A few unusual bird sightings around Central Texas

I haven’t seen any rare birds around my place recently, but some folks have spotted some very interesting species during the first few weeks of 2020.

Just a few of the more unusual sightings included a burrowing owl and an American bittern in Travis County, a black phoebe at Hamilton Pool and a Cape May warbler at Aquarena Springs in San Marcos.

As usual, the Hornsby Bend sewage treatment facility outside Austin was a magnet for all sorts of birds. During January, there were vermillion flycatchers, rusty blackbirds, and bluewinged teal at Hornsby. And some of the numbers were quite impressive -- 294 red-winged blackbirds, 124 northern shovelers, 112 black vultures, and 61 ruddy ducks. Wow.

In your own backyard, the new bird most likely to be showing up is the chipping sparrow. This “little brown job” or LBJ, will be passing through both individually and in large flocks.

We have 22 different sparrow species around here, so there’s no telling what might show up. In addition to chipping sparrows, you can expect Lincoln, white-throated, song and the common house sparrow. Some 15 species will over-winter in this area and 7 species are here yearround.

So go over to Hornsby Bend if you want to see a wide range of avian specialties. Or, hopefully, look in your own yard to find a winter sparrow.