Brown Booby by Nate McGowan
The Austin area Rare Bird Alert is a service of the Travis Audubon Society. This update is as of 09/11/2014. Send interesting sightings – complete with species name, LOCATION, and contact information – to Nathan McGowan at natemcgowanbirds@gmail.com.
Wow. I don’t think there are enough superlatives to express how amazing this week was in the circle. Just insert “amazing, extraordinary, insane, stupendous, etc.” for each of these birds.
Rarities Found This Week
- A LONG-TAILED JAEGER was photographed at Belton Lake Outdoor Recreation Area, Bell, on 9/8.
- A BROWN BOOBY was photographed at Windy Point on Lake Travis, Travis. The bird was present as of 9/11.
- A SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER was described at Stillhouse Hollow Lake, Bell, on 9/9.
- A MARBLED GODWIT was heard as a nocturnal flyover by an experienced observer, Bastrop, 9/9.
- A BLACK PHOEBE was photographed at Barkley Meadows, Travis, most recently 9/11.
- REDDISH EGRETS have been present at Windy Point on Lake Travis, Travis, 9/10 and below Longhorn Dam in Austin, Travis, 9/7.
- A BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO was described at Hornsby Bend, Travis, 9/6.
- A CASSIN’S SPARROW was photographed on Parmer Village Trail, Williamson, 9/7.
- A SANDERLING was seen at Windy Point, Travis, 9/10.
Reports for the Austin area RBA cover a 60 mile radius, centered on 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 email to natemcgowanbirds@gmail.com
Nate McGowan
Rare Bird Alert Compiler
Travis Audubon Society
To view our archive of previous RBA reports, click here.
