(The Austin area Rare Bird Alert is a service of the Travis Audubon Society. This update is as of 9:15, November 3, 2011. Send interesting sightings–complete with species name, location, and contact information–to Kenny Anderson.)

Exceptional Sightings This Week

A very nice photograph of a Long-eared Owl was taken near Elgin at a Bastrop County home on 10/28.

A Townsend’s Solitaire was described at a southeastern Travis County yard. The bird was present wolfing juniper berries on 10/30.

A female Anna’s Hummingbird was at an Utley property on 10/28.

Rarities Found This Week

Sage Thrashers are quite a story this fall with more reports coming in:

• A Sage Thrasher was in Bell County on Booking Road, between Peacable Kingdom and Stillman Valley Roads on 10/29.
• A Sage Thrasher was at Big Webberville Park in eastern Travis County on 10/30- near the boat ramp.
• Another Sage Thrasher was south of Llano (City) on CR 315 on 10/30.
• A Sage Thrasher was in a southeastern Austin yard on 11/3.
• A Pflugerville yard was happy to add a Sage Thrasher on 11/3.

A single White-tailed Kite was reported from Hornsby Bend on 11/3–awaiting further details.

A Wood Thrush was photographed at Warbler Woods in Guadalupe County on 10/27.

A Purple Martin was described on 10/27 from Warbler Woods.

American Golden Plovers continue to have a remarkable showing this southward migration with reliable reports coming from the Tow area of the western shore of Lake Buchanan (Llano County)on 10/28, and 3 birds at Friendship Park next to Grainger Lake on 10/30.

A, yet to be substantiated, report of a Prairie Falcon was inputted into E-bird from northern Guadalupe County–further details hopefully coming.

A Wilson’s Warbler was a nice late surprise on a Travis Audubon Field Trip to Riata Pond in north Austin on 11/1.

Lark Buntings will be interesting to follow. 2 birds were studied in eastern Milam County on 10/30. 1 was on CR 420 north of San Gabriel and another on CR 115 just into Milam County.

A late Dickcissel was heard at Rogers City Fishing Lake in Bell County on 11/1.

Continuing Birds for Previous Weeks

Great Kiskadee(s) are being seen with some regularity at Big Webberville Park in east Travis County 10/29,31.

A Summer Tanager lingered until 10/29 at Big Webberville Park.

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.