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Posted

Had one of my rarest finds ever yesterday, a pomarine jaeger, flying over a smallish lake in Round Rock. They're basically mean, large gulls that are rare even along the coast in Texas, much less 250 miles inland. I really need to get a camera to at least document these surprises.

The next couple months is my favorite times of year. The first cold snap (hopefully), fall migration with weird shit showing up, and the meat of football season. Fuck yes.

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Posted

I've barely touched my bins since baby #2 arrived a month ago, but I did stumble upon a flock of least sandpipers. Wouldn't be particularly notable, except it was my 200th species I've recorded within 2 miles of the Round Rock home we moved to about 2 years ago. Not bad for suburbia.

Nice flyover osprey and sharp-shinned hawks today as well. These birds are about the only reason I know winter is coming.

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Posted

I led an Audubon walk in Round Rock today, one of my first birding trips unencumbered by a child since having our 2nd back in October. We saw/heard 31 species over a couple hours with a group of about 12. 

We didn't encounter anything that unexpected for this time of year, but had good looks at a red-shouldered hawk, spotted towhee (sparrows seem very scarce this winter), plenty of cedar waxwings, crested caracara and a pair of golden-crowned kinglets that can be hard to come across some years.

 

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Posted

I'm in Amarillo. Got here by mornin. Looked out the window of my cheap hotel and saw this. The internet was worthless in identifying it. You guys are my last hope. 

 

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Posted
2 hours ago, texashorne said:

I'm in Amarillo. Got here by mornin. Looked out the window of my cheap hotel and saw this. The internet was worthless in identifying it. You guys are my last hope. 

 

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Some sort of…electric snake…coming right at us. 

Posted
13 hours ago, texashorne said:

I'm in Amarillo. Got here by mornin. Looked out the window of my cheap hotel and saw this. The internet was worthless in identifying it. You guys are my last hope. 

 

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Chukar. Game bird native to I think the middle east? They've got established introduced populations out west. This was probably released locally for hunting.

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Posted

I found this guy out near Granger today. I thought it might be a bald eagle in flight at first glance, given its large size, but as I got closer, the plumage was all wrong. I almost just kept driving, but decided to U-turn and scope it out. Ferruginous hawk. The SE edge of their normal range is Lubbock, so pretty scarce in these parts.

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Posted

Mostly cross-posted from CR, but more directly applicable to this thread.

Thanks to Donald Trump's decision to halt federal funding to seemingly everything, Hawaii is no longer able to release mosquitoes that produce sterile offspring, despite the funding already having been allocated for this project. Additionally, the management of invasive wildlife will also certainly be affected. I will probably be reporting back on the extinction of at least the first 2 birds, if not all 5, in the next couple years.

Akikiki

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Akeke'e

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Maui parrotbill 

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Puaihoi

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Akiapola'au 

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Posted

Americans/Europeans have done a bang-up job of extinguishing diversity wherever they go. In 250 short years, we've managed to nearly wipe out 6,000,000 years of evolution in Hawaii. Now, given a final chance of rekindling that flame, we're stomping on the fucking coals. What a goddamn waste.

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Posted (edited)

I've been birding with a university entomologist that spoke in front of Congress, and he then and now stated we're amidst a mass extinction.  Enjoy what you got while you got 'em. 
 

Edited by Mdhorn
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Posted

House cleaners came by today, so I decided to get out of their way and see how many species I could see around Round Rock, while lugging the 5 month-old around with me. The answer? 69(nice)!

I made multiple stops along Brushy Creek, as well as Rock Hollow, Meadow Lake and Old Settlers Park. 

Highlights were this eastern screech-owl sunning itself and my first WilCo cinnamon teal. Downy woodpecker conspicuously absent from my list.

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Posted

Travis County's 5th, and first in 12 years record of pacific loon showed up on Towne Lake Friday. By the afternoon, it had flown off, but the many birders looking for it were able to turn up a nearly as rare black scoter (Patagonia picnic table effect).

With two little ones in tow, and the help of some friends, we were able to get on it looking down toward the future pedestrian bridge from Longhorn Dam. 

Striking? Maybe not. But definitely rare for central Texas!

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Posted

Brazos Bend is one of my favorite birding spots. Especially when I was just getting into it because many of the birds are somewhat large, close and exotic-looking.

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Posted
1 minute ago, hookem2010 said:

Brazos Bend is one of my favorite birding spots. Especially when I was just getting into it because many of the birds are somewhat large, close and exotic-looking.

Have you been to Choke Canyon?  I’ve been looking for new camping spots and heard it’s good with the birding. 

Posted
42 minutes ago, hookem2010 said:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S217689804

 

Epic find by David Sarkozi in Anahuac, or whatever the fuck it's called these days. Amur stonechat, as you may guess from the name, is native to East Asia. It is considered very rare when one shows up in Alaska or the UK. This would be waaaay down the list of birds expected to show up in Texas.

Beautiful 

Posted

I've really been pumping this thread up recently. Perhaps it's because spring migration is right around the corner.

I do have some somber news from the birding world to report. Houston/Austin birding legend Victor Emmanuel passed away. I met him once at Bolivar Flats, completely unaware of his legendary status among Texas birders at the time. He was incredibly eager to share his knowledge with anyone he came across. RIP

https://www.statesman.com/story/news/local/2025/03/12/victor-emanuel-obit-austin-texas-birding-nature-guide-dies-age-84-illness/82306479007/

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