The Austin Area Rare Bird Alert is a service of the Travis Audubon Society. This update is as of 10:00 on July 25, 2013. Send interesting sightings–complete with species name, LOCATION, and contact information–to Kenny Anderson at kennya290@gmail.com.

Rarities Found This Week:

• For the second week in a row, Travis County had a Piping Plover record. This week’s came from Bob Wentz Park on Lake Travis. The bird was nicely documented with voucher photos on 7/19.
• I saw that an American Goldfinch was confirmed on Ebird at a Williamson County residence. An odd bird for the area on July 22.
• A Wood Thrush was described at a Hays County home from an observer with regular past experience with the species. Bird was seen 7/23 near Dripping Springs.
• A Long-billed Curlew flew over Hornsby Bend during the monthly field trip on the 3rd Saturday of the month 7/20.
• A Snowy Plover and a Willet are nice finds at Stillhouse Hollow Lake’s Union Grove WMA on 7/23.

Continuing From Previous Week:

• An American Redstart was, again, reported from the Platt Lane portion of Hornsby Bend on 7/19.
• A Peregrine Falcon continues to be seen at the U.T. Tower where it regularly roosts. Reports 7/19,21. A Peregrine Falcon was seen at Hornsby Bend on 7/21. Last week I speculated the Hornsby bird was an early migrant. With a few thoughtful responses and some further consideration, I am persuaded to think the UT bird (or birds?) vault that distance in between. It does seem remarkable that a bird spending months around downtown Austin would now switch–or add–Hornsby to its hunting grounds with the arrival of southbound shorebirds. How great it is to have a summering Peregrine–the bird regularly seen is a female anatum; All updates encouraged; sightings of two or a male would be of particular interest.
• An Anhinga and a Tri-colored Heron were on Heep Lake on the south side of eastbound SH 45 at I-35. Caution needs to be exercised observing the lake from the busy toll road’s shoulder.
• The Purple Martin roost on the north side of Highland Mall continues to be a spectacular event with huge numbers of birds coming to roost in just a few Live Oaks in the Wells Fargo lot on the north side of the mall.

Send in your sightings of interest–I’d love to hear what rarities are out there.

Reports for the Austin area RBA cover a 60 mile radius, centered from the Capitol in downtown Austin. Bird sightings mentioned here have been filtered and scrutinized by the compiler and are believed to be genuine. When documentation or photographs were provided 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 kennya290@gmail.com

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

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