circle this year. Solid arguments and evidence are presented; it is an interesting discussion and progress is being made in the separation of out-of-range Pacific Wrens.

At one time, I heard separating Neotropic Cormorandts from Double-crested Cormorandts was among the most difficult things in the field. Clearly advances are made through these discussions.

Continuing Birds From Previous Week

Lots of meat in the Continuing Birds section:

Tundra Swan continues on Salt Lake in Guadalupe County 1/2,3. There have also been reports of trespassing on the private property surrounding the lake which may ruin a lot of fun for the rest of us. 🙁 And may result in fewer reports. 🙁

Whooping Cranes continue at Granger Lake with 6 reported on12/31 and 1/2. 3 were seen as recently as 1/3,4,5. Birds are seen from the dam, Friendship Park and may possibly be working some fields nearby. I can’t get enough reports of these, so keep them coming.

Anna’s Hummingbird was photographed at a private residense in western Travis County, last reports 12/29, 1/1.

Rusty Blackbirds continue to excite this winter with 4 reported from Hornsby Bend 1/2 and 2 photographed at Commons Ford Park in Austin on 12/30.

Western Grebe was seen at Lake Georgetown on 1/1,2 in Williamson county.

5 Black-bellied Plovers are being seen at Granger Lake in Williamson County 12/31.

2 Say’s Phoebes are being reported along the shores of Granger Lake 12/31.

15 Greater White-fronted Geese are at Granger Lake as of 1/5.

A group of Lark Buntings was reported on the Granger CBC from Aligator Lane on 12/31. Lark Bunting reports have dwindled, but I would like to receive sighting reports still. Same for Sage Thrashers, Green-tailed Towhees, and Mountain Bluebirds.

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.