Seasonal Sightings for Central Prairie and East Texas

Compiled by Bert Frenz,
North American Birds, Subregional Editor, East Texas and
Texas Ornithological Society, Director, Region VI, Central Prairie, Texas.

Fall Season: August 1 - November 30, 2002

The 67 Texas counties included in this report are:  Anderson, Angelina, Austin, Bastrop, Bell, Bowie, Brazos, Brown, Burleson, Caldwell, Camp, Cass, Cherokee, Coleman, Comanche, Coryell, DeWitt, Falls, Fayette, Franklin, Freestone, Gonzales, Gregg, Grimes, Guadalupe, Hamilton, Hardin, Harrison, Henderson, Houston, Jasper, Karnes, Lampasas, Lavaca, Lee, Leon, Liberty, Limestone, Madison, Marion, McLennan, Milam, Mills, Montgomery, Morris, Nacogdoches, Newton, Panola, Polk, Red River, Robertson, Rusk, Sabine, San Augustine, San Jacinto, Shelby, Smith, Titus, Travis (eastern), Trinity, Tyler, Upshur, Walker, Waller, Washington, Williamson, and Wilson.  

Reduced from over 3000 reports of 317 species.

(Photo of Common Poorwill by Charles Perkins, taken at Fort Hood on 25 November.)

Weather reports:

Ellen Ratoosh, 18 August, Burleson County, "... at the Turf Farm (Co. Rd. 443) off Hwy 50 in Burleson County. We were there from 16:00-18:00, it was in the low 90s, mostly sunny, humid, with light south winds. Considering the amount of rain we had on Thursday, there was surprisingly little standing water on the turf and fields, but we still had a number of good sightings."

Darrell Vollert, 19 August, Washington County, "The Chappell Hill area in eastern Washington County received almost nine inches of rain last Thursday [15 August]. The heavy rains left pastures and agriculture fields in the Brazos River bottom east of Chappell Hill flooded. Shorebirding has been good (for the Central Brazos Valley) along FM2447 east of Chappell Hill. …. A pasture on the south side of FM2447 still had standing water this afternoon. Water should still be in the pasture through at least tomorrow."

Peter Barnes, 25 August, Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County, "It was hot and humid and the skies were clear on Sunday. Nevertheless, many birds were present at Richland Creek WMA, and 74 species were observed in four and a half hours, including 12 species of large wading birds. Water levels are still too high for shorebirds."

Byron Stone, 28 September, Williamson County, "Weather was sunny, clear, calm with temperature in the high 60's at dawn to high 80's by 12 noon."

Darrell Vollert, 30 September, Washington County, "In the Brazos Valley for the past 9 days we have been experiencing low temperatures around 60-65 and high temperatures around 90. The humidity has been very low the past several days. We had strong northerly winds most of last week. Yesterday there was quite a bit of haze in the air."

Darrell Vollert, 9 October, Washington County, "Birding continues to be good in Washington County the past few days. The cold front we were expecting early Monday morning stalled just north of our area. We have a very unstable atmosphere now. Little impulses are moving across the state from southwest to northeast bringing rain to our area. We had 2/10ths of an inch of rain on Sunday evening, 1.6 inches on Monday afternoon, .45 on Tuesday afternoon, and 1.3 inches of rain early this morning (10/9). More rain is expected this afternoon and tonight. A strong cold front is expected to move through the state on Sunday. ... Birding continued to be very good this afternoon in my neighborhood.

Darrell Vollert, 10 October, Washington County, "Not too much migrant activity today. It sure was a nice/cool day though. The cold front that had been stalled just north of our area since Monday [7 October] picked up strength and passed through during the early morning hours. We had a strong northwest wind all day that brought in dry air."

Ellen Ratoosh, 13 October, Brazos County, "Our long-awaited cold front came in last night, and I just wish the RBAS hawk watch trip had been today instead of last week, because judging by the hawks going by my house, the Brazos Bottoms must have been hopping. First, before the front: on 10/12, it was 90ish, humid, and mostly sunny. ... Today, 10/13, it was about 60, raining on and off, with light north winds, and heavy overcast. ...

Byron Stone, 13 October, Williamson County, "A strong frontal system with winds from the north reached Austin by 5:45 a.m. today, and by sunrise in the Granger area, forty miles NW of Austin, temps had dropped from the low 70's to the low 50's and the wind was steady and strong from the north gusting to 40 mph estimated. Skies were continuously cloudy, but precipitation was absent in most areas. Of special note were large numbers of newly present waterfowl overhead and on lakes, surprisingly large numbers of Swainson's Hawks at this relatively late date utilizing structural lift provided by the strong steady north wind, and season high numbers for Avocets, Franklin's Gulls and White Pelicans (for me at least)."

Brush Freeman, Sun, 13 Oct 2002 12:06, "If you are in Central Texas you may want to get out and watch the skies. There are massive numbers of raptors, vulture, anhingas, some geese, Franklin's Gulls etc., cranes etc., moving through right now (12:00 noon). My estimate of total number of bird as yet since about 10:20 is 10-12,000 birds and still counting. Plenty of passerines too. Just a heads up to let you know what the front has brought in today. I am going back out but more later after another spat of watching on totals."

Brush Freeman, Sun, 13 Oct 2002 15:36, "Well this first big front of the season sure brought the birds and fortunately I did not have to leave the yard here near Utley, in Bastrop Co. to realize it. Raptors, Geese etc. poured over the yard and I stared and counted until I was sated and weary of it. From about 10:00- 3:00 birds poured over in a virtually unbroken narrowish stream. There was very little kettling activity except with the pelicans, storks and cranes. Most hawks and vultures merely passed through as though a river of birds with a speedy current. I am surrounded by thick woods and viewed all from a small meadow behind my house thus was unable to really see from horizon to horizon, however the "river" seemed to fluctuate only to about 1.5 east and 1.5 west of me on average and were in sight most of the ~5 hrs. I was out. I had to work fast considering the speed they passed over. … Lots of passerines as well, quite a day of birding from the comfort of one's own property, sort of a mini-Big Sit!"

Darrell Vollert, 23 October, Washington County, "The strong cold front that passed through the area on the 13th brought in a number of Yellow-rumped Warblers and White-throated Sparrows. Don't recall these species being so widespread this early in October. We have had so much rain lately that the Army Corps of Engineers may declare the entire Chappell Hill area a wetland. More rain is on the way in the next few days."

Ellen Ratoosh, 27 October, Brazos County, "There's been almost 9" of rain in my yard in the last 8 days, with more expected tomorrow."

Rich Kostecke, 27 October, Bell County, "In general, there has been a noticeable movement of waterbirds (cormorants, pelicans, waterfowl, gulls) onto the reservoirs in Bell and Coryell Counties. Songbirds have been more sporadic in occurrence. However, I have been coming across occasional large, mixed-species flocks. Most of the songbirds in these flocks can be considered year-round residents or winter residents, but a few migrants have also been tucked into these flocks."

David Wolf, October, in Pineywoods Scissor-Tales, "Lake Rayburn continued to drop until the rain in late October, creating extensive mudflats and marshy shoreline for waterbirds. Weather events that affected bird movement during this period included Hurricane Lili on Oct 3; a major cold front on Oct 13-14 followed by cool nights and clear warm days through Oct 17; and a dreary period of rain and overcast from Oct 19-27 as several week fronts to the north and moisture from the southwest collided over the southern half of Texas."

Byron Stone, 2 November, Williamson County, "Skies were overcast, a light wind was from the NE, and temps were in the fifties. Rain didn't begin falling until late morning."

Peter Barnes, 3 November, Freestone County, "The rain varied between a drizzle and a downpour all morning at Richland Creek WMA, making birding a bit of a challenge. The birds didn't seem to mind though, and I observed 75 species. ... There were 13 species of waterfowl, including 600 flyover Snow Geese and 2 Ross' Geese, and 1 Hooded Merganser in the south unit."

Brush Freeman, 3 November, Bastrop County, "Last night [3 Nov] even though there was light rain I heard the largest movement of geese and ducks I have had thus far this fall. Literally almost every time I stepped out on the porch I could hear geese, it sounded like a 50/50 split of White-fronteds and Snow… The birds were so low they often sounded as if they were only 2-3 hundred feet up and in a couple cases I could hear them in the house with the doors closed. I also heard wigeons a couple of times."

Bert Frenz, 4 November, Brazos County, " Beautiful clear skies and pleasant temperatures brought out birds and birders after a torrent of rain late October to early November. On 4 November alone, Brazos County received 4.5" of rain, bringing the yearly total to 34.25" and that is 0.54" above average for the first time in our local weatherman's memory."

Darrell Vollert, 5 November, Washington County, "We have had much more rain here in Washington County than Brazos County has had this year. We have had close to 45 inches here."

Darrell Vollert, 5 November, "What a gorgeous day we had today! ... This afternoon and evening seven large flocks of Sandhill Cranes flew over my residence. …"

Byron Stone, 5 November, Robertson County, "The whole countryside south and east of Hearne was so flooded that anyone from bayou country would have felt right at home. Every field had standing water."

Tim Fennell, Fall season, Williamson County, "Above average rainfall (especially the last two weeks of October) and below average temperatures led to full reservoirs and stock ponds and a pleasant Fall with leaves staying on the trees longer than in the past few years."

Bird Sightings:

LOONS THROUGH GREBES

Common Loon: (3) 27 October (Tim Fennell), Granger Lake, Williamson County [FOS, uncommon].
Common or Pacific Loon: (2) 27 October (Brush Freeman), McKinney Roughs, Bastrop County [Common Loon is occasional to uncommon].
Common Loon: (1) 9 November (Rich Kostecke, David Cimprich), Temple's Lake Park, Lake Belton, Bell County [rare on Bell Co. checklist; probably uncommon].
Common Loon: (4) 11 November; (1) 16 November (Rich Kostecke), Union Grove WMA, Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir, Bell County.
Common Loon: (2) 14 November (Oscar Carmona), Lake Raven, Huntsville State Park, Walker County [not listed on park checklist].
Common Loon: (5) 17 November (Rich Kostecke, Brandon Best), Dana Peak Park, north side of Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir, Bell County.
Common Loon: (6) 22 November ((Rich Kostecke), Rivers Bend Park, Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir, Bell County.
Common Loon: (30+) 23 November (Tim Fennell), Lake O' the Pines, Marion County [good count; uncommon].
Common Loon: (1) 28 November (Brush Freeman), Lake Bastrop, Bastrop County

Pied-billed Grebe: (1 adult, 1 juvenile) 11 August (Peter Barnes), Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County [rare nester].

Peter Barnes, NETFO Newsletter, August, "Pied-billed Grebes raised at least 3 young at Richland Creek WMA this summer (Truman Powell), and an adult and a juvenile were seen on Aug 11 (PB)."

Pied-billed Grebe: (1) 18 August (Darrell Vollert), stock pond along FM50 south of Independence, Washington County [occasional].

Horned Grebe: (3) 11 November (Rich Kostecke), Union Grove WMA, Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir, Bell County [not listed in fall on Bell Co. checklist, but expected; uncommon].
Horned Grebe: ("a few") 23 November (Tim Fennell), Lake O' the Pines, Marion County [uncommon].

Eared Grebe: (1 at dam) 21 September (Tim Fennell, Byron Stone); (9) 10 November (Tim Fennell), Granger Lake, Williamson County [uncommon].
Eared Grebe: (4) 28 November (Brush Freeman), Lake Bastrop, Bastrop County [uncommon].

Western Grebe: (1) 23 November (Tim Fennell), Lake O' the Pines, Marion County [casual].

PELICANS THROUGH ANHINGAS

American White Pelican: (1) 24 August (Dede Crusinberry), Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County [occasional in August].
American White Pelican: (7) 28 August (Ingrid Huskey), Alcoa Lake, Milam County [occasional].
American White Pelican: (1, apparently injured) summered until 6 September (David Wolf, Jesse Fagan), southeast of the TX 147 bridge, Lake Sam Rayburn, Angelina County [occasional].
American White Pelican: (370) 29 September (Peter Barnes), north unit, Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County [fairly common; good count].
American White Pelican: (660) 3 October (David Wolf), resting on Marion Ferry flats at Lake Sam Rayburn, San Augustine County [high count].

On 12-13 October American White Pelicans streamed across East and Central Texas in unprecedented numbers, traveling with a cold front.
American White Pelican: ("waves of pelicans numbering between 7500 and 10,000) 12 October; ("several thousand") 13 October (George Russell), south of the Hwy 19 Trinity River bridge in north Lake Livingston, Trinity/Walker/San Jacinto counties intersection [unusually large number, moving with cold front].

George Russell, "12 Oct. Lake Livingston (north). Waves of White Pelicans numbering between 7.5 thousand and 10 thousand. Also at least 10K terns and other shore birds as well as several thousand cormorants, 1000+ great and snowy egrets, several hundred great blues. ... Others [terns] were in numerous flocks flying to and fro. I suspect, like the pelicans they were resting after a long flight in front of the cold front. 13 Oct. Lake Livingston (north). ... several thousand Pelicans."
George Russell, in Ethician News October 14, 2002, Lake Livingston, "... Then on October 12, a little cool front brought with it an amazing influx of birds from the North. We took the boat out to monitor the shores of the Cathedral and for some reason I felt compelled to travel up river. The skies were clear and the air crisp. ...
"Further ahead we thought we saw a new subdivision on the horizon. The houses appeared like an alabaster village, or a pure white city in Andalusia. When we arrived at the spot, we were greeted by thousands of beautiful White Pelicans. The first flock consisted of at least 2,500 birds!!! As we moved up river, flock after flock appeared on the horizon where they were resting near the water's edge. Each group consisted of well in excess of a thousand birds. Then as we neared the Trinity River bridge at Riverside two huge waves of Pelicans arrived from the North and flew to meet their friends. A conservative estimate of the total number of Pelicans would be 10,000+!!!
"The next day, my parents wished to see the Pelicans, so we decided to take the boat out before Church services at the Cathedral. ... We left the eagles for the place of the pelicans and when we arrived a thousand of more flew toward another group of their friends further North but at least another thousand remained to be photographed. Amongst the pelicans were various species of shore birds that I was not able to identify. As the waves were rather high and the skies overcast, we were the only boat on the lake that day which made the experience all the better."

American White Pelican: (large migrating flocks seen over 3 different sites) 13 October (Jesse Fagan, David Wolf, et al.), including TX 147 bridge over Lake Sam Rayburn, San Augustine County.
American White Pelican: (3744) 13 October (Brush Freeman), Utley, Bastrop County [accompanying a massive migration, "From about 10:00-3:00 birds poured over in a virtually unbroken narrowish stream."].

Brown Pelican: (1) 21 August (Lawrence Buford); (1 juvenile) 7 September (Tim Fennell, Tim Hissam, Kathy McCormick), Alcoa Lake, Milam County [casual].
Brown Pelican: (1) 13 October (Brush Freeman), Utley, Bastrop County [casual].

Brush Freeman, Sun, 13 Oct 2002 15:36, "From about 10:00-3:00 birds poured over in a virtually unbroken narrowish stream. The last group of White Pelicans I saw numbering 53 birds had somewhere along the way picked up a Brown Pelican which seemed quite at home with them."

Neotropic Cormorant: (1) 7 September (Tim Fennell, Tim Hissam, Kathy McCormick), Lake Alcoa, Milam County [occasional].
Neotropic Cormorant: (1) 9 September (James Phelps), picnic area near boat launch, Gibbons Creek Reservoir, Grimes County [occasional in early September].
Neotropic Cormorant: (5) 19 September (Brush Freeman), Shipp Lake, Bastrop County [occasional].
Neotropic Cormorant: (2) 10 October (Jesse Fagan), Nacogdoches ponds, Nacogdoches County [rare in East Texas].
Neotropic Cormorant: (1) 13 October (Jesse Fagan, et al.), Kurth Lake, Angelina County [rare].
Neotropic Cormorant: (1) 27 October (Jesse Fagan, David Wolf), along the Atoyac arm below TX 147 bridge over Lake Sam Rayburn, San Augustine County [rare].

Double-crested Cormorant: (16) 1 September (David Wolf, Jesse Fagan, Robert Truss), over Lake Sam Rayburn, Nacogdoches/Angelina County [occasional].
Double-crested Cormorant: ("several thousand") 12-13 October (George Russell), south of the Hwy 19 Trinity River bridge in north Lake Livingston, Trinity/Walker/San Jacinto counties intersection [unusually large number, moving with cold front].
Double-crested Cormorant: (800-900) 13 October (Brush Freeman), Utley, Bastrop County [accompanying a massive migration].
Double-crested Cormorant: (2000-5000) 21 October (Kenneth Russell), north Lake Livingston, San Jacinto counties intersection [unusually large number].

Kenneth Russell, passed to George Russell, "At least 2000 to 5,000 cormorants and about 25 white pelicans just went by the boat houses and then just in front of the bridge not more than a hundred feet out."

Double-crested Cormorant: (800-1000) 26 November (Virginia Landeck), Lake Livingston, viewed from edge of state park, Polk County.

Anhinga: (25) 11 August (Peter Barnes); (~25) 24 August (Dede Crusinberry); (18) 25 August (Peter Barnes), north unit of Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County [uncommon].
Anhinga: (1 male) 18 September (Lizzie Furuta, Ellen Ratoosh), soaring over Bee Creek floodplain, Emerald Forest subdivision, College Station, Brazos County [occasional].
Anhinga: (6 flying down river) 19 September (James Phelps), Bates Ferry Road at the Brazos River, Brazos/Burleson counties [occasional].
Anhinga: (231) 13 October (Brush Freeman), Utley, Bastrop County [accompanying a massive migration].

BITTERNS THROUGH SPOONBILLS

American Bittern: (1) early October (Alan Byboth), Camp Tyler, Smith County [first reported in Smith County in past 5 years; occasional in East Texas].
American Bittern: (1) 9 and 16 November (Tim Fennell), Meadow Lake, Round Rock, Williamson County [occasional].
American Bittern: (3) 3 November; (1) 29 November (Peter Barnes), Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County [occasional].

Least Bittern: (1) 19 September (Brush Freeman), in flight across Shipp Lake, Bastrop County [rare].

Great Blue Heron: ("several hundred") 12 October (George Russell), south of the Hwy 19 Trinity River bridge in north Lake Livingston, Trinity/Walker/San Jacinto counties intersection [unusually large number, moving with cold front].

Great Egret: (265) 3 October (David Wolf), upper Lake Sam Rayburn, San Augustine County [high count].
Egret species: (300+) 4 October (Georgette Guernsey), Lake Sam Rayburn, Angelina County [good count].

fide Nancy Bird, "from Etoile Park looking across at the Angelina County shoreline she found 200+ White Pelican, 300+ Foster's Terns and 300+ Egret species. This was shortly after the hurricane hit the Louisiana coast."

Great & Snowy Egrets: (1000+) 12 October (George Russell), south of the Hwy 19 Trinity River bridge in north Lake Livingston, Trinity/Walker/San Jacinto counties intersection [unusually large number, moving with cold front].

George Russell, "12 Oct. Lake Livingston (north). Waves of White Pelicans numbering between 7.5 thousand and 10 thousand. Also at least 10K terns and other shore birds as well as several thousand cormorants, 1000+ great and snowy egrets, several hundred great blues.

George Russell, in Ethician News October 14, 2002, Lake Livingston, "... Then on October 12, a little cool front brought with it an amazing influx of birds from the North. We took the boat out to monitor the shores of the Cathedral and for some reason I felt compelled to travel up river. The skies were clear and the air crisp. Soon we began to see more and more Snowy and Great Egrets by the hundreds, if not thousands."

Great Egret: (200+) 2 November (Carroll Moore, Jack Windsor), Marion's Ferry area and the Angelina River Bridge area, Angelina County [good count].

Snowy Egret: (100+) 7 September (Tim Fennell, Tim Hissam, Kathy McCormick), Lake Alcoa, Milam County [common; good count].
Snowy Egret: ("many") 14 September (Brush Freeman, Mark Lockwood), Shipp Lake near Smithville, Bastrop County [common].
Snowy Egret: ("good numbers") 16 September (Randy Pinkston), pond on south edge of Temple, Bell County [uncommon].
Snowy Egret: (74) first week of October (Georgette Guernsey), swamp south of the Neches River, Polk County [good count].

fide Nancy Bird, "Also during the 1st week of Oct. (GG) observed in the swamp south of the Neches River in Polk County - just across the river from Angelina County the following - 70+ Wood Stork, 28 Roseate Spoonbill, 15 Great Blue Heron, 47 Great Egrets, 63 Cattle Egret, and 74 Snowy Egrets. A note from (GG): They are logging the Fiberboard Lake area and this could have caused the misplacement of the above birds."

Snowy Egret: (1) 24 October (Georgette Guernsey), Marion Ferry area, Lake Sam Rayburn, Angelina County [somewhat late].
Snowy Egret: (8) 27 October (Jesse Fagan, David Wolf), TX 147 bridge over Lake Sam Rayburn, San Augustine County [late departure, uncommon].
Snowy Egret: (2) 9 and 16 November; (3) 29 November; (1) 3 December (Tim Fennell), Meadow Lake, Round Rock, Williamson County [late departure].

Tricolored Heron: (1 immature) 21 October (James Phelps), Country Club Lake, Bryan, Brazos County [rare in last half of October].

Reddish Egret: (1) 22 August (Brush Freeman), Shipp and Stagner's Lakes; (1) 14 September (Brush Freeman, Mark Lockwood), Shipp Lake; (2, including one white morph) 19 September (Brush Freeman), Shipp Lake; (1 dark morph) 9 October (Brush Freeman), Shipp Lake, east of Smithville, Bastrop County [rare].

Cattle Egret: (1) 7 November (Darrell Vollert), stock pond along US290 near its intersection with FM 1155 in Chappell Hill, Washington County [late departure, occasional].
Cattle Egret: (2) 8 November; (1) 10 November (Rich Kostecke), Union Grove WMA, Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir, Bell County [late departure].
Cattle Egret: (6) 19 November (Brush Freeman), Crystal Lake area, Bastrop County [late departure].
Cattle Egret: (~10) 25 November (Brush Freeman), Salt Lake, Guadalupe County [late departure].
Cattle Egret: (12) 25 November (Brush Freeman), Delhi Lake and St. Mary's Road area, southeastern Bastrop County [late departure].

Green Heron: (1) 19 November (Brush Freeman), Crystal Lake area, Bastrop County [late departure].

Black-crowned Night-Heron: (10+ adults and juveniles) 7 September (Tim Fennell, Tim Hissam, Kathy McCormick), Lake Alcoa, Milam County [occasional].
Black-crowned Night-Heron: (1 juvenile) 14 September (Byron Stone, Kathy McCormack, Jenny Rasmussen, Stu Wilson); (1 juvenile) 15 September (Tim Fennell), Meadow Lake, Round Rock, Williamson County [uncommon].
Black-crowned Night-Heron: (3 adults) 15 September (Tim Fennell), Willis Creek Park, Granger Lake, Williamson County [uncommon].
Black-crowned Night-Heron: (2) 15 September (Peter Barnes), Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County [occasional].
Black-crowned Night-Heron: (1 adult) 25 August; (1 subadult) 15 September; (2) 29 September (Peter Barnes), south unit of Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County [occasional].
Black-crowned Night-Heron: (1 adult, 1 juvenile) seen periodically from ~3 October to at least 21 October (Virginia & Wally Landeck), adjacent to Lake Livingston State Park, Polk County [uncommon].
Black-crowned Night-Heron: (2) 25 November (Brush Freeman), southeastern Caldwell County [rare].

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron: (1) 16 September (Ellen Ratoosh), flying over Emerald Forest subdivision, College Station, Brazos County [rare at this location; occasional in area in September].

White Ibis: (3) 17 August; (2 juveniles) 18 August; (30+ adults and juveniles) 19 August (Darrell Vollert), Brazos bottoms at FM2447, near Chappell Hill, Washington County [occasional].
White Ibis: (1) 24 August (Dede Crusinberry), Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County [uncommon].
White Ibis: (no.?) 14 September (Brush Freeman, Mark Lockwood), Shipp Lake near Smithville, Bastrop County [uncommon].
White Ibis: (1) 3 October (Oscar Carmona), Huntsville State Park, Walker County [uncommon].
White Ibis: (45-75 on 4 visits) 6-15 September (David Wolf, et al.); (6) 4 October (Georgette Guernsey), Marion Ferry area, Lake Sam Rayburn, Angelina County [uncommon].
White Ibis: (27) 15 October (Jesse Fagan), Kurth Lake, Angelina County [uncommon].
White Ibis: (3) 20 October (Fred Collins), FM529, east edge of Waller County [uncommon].
White Ibis: (2) 20 October (Jesse Fagan, David Wolf), TX 147 bridge over Lake Sam Rayburn, San Augustine County [late departure, uncommon].
White Ibis: (no.?) 25-26 October (Tyson Hart), Flag Pond, Lake Somerville, Lee County [occasional].
White Ibis: (1) 26 October (Jesse Fagan), Nacogdoches ponds, Nacogdoches County [late departure].

Plegadis species, probable Glossy Ibis: (1) 29 September (Peter Barnes), north unit, Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County [Glossy is very rare; White-faced is uncommon].

Peter Barnes, "The bird of the day was a probable winter adult Glossy Ibis in the north unit. The bird was a Plegadis ibis with a dark brown eye and a narrow border of gray along the upper and lower borders of the facial skin between the eye and the bill."

Plegadis species (1 White-faced and 1 Glossy perhaps?): (2) 31 August (Byron Stone, Tim Fennell, Roxie Rochat, Bill Eddie), Granger Lake area, Williamson County [White-faced is uncommon; Glossy is very rare].

Roseate Spoonbill - made an unusually good showing in East Texas this season and lingered well into October in Central and East Texas.
Roseate Spoonbill: (16) 8 September (David Wolf, Jesse Fagan), shore below Marion Ferry, Lake Sam Rayburn, Nacogdoches County [occasional].
Roseate Spoonbill: (1) 19 September (Frank & Jeanette Bumgardner, John Muldrow), Flat Rock Park, Lake Waco, McLennan County [listed as accidental on McLennan County checklist, but uncommon in general Oaks & Prairies region].
Roseate Spoonbill: (46) 3 October (David Wolf), Marion Ferry flats at Lake Sam Rayburn, San Augustine County [high count for occasional species].
Roseate Spoonbill: (28) first week of October (Georgette Guernsey), swamp south of the Neches River, Polk County [good number, occasional].
Roseate Spoonbill: (4) 7 October (David Phalen), tank on south side of Hwy 21, near border with Brazos County, Burleson County [occasional in October].
Roseate Spoonbill: (2) 14 September (Brush Freeman, Mark Lockwood); (18) 19 September (Brush Freeman); (2) 9 October (Brush Freeman), Shipp Lake near Smithville, Bastrop County [uncommon].
Roseate Spoonbill: (13) 13 October (David Wolf), TX 147 bridge over Lake Sam Rayburn, San Augustine County [occasional].
Roseate Spoonbill: (up to 3) 1 August to 13 October (Byron Stone, Tim Fennell), Willis Creek Park, Granger Lake, Williamson County [uncommon].
Roseate Spoonbill: (1) 13 October (George Russell), mouth of Pools Creek near Waterwood Mariana, north Lake Livingston, San Jacinto County [rare].
Roseate Spoonbill: (1) 19 September and 13 October (Frank Bumgardner, John Muldrow, David Shackelford), North Bosque Wildlife Area of Lake Waco across from the Flat Rock Park boat ramp, McLennan County [listed as a vagrant (less than 10 sightings) on the 1997 McLennan County checklist; probably more common than that however].

Frank Bumgardner, "The spoonbill was a loner and was about the fourth time in the twenty plus years I have been here. I still feel it was the same bird that me, my wife and John Muldrow had earlier in the same place."

David Shackelford, "I have seen three spoonbills in the county this year."

Roseate Spoonbill: (7) 20 October (David Wolf, Jesse Fagan), Attoyac arm of Lake Sam Rayburn, Nacogdoches County [late; occasional].

David Wolf, "Roseate Spoonbill - exceptional numbers visited the Lake Rayburn area this fall and they stayed late. Season high count was 46 on upper Rayburn in Angelina & Nacogdoches Counties on Oct 3 (David Wolf). The last birds were 7 on the Attoyac arm of Rayburn (Nac Co) on Oct 20, a late date for us (David Wolf, Jesse Fagan)."

Roseate Spoonbill: (1) 21 October (Fred Collins), stock pond on Brown Road, Waller County [occasional].

STORKS AND VULTURES

Wood Stork: (20) 11 August (Peter Barnes); (200) 24 August (Dede Crusinberry); (170) 25 August; (250) 15 September; (350) 22 September; (0) 29 September (Peter Barnes), north unit of Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County [unusually high number].

Peter Barnes, NETFO Newsletter, August, "Wood Storks were at Richland Creek WMA throughout the month, with an unusually high count of 170 birds on August 25 (PB)."

Peter Barnes, NETFO Newsletter, September, "Richland Creek WMA was the major site for large waterbirds, hosting all 13 expected species during the month. The most notable of these were a high count of 350 Wood Storks and and 20 Roseate Spoonbills on Sept 22."

Wood Stork: (4) 20 October (David Wolf, Jesse Fagan), upper Attoyac and McAlister Park, Nacogdoches County [tie with previous late departure record].
Wood Stork: (2) 27 October (Jesse Fagan, David Wolf), along the Attoyac arm below TX 147 bridge over Lake Sam Rayburn, Nacogdoches and San Augustine counties [latest departure on record for East Texas].

David Wolf, "Wood Stork - good numbers (though not exceptional) were scattered around our area this fall, but what is most noteworthy is that we had our latest date ever. Four over the Attoyac arm of upper Rayburn (Nacogdoches and San Augustine counties) on Oct 20 tied our late date, but then 2 were seen here on Oct 27 (both records David Wolf, Jesse Fagan) for the latest record that I have for the entire Pineywoods region."

Black Vulture: (262) 13 October (Brush Freeman), Utley, Bastrop County [unusually large number, accompanying a massive migration, "From about 10:00-3:00 birds poured over in a virtually unbroken narrowish stream."].

Massive numbers - thousands - of Turkey Vultures migrated with through Central Texas, reaching the coast at Corpus Christi, on 13-15 October, traveling with a cold front.
Turkey Vulture: 13 October (Randy Pinkston), Bell County [Randy Pinkston, "Oct 13, strong push of migrants with cool front."].
Turkey Vulture: (~5100+) 13 October (Brush Freeman), Utley, Bastrop County [massive migration].

Brush Freeman, Sun, 13 Oct 2002 12:06, "If you are in Central Texas you may want to get out and watch the skies. There are massive numbers of raptors, vulture, anhingas, some geese, Franklin's Gulls etc., cranes etc., moving through right now (12:00 noon). My estimate of total number of bird as yet since about 10:20 is 10-12,000 birds and still counting. Plenty of passerines too. Just a heads up to let you know what the front has brought in today. I am going back out but more later after another spat of watching on totals."

Brush Freeman, Sun, 13 Oct 2002 15:36, "Well this first big front of the season sure brought the birds and fortunately I did not have to leave the yard here near Utley, in Bastrop Co. to realize it. Raptors, Geese etc. poured over the yard and I stared and counted until I was sated and weary of it. From about 10:00- 3:00 birds poured over in a virtually unbroken narrowish stream. There was very little kettling activity except with the pelicans, storks and cranes. Most hawks and vultures merely passed through as though a river of birds with a speedy current. I am surrounded by thick woods and viewed all from a small meadow behind my house thus was unable to really see from horizon to horizon, however the "river" seemed to fluctuate only to about 1.5 east and 1.5 west of me on average and were in sight most of the ~5 hrs. I was out. I had to work fast considering the speed they passed over.
"From a radar image my dad, Jack Freeman, in southern Oklahoma sent me yesterday afternoon, it was obvious to me that we would have a significant movement here today. It has been many years since any serious hawk-watching/counting on my part so I am a bit rusty therefore don't lean on me to hard regarding my numbers as one person can only work so fast with mix species flocks moving rapidly. I tried to be conservative though some species I did actually try to accurately count. In many cases it was impossible. The leaden skies as a background prevented me from seeing details on many of the Buteos. The last group of White Pelicans I saw numbering 53 birds had somewhere along the way picked up a Brown Pelican which seemed quite at home with them.
"Lots of passerines as well, quite a day of birding from the comfort of one's own property, sort of a mini-Big Sit! Totals when I stopped at ~3:00 (as numbers were quickly dropping off) below: Turkey Vulture ~5100+, Black Vulture 262, Broad-winged Hawks ~ 12,350, Swainson's Hawks ~7950, …

Turkey Vulture: (80 in flocks of 6-15) 13 October (Ellen Ratoosh), Emerald Forest subdivision, College Station, Brazos County [migration].

Ellen Ratoosh, 13 October, "Our long-awaited cold front came in last night, and I just wish the RBAS hawk watch trip had been today instead of last week, because judging by the hawks going by my house, the Brazos Bottoms must have been hopping. First, before the front: on 10/12, it was 90ish, humid, and mostly sunny. ... Today, 10/13, it was about 60, raining on and off, with light north winds, and heavy overcast. ...

Turkey Vulture: (~261) 14 October (Brush Freeman), Utley, Bastrop County [migration].

Brush Freeman, "It rained or was very wet the first half of the day putting down most migrants however, as of about 2:30 it appears that a number of raptors are up and at it again, mostly Turkey Vultures (~261) and accipiters so far. If in south central Texas you might want to check the skies as it continues to clear somewhat for migrating birds later on during the afternoon."'

Turkey Vulture: (3290) 13 October; (17,153) 15 October (fide Patty Beasley), Corpus Christi Hawk Watch.

Patty Beasley, 13 October, Corpus Christi Hawk Watch, 10/13, "The hawks did insist on barreling through the watch today along with a welcome cold front. This is the earliest yet we've seen vultures come through in the numbers recorded; they're about a week to ten days early in those numbers. Definitely a watch for the books this season. Here's Paul's take on the day:
"Well, today did turn out to be good. Of course, the hawks still like coming in at the end of the day -- we had 5200 after 4 pm. Most of our birds for the day were Turkey Vultures and Swainson's, and at the end of the day we had one mixed kettle streaming in from way out front, mostly to the west, at the same time we had a group coming back from the SE. (Bob watched part of this group make a big loop over the golf course and come right back overhead). Made for a bit of a chaotic ending. And we had another 140 Turkey Vultures that looked to be setting down at Pollywog. As a result of all this we stayed until 6:30, and most of the locals went for jackets. Another half hour and I would have too. The day stayed cloudy for the most part, with a strong north wind, and the birds stayed fairly low. Count for 10/13: Turkey Vulture: 3290"

Patty Beasley, 15 October, Corpus Christi Hawk Watch, 10/15, "Kirsten's got the color for us today: 'Yet another excellent day on the hill. We had to wear our "winter clothes" as it was quite chilly with the wind today. There were a few highlights to mention. One was the beautiful kettles of Swainsons, one stream of 200 passed directly over head with 7 dark morphs. ... And an amazing sight, the sheer number of migrating turkey vultures we had today. We had one stream to the east that totaled 9700! It lasted for 40 minutes! Joel says it is the largest group of turkey vultures he has ever seen. It no doubt was the largest I had ever witnessed. Pretty fun, huh! - Kirsten"
...Glenn Swartz sent in tonight from his house, which sits on the top of the Nueces River bluff about a half mile north and east of the watch site. Glenn had his banding traps up at the house when he happened to look up around 5:30 tonight. Oh joyful fate! Holy buzzard bait, Batman ... that's a lot of vultures!:
"I sat out front and counted from 5:30ish (when I first saw them while letting the dog in) to 6:30 (until I caught a bird in the trap, the first one in 11 hours of trapping). I counted 70,800 TV's [typo?]. There were about 75 SWHA and 3000 BWHA mixed in with them. I didn't count hawks, but I was looking for a Zone-tailed. No luck. - Glenn"

Patty Beasley, "Just for fun, I went checking back over data from the past five HWI years, and then another 15 years from pre-HWI watch days. Even though we can't count Glenn's tally in the official watch count, the watch still managed to set a new one-day record today with its count for turkey vultures as well. Kudos! In 1999, the watch tallied a grand season total of 36,688 turkey vultures, with the peak day coming on October 12 (11,101) and a second peak following the very next day (8,136). In 2000, another banner year for turkey vultures, with a season total of 30,029. Peak flight in 2000 was on October 20, with 10,483 vultures counted. Fun, indeed! I'd say so! Outstanding! With today's flights, we're now up to over 23,900 turkey vultures on the official count, and we've got about four weeks or so yet to go. I'm banking on another few good count days, as indications from up north are that still more TV's are well on their way south.
"Watch count for 10/15: 221 broad-winged hawks, 5 red-tailed hawks, 807 swainson's hawks, 2 red-shouldered hawks, 1 unidentified buteo, 17153 turkey vultures (!), 94 sharp-shinned hawks, 19 cooper's hawks, 10 unidentified accipiters, 44 american kestrels, 6 peregrine falcons, 1 merlin, 1 osprey, 6 northern harriers, 1 prairie falcon, and 10 unidentified raptors.
Day total: 18381. Season totals to date: 46 ......Black vulture, 23,925 ...Turkey vulture …"

WATERFOWL

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck: (hundreds) 24 August (Tony Gallucci), Trinity County [occasional].

Tony Gallucci, "Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (Trinity County) -- when I moved from Trinity County in 1986 I had but a single record for the county, that of a flyby group of 12 in 1985. I have maintained a presence in the county to continue updating my records, but have been there exclusively in the winter and spring, until last weekend. Aug 24th I found hundreds in the backwater sloughs at the upper end of the lake. At the point where I first saw the birds in 1985, I watched over a hundred fly past, and a pair was tending six recently fledged youngsters. A Wood Duck nest box program in the area has certainly helped these birds, though there was no shortage of Wood Ducks either."

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck: (5) 13 October; (7) 20 October (Jesse Fagan, David Wolf), TX 147 bridge over Lake Sam Rayburn, San Augustine County [very rare after September].
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck: (23) 22 October; (adults and their young continue to hang around the ponds) ~17 November (Oscar Carmona), Raven Nest golf course ponds, Huntsville State Park, Walker County [very rare in East Texas in fall and winter].

The pattern of Greater White-fronted Goose migration was clearly defined with season, with a few arrivals 4-5 October, but large numbers of widely spread flocks moving with the cold fronts of 13 and 27 October, then dwindling numbers in early November.
Greater White-fronted Goose: (1) 4 October (David Ringer, Jason Pike), Lake O' the Pines, Marion County [FOS; occasional].
Greater White-fronted Goose: (5 in flight) 5 October (Ellen Ratoosh, Darrell Vollert, RBAS field trip), Brazos River bottoms, Burleson County [FOS, uncommon].
Greater White-fronted Goose: (587 in 7 flocks) 13 October (David Wolf), TX 147 bridge over Lake Sam Rayburn, San Augustine County [major flight over area on the first cold front of the fall].
Greater White-fronted Goose: (144-146) 13 October (Brush Freeman), Utley, Bastrop County [accompanying a massive migration].
Greater White-fronted Goose: (3 large flocks) 13 October (James Phelps), passing over Shenandoah Subdivision before dawn, College Station, Brazos County.
Greater White-fronted Goose: (750) 26 October (Guy Luneau, Joan Luneau, Scott Luneau), Rusk County [unusually large number].
Greater White-fronted Goose: (no.?) 27 October (Jesse Fagan, David Wolf), TX 147 bridge over Lake Sam Rayburn, San Augustine County [second wave with north wind].
Greater White-fronted Goose: (flock heard above clouds) 27 October (Brush Freeman), Bastrop County.
Greater White-fronted Goose: (350+) 27 October (Darrell Vollert), Washington-on-the-Brazos SHP, Washington County.
Greater White-fronted Goose: (400+) 27 October (Darrell Vollert), Clarann Estate, Chappell Hill, Washington County.
Greater White-fronted Goose: (25) 27 October (Peter Barnes), south of Tyler, Smith County.
Greater White-fronted Goose: (1 flock) 2 November (Carroll Moore, Jack Windsor), Marion's Ferry area and the Angelina River Bridge area, Angelina County.
Greater White-fronted Goose: (multiple flocks heard overnight) 3 November (Brush Freeman), Utley, Bastrop County.

Brush Freeman, "Last night [3 Nov] even though there was light rain I heard the largest movement of geese and ducks I have had thus far this fall. Literally almost every time I stepped out on the porch I could hear geese, it sounded like a 50/50 split of White-fronteds and Snow."

Greater White-fronted Goose: ("a few") 5 November (Byron Stone), flooded shallow drainage, Brushy Creek, a mile east of Thorndale, western Milam County.
Greater White-fronted Goose: (1) 20 November (Joe Yelderman, Karen Arquette, et al.), Waco wetlands, McLennan County.
Greater White-fronted Goose: (3) 24 November (Darrell Vollert), Washington-on-the-Brazos SHP, Washington County.

Unlike the white-fronted geese, the Snow Geese were held back through the period of extensive rains in late October and with the first break of weather in the first days of November, the Snow Geese started pouring through Central Texas. Numbers than dwindled until another push 25 November. Here's the migration pattern:
Snow "Blue" Goose: (5 with flocks of Greater White-fronted Geese) 13 October (David Wolf), TX 147 bridge over Lake Sam Rayburn, San Augustine County.
Snow Goose: (40+) 26 October (Tyson Hart, Matt Piazza, Jason Duke, Megan Dominguez), Flag Pond, Lake Somerville, Lee County.
Snow Goose: (30+) 27 October (Darrell Vollert), Clarann Estate, Washington County
Snow Goose: ("large passage") 26-27 October (Jesse Fagan, David Wolf), TX 147 bridge over Lake Sam Rayburn, San Augustine County [movement with north wind].
Snow Goose: (1 flock heard overhead) evening of 26 October; (flock of 80 white phase) 28 October; (100s) 1-4 November (Ellen Ratoosh), Emerald Forest subdivision, College Station, Brazos County.

Ellen Ratoosh, 2 November, "Both last night and this morning, there were 100s of Snow Geese passing over going south. I saw several flocks and heard more during the night."

Ellen Ratoosh, 4 November, "since Friday, I've heard/seen 100s, maybe 1000s of Snow Geese passing over, day and night."

Snow Goose: (1 tucked in a flight of 125 pelicans) 1 November (Rich Kostecke), Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir, Bell County [his FOS].
Geese: (16 flocks in 5 minute span) 2 November (Bill Morris), Chappell Hill subdivision, Washington County.
Snow Goose: (345 in 5 groups) 2 November (Byron Stone, Tim Fennell); (10) 17 November (Byron Stone, Tim Fennell, Erik Huebner), Granger area, Williamson County.
Snow Goose: (~100 in 2 flocks) 2 November (Heather Mathewson, Meg Byerly, et al.), Gibbons Creek Reservoir, Grimes County.
Snow Goose: (600 flyover) 3 November (Peter Barnes), Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County.
Snow Goose: (75 white & blue phase) 3 November (Sandy Dillard), Bryan, Brazos County.
Snow Goose: (multiple flocks heard overnight) 3 November (Brush Freeman), Utley, Bastrop County.

Brush Freeman, "Last night [3 Nov] even though there was light rain I heard the largest movement of geese and ducks I have had thus far this fall. Literally almost every time I stepped out on the porch I could hear geese, it sounded like a 50/50 split of White-fronteds and Snow. … The birds were so low they often sounded as if they were only 2-3 hundred feet up and in a couple cases I could hear them in the house with the doors closed."

Snow Goose: (flocks heard) 4 November (Keith Arnold), Bryan, Brazos County.
Snow Goose: (many flocks heard in early AM, flock of ~100 seen flying through the rain ~11 AM) 4 November (Bert Frenz), Nantucket subdivision, College Station, Brazos County.

Bert Frenz, 4 November, Brazos County, " Beautiful clear skies and pleasant temperatures brought out birds and birders after a torrent of rain. On 4 November alone, Brazos County received 4.5" of rain, bringing the yearly total to 34.25" and that is 0.54" above average for the first time in our local weatherman's memory."

Darrell Vollert, 5 November, Washington County, "We have had much more rain here in Washington County than Brazos County has had this year. We have had close to 45 inches here."

Snow Goose: (flock of 120) 5 November (Darrell Vollert), his residence on FM1155, Chappell Hill, Washington County.
Snow Goose: (~300 in one flock) 5 November (Byron Stone), flooded shallow drainage, Brushy Creek, a mile east of Thorndale, western Milam County.
Snow Goose: (~600 in one flock) 5 November (Byron Stone), Granger Lake, Williamson County.

Byron Stone, "About 4 in the afternoon, I stopped briefly at Granger Dam and saw a larger flock of Geese, about 600, simultaneously taking flight from the surface of the lake."
Byron Stone, 5 November, Robertson County, "The whole countryside south and east of Hearne was so flooded that anyone from bayou country would have felt right at home. Every field had standing water."

Snow Goose: (700+ flying south) 8 AM 5 November (Keith Arnold), over Nagle Hall, TAMU campus
Snow Goose: (1) 7 November (Darrell Vollert), flying southeast under a flock of south-bound Sandhill Cranes, FM2447 near New Year's Creek.
Snow Goose: (1 flock of ~15) 9 November (Larry Harris-Haller, et al.), Lick Creek Park, College Station, Brazos County.
Snow Goose: (flocks of 150+ and 60+) 17 November (Darrell Vollert), Brazos River Road, Chappell Hill, Washington County.
Snow Goose: (7) 19 November (Brush Freeman), 535 south of Cedar Creek, Bastrop County.
Snow Goose: (flocks of 40+ and 30+) 24 November (Darrell Vollert), Clarann Estate, Chappell Hill, Washington County.
Snow Goose: (2500+ in 13 flocks throughout the day) 25 November (Darrell Vollert), Chappell Hill subdivision, Washington County [good count; a brisk north wind helped push the birds south].
Snow Goose: (1 flock heard) 24 November; (1 flock heard, 1 flock of 40+ seen) 25 November (Darrell Vollert), Chappell Hill, Washington County.

Ross's Goose: (6 in flock of 30+ Snow Geese, flying E-SE) 27 October (Darrell Vollert), Clarann Estate, Washington County [uncommon].
Ross's Goose: (1 in flock of 75 Snow Geese) 3 November (Sandy Dillard), Bryan, Brazos County [occasional].
Ross's Goose: (2 in flocks of 600 Snow Geese) 3 November (Peter Barnes), Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County [uncommon].
Ross's Goose: (3 in flock of 60+ Snow Geese) 17 November (Darrell Vollert), Brazos River Road, Chappell Hill, Washington County.
Ross's Goose: (30+ mixed in 2500+ Snow Geese in 13 flocks throughout the day) 25 November (Darrell Vollert), Chappell Hill subdivision, Washington County [good count; a brisk north wind helped push the birds south].

Mallard: (7) 10 September (David Wolf, Robert Truss), Marion Ferry area, Angelina County [occasional in September].

Mottled Duck: (4) 24 August (Tony Galluci), Lake Livingston, Trinity County [occasional].

Tony Galluci, "Four on the upper end Aug 24 were noteworthy, as I've considered them vagrants on the lake."

Mottled Duck: (2) 11 August; (1 adult female with 4 chicks) 25 August (Peter Barnes), north unit of Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County [occasional; nesting data].
Mottled Duck: (4) 13 October (Byron Stone, Tim Fennell), Sore Finger Wildlife Area, Granger Lake, Williamson County [occasional].

Northern Shoveler: (no.?) 25 August (Peter Barnes), north unit of Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County [FOS, early arrival].

Green-winged Teal: (1) 15 September (David Wolf, Jesse Fagan, Robert Truss), Marion Ferry, Lake Sam Rayburn, Angelina County [FOS, occasional].

Canvasback: (4) 20 October (Tim Fennell, Byron Stone, David Stone); (23) 9 November (Tim Fennell), Meadow Lake, Round Rock, Williamson County [FOS, occasional].
Canvasback: (1 at TX 147 bridge, 2 on pond near Melrose) 27 October (Jesse Fagan, David Wolf), San Augustine County [FOS, occasional].

Ring-necked Duck: (3) 6 October (Tim Fennell), Meadow Lake, Round Rock, Williamson County [early arrival; rare].

Greater Scaup: (3 males, 2 females) 27 November (Tim Fennell), CR 414 stock pond, Granger area, Williamson County [rare].

Surf Scoter: (1 first winter) 24 and 30 November (Jesse Fagan, David Wolf), TX 147 bridge on Lake Sam Rayburn, San Augustine County [5th record for the Nacogdoches/Angelina county and Lake Rayburn area; 1st record in over a decade].

Surf Scoter: (1 female or immature) 25 November (Brush Freeman), Salt Lake, just south of Luling in extreme northeast Guadalupe County [casual].

Common Goldeneye: (1) ~17 November (Oscar Carmona), Lake Raven, Huntsville State Park, Walker County [2nd consecutive winter for this species at park; occasional in mid November in East Texas Pineywoods].

Hooded Merganser: (3) 16 August; (2) 21 August (Georgette Guernsey), Kurth Lake, Angelina County [very rare this early].

Red-breasted Merganser: (7 female-type) 10 November (Tim Fennell), viewed from Granger Lake dam, Williamson County [occasional].

Ruddy Duck: (2) 15 September (Tim Fennell, Meadow Lake, Round Rock, Williamson County [early arrival; occasional].

KITES, HAWKS AND EAGLES

Osprey: (1) summering and present all August (Mike Dillon, David Weaver), Martin Creek Lake, Rusk County [very rare].
Osprey: (2) 24 August (Brush Freeman, Eric Carpenter), Fayette Lake, Fayette County [rare in August].
Osprey: (1) 1 September (David Wolf, Jesse Fagan, Robert Truss), TX 147 bridge over Lake Sam Rayburn, San Augustine County [early migrant; rare at this date].

Swallow-tailed Kite: (no.?) 10 August (Jim Coleman), US 90 crossing of the Trinity River bottom, Liberty County [uncommon].

White-tailed Kite: (1) 5 August (James Phelps), White Switch Road off FM 159, south Brazos County [rare].
White-tailed Kite: (2) 12 August (Rob Fergus), Webberville Park, eastern Travis County [occasional].
White-tailed Kite: (1 adult) 17 August (Jeffrey Hanson, Shawn Ashbaugh, Tim Hissam), Turnersville Road; (1) 17 August (Dan Smith), intersection of Turnersville Road and Williamson Road, southeastern Travis County [rare; may be same bird].
White-tailed Kite: (1) 17 August (Shawn Ashbaugh, Jeffrey Hanson, Tim Hissam and, independently, Dan Smith), southeast Travis County [occasional].
White-tailed Kite: (1) 13 September (Kent & Debbie Moore), their ranch off FM 1361 between Hwy 50 and Hwy 36, Burleson County [rare].
White-tailed Kite: (1 juvenile) 15 September (Shelia Hargis, Mary Hesalroad), Hwy 183 and CR 177, Caldwell County [rare].
White-tailed Kite: (1) 5 October (Darrell Vollert), near Clover Road, which is just south of FM 2621, Washington County [occasional].
White-tailed Kite: (1) 17 November (Byron Stone, Tim Fennell, Erik Huebner), on FM 971, east of Friendship Park, Granger Lake, Williamson County [rare].
White-tailed Kite: (up to 4) fall to ~10 November (Glenn Shroeter), Independence, Washington County [occasional; kites have been reported in the Clay-Independence area during fall and winter since 1973].

Mississippi Kite: (1 juvenile being fed once per minute by adult) 12 September (Darrell Vollert), Chappell Hills subdivision, Washington County [seems late].

Darrell Vollert, "At Fred and Mary Brandt's residence in Chappell Hills Subdivision north of Chappell Hill I observed an adult Mississippi Kite feeding at least one juvenile bird today. The juvenile kite was perched in a neighbor's large pecan tree. The adult kite fed the begging juvenile bird throughout the day. At times the juvenile was fed once a minute! I heard the juvenile bird call throughout the day and knew when the adult bird brought in food, as a juvenile kite's call becomes shriller when food is brought in. The adult bird was observed catching dragonflies on the wing, tearing off the wings of the dragonflies, and bringing the tasty morsel to the begging juvenile bird. An adult kite and juvenile kite have been observed soaring in Chappell Hills Subdivision all this week. I was unsuccessful in finding a Mississippi Kite nest this summer in the Chappell Hill area. Adult birds were observed in the area throughout the summer. Finding a kite nest can be very difficult in this area. At the moment it appears to me that this was a very late nesting pair of kites. In previous years the local nesting kites migrated by the last week in August. Last summer a pair of kites nested in my Chappell Hill yard. They raised two young. The two juvenile birds were fed by the adult birds up until the day they migrated. What I am wondering is- do adult kites continue to feed juveniles during migration? Have any of you observed adult Mississippi Kites feeding juvenile birds during migration? I do know that Mississippi Kites migrate in family groups. It could very well be migrant kites that I saw today."

Mississippi Kite: (adult feeding juvenile) 16 September; (adult & juvenile flying) 19 September; (1 juvenile) 23 September (Darrell Vollert), Chappell Hills subdivision, Washington County [very late local nesting].

Darrell Vollert, "Last Thursday I mentioned that I observed an adult Mississippi Kite feeding a juvenile kite in Chappell Hills Subdivision north of Chappell Hill. At the time I wasn't sure if these were migrants or local nesting kites. As it turns out these were local nesting kites. On Monday, September 16 I observed an adult Miss. Kite feeding the juvenile kite again in Chappell Hills Subdivision. This is a extraordinarily late nesting record. My guess is the first nesting attempt failed for some unknown reason. Usually the local juvenile Mississippi Kites are flying about by late July-early August. Juvenile kites branch for four to five days before attempting to fly. This afternoon (9/19) the adult and juvenile Mississippi Kite were observed flying just above the treetops in Chappell Hills Subdivision. I also observed (8)Mississippi Kites soaring very high in Chappell Hills Subdivision this afternoon. Undoubtedly these were migrating birds."

Bald Eagle: (1 adult) 13 August (Georgette Guernsey), TX 147 bridge at Lake Sam Rayburn, Angelina County.
Bald Eagle: (1 adult) 17 August (Louis Debetaz, Charles Kent, Carroll Moore, Jack Windsor); (1 capturing a Forster's Tern) 13 October (Jesse Fagan, Georgette Guernsey, et al.); (1) 15 October (Jack Windsor), Kurth Lake, Angelina County.

fide David Wolf, in Pineywoods Scissor-Tales, "To the utter amazement of the observers, a Bald Eagle at Kurth Lake on Oct 13 harassed and then caught a Forster's Tern."

Bald Eagle: (2) 1 September (David Weaver), Martin Creek Lake, Panola and Rusk counties.
Bald Eagle: (1 adult) 9 September (James Phelps), picnic area near boat launch, Gibbons Creek Reservoir, Grimes County.
Bald Eagle: (2 adults) 14 September (Louis Debetaz, Jack Windsor), Ryan Lake, Angelina County.
Bald Eagle: (1 adult) 24 August (Dede Crusinberry); (1 juvenile) 25 August (Peter Barnes); (1 juvenile) 15 September (Peter Barnes), north unit of Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County.
Bald Eagle: (2 adults) 17 September (John Prouty), Huntsville, Walker County [uncommon, but strange location].

John Prouty, "I did observe two adult Bald Eagles circling about 300 FT above the near downtown in Huntsville. They were visible for about three min before drifting off the SE toward SHSU. Eagles were seen several times in Huntsville last winter but this is the earliest sighting I am aware of."

Bald Eagle: (1 3-4 year-old) 21 September (Pineywoods Audubon field trip), Etoile Park, Lake Sam Rayburn, Nacogdoches County.
Bald Eagle: (2 adults) 10 October (John Muldrow), Lake Waco, McLennan County.
Bald Eagle: (5) 13 October; (2) 19 October (George Russell), north Lake Livingston, San Jacinto County.

George Russell, in Ethician News October 14, 2002, Lake Livingston, "... The next day [13 October], my parents wished to see the Pelicans, so we decided to take the boat out before Church services at the Cathedral. ... The day before I was hoping to see an eagle but did not really expect to see one for some reason. Today however, I had a premonition that an eagle would appear. Little did I dream that 5 eagles would make their appearance!!!
"After leaving the Marina we headed around the Cathedral shores and at exactly the spot where I had seen the first eagle in my life, two eagles were doing aerial acrobatics or "Eagle Ballet". I had seen adult eagles during courtship displays behaving in this fashion but these were two juveniles, and it was Fall. They careened toward Zwicky Creek and we followed them, observing them for at least 20 minutes as they displayed their talents. A third eagle came up to watch but did not participate in the sport. ...
"Upon our return to my parent's house we went out on the deck to observe the vultures, terns, hummingbirds, sandpipers and other species, when two eagles flew directly over the house toward the Cathedral. A minute or so later a third eagle flew over and then the two juvenile acrobats began to display their talents. Their fun was broken up by a crow that took great pleasure in attacking one of the eagles, chasing it and pecking at its tail feathers. Five eagles in five minutes is pretty wonderful and I hope is a sign of good tidings for all."

Bald Eagle: (1 immature) 18 October (Brush Freeman), over river at Webberville County Park, eastern Travis County.
Bald Eagle: (1) 18 October (Brush Freeman), extreme western Bastrop County.
Bald Eagle: (1 immature) 4 October; (1 adult, 1 3rd year juvenile) 24 October (Georgette Guernsey), Marion Ferry area, Lake Sam Rayburn, Angelina County.
Bald Eagle: (1 immature) 26 October (Rich Kostecke), Temple's Lake Park and/or Miller's Spring Nature Area, Lake Belton, Bell County
Bald Eagle: (2) seen off and on during October and to 2 November (Oscar Carmona), Huntsville State Park, Walker County [winter residents at the state park; expected to stay throughout].
Bald Eagle: (1 adult) 3 November (Peter Barnes), Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County.
Bald Eagle: (2 adults lining old nest with cut grass) 6 November (Georgette Guernsey), Ryan Irrigation Field, Angelina County.
Bald Eagle: (1 adult) 22 November (Rich Kostecke), Rivers Bend Park, Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir, Bell County.
Bald Eagle: (1 adult) 23 November (Tim Fennell), Lake O' the Pines, Marion County.
Bald Eagle: (1) 23 November (Jerry Walls), Christmas Creek Nature Preserve, adjoining Sam Houston National Forest, Montgomery County.
Bald Eagle: (1) 24 November (Brush Freeman), Bastrop County.
Bald Eagle: (1 immature soaring with Turkey Vultures) 24 November (Glenn Shroeter), Old Independence Road, Prairie Hill community, nor th of Brenham, Washington County.
Bald Eagle: (2) 1 December (Brush Freeman), McKinney Roughs, Bastrop County.

Northern Harrier: (1 female) 18 August (Byron Stone), Williamson Road, southeast Travis County [early arrival].
Northern Harrier: (1 juvenile) 8 September (David Wolf), Central Heights, Nacogdoches County [early arrival; occasional].

Sharp-shinned Hawk: (1) 7 September (Jesse Fagan, Robert Truss), Alazan Bayou WMA, Nacogdoches County [early arrival].
Sharp-shinned Hawk: (1) 8 September (David Wolf, Jesse Fagan), Marion Ferry, Lake Sam Rayburn, Angelina County [early arrival].

Cooper's Hawk: (1) 11 August (Peter Barnes), Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County [occasional].
Cooper's Hawk: (1) 14 August (Ellen Ratoosh), circling over Oakwood Intermediate School (behind College Station Conference Center) in College Station, Brazos County [early arrival].
Cooper's Hawk: (22) 13 October (Brush Freeman), Utley, Bastrop County [unusually large number, accompanying a massive migration].

Harris's Hawk?: (1) 5 November (Brush Freeman), just east of Hwy 183, Burleson Rd near McKinney Falls State Park, eastern Travis County [very rare; probable id but very brief observation].
Harris's Hawk: (no.?) ~23 November (Sandra Skrei, fide Brush Freeman), near Cedar Creek, Bastrop County [rare].

Broad-winged Hawk: (1 migrating) 5 August (Georgette Guernsey, fide Nancy Bird), Crown Colony; (1) 12 August (Georgette Guernsey), Lufkin, Angelina County [early for migrant; species nests in East Texas].
Broad-winged Hawk: (1) 11 August (Peter Barnes), Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County [very early migrant].

Bert Frenz, "The Broad-winged Hawk is curiously early as a migrant. Most August sightings are in areas where summer nesting has occurred, such as East Texas Pineywoods, Bastrop (lost pines) and in Waco. The only Post Oaks Savannah records for August, not associated with breeding, are: 23 Aug in Lee County, 26 Aug in Washington County. A 14 Aug record in Bell and a 19 Aug record in Williamson are suspected local breeders. 28 Aug and 31 Aug records in Bastrop County are migrant flocks. Is this new 11 Aug record a post-breeding wanderer from the Pineywoods east of Richland Creek WMA or a very early migrant from the north or an undetected local breeder?"

Peter Barnes, "I presumed that Broad-wingeds nested in that region so thanks for educating me on that fact. Since no one spends much time birding the local area in the summer, an undetected local breeder is certainly possible. It did behave somewhat like a migrant though, as it went up in a thermal and then started drifting south. I will keep my eyes out for them if I get up the energy to visit the area in the summer."

Broad-winged Hawk: (613) 3 October (David Wolf), over McAlister Park and TX 147 bridge, Lake Sam Rayburn, Nacogdoches County [sizable flock for East Texas].
Broad-winged Hawk: (12,350) 13 October (Brush Freeman), Utley, Bastrop County [massive migration through Central Texas].
Broad-winged Hawk: (2) 23 October (Carroll Moore), flying over Lanana Creek, Nacogdoches County [late].
Broad-winged Hawk: (2) 23 October (Carroll Moore), Nacogdoches, Nacogdoches County [late, occasional].

Swainson's Hawk: (1) 5-26 August (Tim Fennell), perched in same group of trees where two adults and a juvenile were seen in August 2001 and two adults and a probable second year bird were seen 27 June to 16 July, Willis Creek Park, Granger Lake, Williamson County [rare].

Swainson's Hawks pass through Central Texas regularly, but usually in small numbers. This season had a huge anomaly on 6-7 October, as shown in this pattern of migration:
Swainson's Hawk: (250+) 7 September (Tim Fennell, Tim Hissam, Kathy McCormick); (1) 8 September (Byron Stone, Aletha Snowden); (2) 15 September (Tim Fennell); (100+, all but 3 in a kettle moving along a ridge south of the lake) 21 September (Tim Fennell, Byron Stone); (58, including 40 in one kettle near Willis Creek Park) 28 September (Byron Stone, Tim Fennell); (2500+) 6 October (Tim Fennell, Byron Stone), west of Granger Lake; (3500+) 7 October (Tim Fennell), Granger area, Granger Lake, Williamson County [fairly common].

Tim Fennell, fall report, "While Swainson's Hawks are common migrants through the Granger area, the flights 10/6- 10/7/02 were the largest I've seen with 2500+ birds on 10/6 and 3500+ on 10/7."

Swainson's Hawk: A massive migration 6-7 October followed a straight line from Ft. Worth (Tarrant County), to Granger (Williamson County), to Hornsby Bend (Travis County), to Bentsen Rio Grande (Hildalgo County), completely bypassing the coastal hawk watches at Smith Point and Corpus Christi, but picked up by the Hornsby Bend hawk watch. Substantial numbers continued until 16 October, with very few after that date. Below is a chronological history of the October migration.
Swainson's Hawk: (1200+) 6 October (D.D. Curie), east of Ft. Worth.

D. D. Currie, Tarrant County, 7 October, "Observed a kettle of 1200+ Swainson's Hawks on Sunday at 9:30am over the intersection of Eastchase Pwky and Meadowbrook in east Ft. Worth."

Swainson's Hawk: (2500+) 6 October (Tim Fennell, Byron Stone), west of Granger Lake, Williamson County.

Byron Stone, Williamson County, 6 October, "Tim Fennell and I birded the Granger Lake area today, 10/6/02, ... The highlight of the day was a huge lift-off of Swainson's Hawks from a large agricultural field west of Granger Lake. We first noticed hawks kettling over this field at about 10:30 a.m. We stopped to look and discovered hundreds of birds lifting off and hundreds more still in the plowed field. We drove to the south end of the field (bounded on the east by CR 347) to get a better vantage and spent almost 30 minutes watching and counting hawks. We agreed that a conservative estimate of the number of Swainson's Hawks was over 2,500. There may have been several times that many present. I know my counting abilities were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers and staggering beauty of this spectacle. Included in the mix were a few Black and Turkey Vultures and one dark-morph Swainson's Hawk. Look out Veracruz, they're comin' your way! We did not find a single Broad-winged Hawk in the mix."

Swainson's Hawk: (1825) 6 October (Peg Wallace), Hornsby Bend Hawk Watch, Travis County.

Peg Wallace, Hornsby Bend Hawk Watch, Travis County, 6 October, " … I got there at noon, and immediately started seeing Swainson's. ... Between 1 and 2, I found a huge (for Hornsby!) kettle of what I finally decided were Swainson's Hawks pretty far out. They were behind a telephone pole from me, and when I moved over to get a better look, I lost them! Boy, was I ever kicking myself, until about 3:30, when another huge kettle came right over the drying basins! They were only there for maybe 5 minutes; they kettled up and were out with no dallying around! Then, 15 or so minutes later, another one! Altogether, I counted 1825 Swainson's, a new record for Hornsby! Most of them came over very high, and very fast, giving little time to count them, or to appreciate them. …

Swainson's Hawk: (0) 6 October (Sumita Prasad), Smith Point Hawk Watch, Chambers County.

Sumita Prasad, Smith Point Hawk Watch, 6 October, "Year-to-date Totals (through Sunday 6 Oct 2002): Swainson's Hawk, 52" [none on the 6th].

Swainson's Hawk: (3500+) 7 October (Tim Fennell, Byron Stone), west of Granger Lake, Williamson County.

Tim Fennell, Williamson County, 7 October, "I went home through Granger this afternoon (10/7/02), hoping to catch some birds coming in on the weak cold front. As I got to the Circlevile store at 3:30 pm, I noticed a kettle of hawks. I pulled into the parking lot of the store and saw that they were Swainson's when I put my bins on them. I then saw an even larger kettle to the north and then another! Over the next half hour, at least 3500 (very conservative estimate) Swainson's passed over the store. Some of the locals came over to where I was watching to ask what I looking at and were amazed when they looked up and saw the swirling masses passing overhead.
"About 5:00 pm, I got to the same fields on CR 345 where Byron Stone and I had so many Swainson's yesterday. By this time the sky had darkened as storm clouds moved in. I counted 538 Swainson's on the ground and, as I finished counting them, I looked up to see a kettle of 250+ Swainson's settling down into the same fields. I would have liked to hang around to see how many more might have settled down in the fields for the night but I had to get home.

Swainson's Hawk: (500) 7 October (Martin & Connie Hagne), Bentsen Rio Grande State Park, Hidalgo County.

Martin & Connie Hagne, Hidalgo County, 7 October, "On the Swainson's migration theme: They have arrived in the Rio Grande Valley. We observed over 500 Swainson's Hawks in one kettle over the levee at Bentsen SP in Mission yesterday afternoon during Bill Clark's raptor seminar. Another 50 or so were seen mixed with other birds during the day."

Swainson's Hawk: (1973) 7 October (Peg Wallace), Hornsby Bend Hawk Watch, Travis County.

Peg Wallace, Hornsby Bend Hawk Watch, Travis County, 7 October, "It was another record day for me, starting at 10:00 with a humongous kettle of Swainson's that came right overhead. They came into view rather far out, but kettled up again right in front of me. It was fabulous! They were hard to count, with all the wheeling and turning, and they didn't stream in any real organized fashion, but I did my best and counted them several times as they went through: my initial count was 1500, my final tally 1200, which is what I put into my records, but I could easily have lost some in all the shuffling around. It was so amazing to have all those hawks streaming off; the whole sky was filled with birds. I've never seen anything like it! … Wow....so, after I caught my breath...more Swainson's. This time not so many, only 250, then a few small bunches. 400 more came between 11 and 12, then the stream came to an end. The wind came up, and more clouds. I saw several birds go up into the clouds and disappear, so perhaps there were still Swainson's going over, but I couldn't see them. I found a few Sharpies and Coopers' Hawks, some Kestrels, and even some migrating Turkey Vultures, but no Swainson's until 4 PM, when a small flight of 59 came through just before the rain began. Totals for Oct. 7: Swainson's Hawk: 1973."

Swainson's Hawk: (0) 7 October (fide Patty Beasley), Corpus Christi Hawk Watch, San Patricio County.

Patty Beasley, Corpus Christi Hawk Watch, 7 October, "I'm beginning to think those Swainson's have slipped on by us to the west. Radar seemed to indicate several fairly good-sized flights far to the west of the watch site yesterday and again today. The front is stalled north of us and is now expected to hit tomorrow. After it does, it'll back up on top of us. Typical frontal behavior for this area for this time of year, for those that actually make it all the way through the Coastal Bend. As to whether those huge Swainson's flights were/are on the front or the back side of the approaching system remains to be seen." [no Swainson's were reported on the 7th]. Season totals to date: 220 Swainson's hawks."

Swainson's Hawk: (0, windy with low clouds) 10 October; (2161) 11 October (Peg Wallace), Hornsby Bend Hawk Watch, Travis County.

Peg Wallace, Hornsby Bend Hawk Watch, 11 October, "After a slow day Thursday [10 Oct], things picked up in a big way. Friday was fairly quiet for the majority of the day, with mostly Cormorants and TV's until late afternoon, when all of a sudden the Swainson's arrived. Between 3:30 and 4:30, I had 2100+ Swainson's go by! Most of them were very far away, and very high up, so I was counting Swainson-colored dots, but some of them came close enough to see. There were Turkey Vultures in with them, but I think most of them were residents because I saw many of them drop out as the Swainson's streamed away. I did see a small stream of TV's go by earlier in the day, so I know they are beginning to come through. The excitement ended almost as quickly as it started, and by 5:00 all was calm. ..."

Swainson's Hawk: (3976) 12 October (Peg Wallace), Hornsby Bend Hawk Watch, Travis County.

Peg Wallace, Hornsby Bend Hawk Watch, 12 October, "Well, I thought yesterday was great! Today, I went out to do the Hawk Watch as part of the monthly bird survey, and because I suspected that it might be another good day. Again, it was slow to start, but once the hawks started coming, they came! At noon, a kettle of 400 appeared to the west. About 15 minutes later, a much bigger flock started kettling over the drying basins. I was able to call Rob Fergus, who was leading the count-down for the morning survey, and most of the folks got out of the building in time to see at least a few of the 2000+ hawks I counted. In between these kettles were some Sharpies, a Merlin and a Peregrine. From then on, there were Swainson's overhead for most of the afternoon. There were several more large concentrations, but also quite a few that just meandered through. Some of them even stayed for a short while to catch a quick snack before continuing on south. Several other buteos were mixed in, including one I could almost call a juvenile Ferruginous-this bird was completely white underneath, with very small black wing-tips as the only markings I could see. I also saw 1 Broadwing with a small group of dallying Swainson's, and at least one Red-tail went through."

Swainson's Hawk: ("strong push") 13 October (Randy Pinkston), Bell County.
Swainson's Hawk: (7950) 13 October (Brush Freeman), Utley, Bastrop County [massive migration; highest count he has had at this location].

Brush Freeman, Sun, 13 Oct 2002 12:06, "If you are in Central Texas you may want to get out and watch the skies. There are massive numbers of raptors, vulture, anhingas, some geese, Franklin's Gulls etc., cranes etc., moving through right now (12:00 noon). My estimate of total number of bird as yet since about 10:20 is 10-12,000 birds and still counting. Plenty of passerines too. Just a heads up to let you know what the front has brought in today. I am going back out but more later after another spat of watching on totals."

Brush Freeman, Sun, 13 Oct 2002 15:36, "Well this first big front of the season sure brought the birds and fortunately I did not have to leave the yard here near Utley, in Bastrop Co. to realize it. Raptors, Geese etc. poured over the yard and I stared and counted until I was sated and weary of it. From about 10:00- 3:00 birds poured over in a virtually unbroken narrowish stream. There was very little kettling activity except with the pelicans, storks and cranes. Most hawks and vultures merely passed through as though a river of birds with a speedy current. I am surrounded by thick woods and viewed all from a small meadow behind my house thus was unable to really see from horizon to horizon, however the "river" seemed to fluctuate only to about 1.5 east and 1.5 west of me on average and were in sight most of the ~5 hrs. I was out. I had to work fast considering the speed they passed over.
"From a radar image my dad, Jack Freeman, in southern Oklahoma sent me yesterday afternoon, it was obvious to me that we would have a significant movement here today. It has been many years since any serious hawk-watching/counting on my part so I am a bit rusty therefore don't lean on me to hard regarding my numbers as one person can only work so fast with mix species flocks moving rapidly. I tried to be conservative though some species I did actually try to accurately count. In many cases it was impossible. The leaden skies as a background prevented me from seeing details on many of the Buteos. The last group of White Pelicans I saw numbering 53 birds had somewhere along the way picked up a Brown Pelican which seemed quite at home with them.
"Lots of passerines as well, quite a day of birding from the comfort of one's own property, sort of a mini-Big Sit! Totals when I stopped at ~3:00 (as numbers were quickly dropping off) below: Turkey Vulture ~5100+, Black Vulture 262, Broad-winged Hawks ~ 12,350, Swainson's Hawks ~7950, …

Swainson's Hawk: (3277) 13 October (fide Patty Beasley), Corpus Christi Hawk Watch, San Patricio County.

Patty Beasley, Corpus Christi Hawk Watch, "Brush is located in Bastrop County, north and east of Corpus Christi by some four-five hours. Between 12 different raptors species, he counted about 12,350 broadies, more than 7950 Swainson's, 71 more of other buteos, falcons, accipiters, etc., and another 1500 unidentified raptors. Wow! Not bad, for a house count. He's on the raptor highway, though; right down the central flyway."

Swainson's Hawk: (no.?) 13 October (Frank Bumgardner, John Muldrow, David Shackelford), Flat Rock Park and the beach area of Airport Park, Lake Waco, McLennan County.

Swainson's Hawk: (1400+) 13 October (Byron Stone, Tim Fennell), south of Comanche Bluff, Williamson County.

Byron Stone, "A strong frontal system with winds from the north reached Austin by 5:45 a.m. today, and by sunrise in the Granger area, forty miles NW of Austin, temps had dropped from the low 70's to the low 50's and the wind was steady and strong from the north gusting to 40 mph estimated. Skies were continuously cloudy, but precipitation was absent in most areas. Of special note were large numbers of newly present waterfowl overhead and on lakes, surprisingly large numbers of Swainson's Hawks at this relatively late date utilizing structural lift provided by the strong steady north wind, and season high numbers for Avocets, Franklin's Gulls and White Pelicans (for me at least). ... Swainson's Hawks - 1400+ - most were seen south of Comanche Bluff at 0730 lifting off w/ N. wind."

Swainson's Hawk: (2217) 14 October (fide Patty Beasley), Corpus Christi Hawk Watch, San Patricio County.
Swainson's Hawk: (no.?) 15 October (fide Patty Beasley), Corpus Christi Hawk Watch, San Patricio County.

Patty Beasley, Corpus Christi Hawk Watch, 10/15, "Kirsten's got the color for us today: 'Yet another excellent day on the hill. We had to wear our "winter clothes" as it was quite chilly with the wind today. There were a few highlights to mention. One was the beautiful kettles of Swainson's, one stream of 200 passed directly over head with 7 dark morphs.'"

Swainson's Hawk: (no count taken) 14-15 October (Peggy Wallace), Hornsby Bend Hawk Watch, Travis County.

Peggy Wallace, Hornsby Bend Hawk Watch, Oct. 14 & 15, "It's been a couple of interesting days. I'm afraid I missed Sunday, much to my chagrin after seeing Brush Freeman's posts! Just had too much else I had to do, and I was tired! Sounds like it was extraordinary, though."

Swainson's Hawk: (~3500) 16 October (Martin Hagne), Hidalgo County.

Martin Hagne, 16 October, "This morning about 10 am while driving from Weslaco to Edinburg (the "country" way) I came across more raptors that I have seen down here in a while. I drove north up Westgate Drive (Mile 6 W). About 1/2 way between Weslaco and Edinburg I notice several kettles of Turkey Vultures over plowed fields. After slowing down a bit I saw some buteo types mixed in. After another 1/2 mile north I came across several large kettles, and some were starting to stream. After scanning the skies I started to see large numbers of TV's, Swainson's and Broad-winged hawks. A few accipiters were also mixed in. By the time I realized I'd better move along (which was maybe only 5-10 minutes) I had "counted" about 3500 Swainson's, 2000 TV's, 200 Broad-wings, and a hand full of accipiters. The area was covered in raptors for about 2 miles long, North to South, and about 1/2 mile wide. They all streamed off to the SSW at a good speed."

Texas Hawk Watch Seasonal Numbers:
Swainson's Hawk: (0) 6 October; (0) 7 October; (0) 8 October; (0 in rain) 9 October; (5) 10 October; (7) 11 October; (9) 12 October; (12) 13 October; (11) 14 October; (12) 15 October; (13) 16 October; (9) 17 October; (0) 18-19 October; (2) 20 October; (0) 21-28 October; (15) 29 October; (8) 30 October; (0) 31 October; (2) 1 November; (0) 2-5 November; (2) 6 November; (0) 7-10 November; (3) 11 November; (2) 12 November; (0) 13 November; (3) 14 and/or 15 November (168) YTD total (Sumita Prasad), Smith Point Hawk Watch, Chambers County.
Swainson's Hawk: (54) 4 October; (1825) 6 October; (1973) 7 October; (8 in bad weather) 8 October; (744) 9 October; (0, windy with low clouds) 10 October; (2161) 11 October; (3976) 12 October; (no count taken) 13 October; (2, cold wet & windy) 14 October; (2) 15 October; (?) 16 October; (11,425) YTD (Peg Wallace), Hornsby Bend Hawk Watch, Travis County.
Swainson's Hawk: (0) 7 October; (4) 8 October; (17) 9 October; (382) 10 October; (910) 11 October; (21) 12 October; (3277) 13 October; (2217) 14 October; (?) 15 October; (807) 16 October; (3) 17 October; (0) 18-19 October; (2) 20 October; (0) 20 October; (3) 21 October; (1) 22 October; (0) 23-26 October; (1) 27 October; (1) 28 October; (5) 29 October; (6) 30 October; (1 rufous morph) 31 October; (7) 1 November; (rained out) 2 November; (0, in rain) 3 November; (rained out) 4 November; (0) 5-6 November; (2) 7 November; (1) 8 November; (2) 9 November; (0) 10 November; (1) 11 November; (0) 12 November; (3) 13 November; (0) 14 November; (7910, including 8 dark morph and 1 rufous morph) YTD; (fide Patty Beasley), Corpus Christi Hawk Watch, San Patricio County.

White-tailed Kite: (1) 12 October (Darrell Vollert), Clarann Estate near Chappell Hill, Washington County [occasional].
White-tailed Hawk: (1 juvenile) 16 October (Fred Collins), his farm on Repka Road, Waller County [occasional].

Zone-tailed Hawk: (1) 26 October (Oscar Carmona); (1) 27 October (Steven Gross), Huntsville State Park, Walker County [only the second record for East Texas, the first being at the same location in February of this year].

Oscar Carmona, "This afternoon, 10/26/02 at approx. 2:45 p.m., there was a break in the rain and I decided to get out of the office and see if there were any birds moving around. I was at Huntsville State Park near the Raven Lodge facility when I noticed a large dark raptor across the lake flying over the tops of the pines turkey vulture style with a slight dihedral. I decided it is worth checking every Turkey Vulture out here since I had a Zone-tailed here at the park last February. As soon as I got my bioculars onit, the white bands on the tail, yellow bill, and yellow legs jumped out at me. I was able to stay with the bird for about 5 minutes as it flew over the pines and made an unsuccessful pass at a Downy Woodpecker that undoubtedly did not see it as a threat. I eventually lost the bird as it flew into the pines across the lake from the Prairie Branch camping area. I am starting to think that this may be the same bird I saw last winter and this bird may winter here again. This looks like the same scenario as the Zone-tailed that has wintered over the past several years in the Lost Pines at Bastrop."

Steven Gross, "I followed up on Oscar Carmona's sighting at Hunstville State Park and braved the rainy conditions to see the Zone-tailed Hawk. Not long after I set up shop on the patio of the Lodge in the park, crows were heard and seen across the lake, mobbing a dark raptor. This bird escaped their clutches and began soaring much in the fashion of the Turkey Vultures that were already aloft. The hawk had the trademark field marks of the Zone-tailed: yellow legs and cere, a very dark and feathered head (nearly if not actually black), and a banded tail. The whitish band nearest the bird's body was not fully formed, but the other tail barring was clear and distinct."

Krider's (Red-tailed) Hawk: (1) 18 October (Eddie Ray), Texas Eastman in Longview, Harrison County.
Krider's (Red-tailed) Hawk: (1) 25 November (Brush Freeman), near Soda Springs in Luling area, Bastrop County [uncommon form].

Harlan's (Red-tailed) Hawk: (1) 12 October (Shirley & Dan Wilkerson), 2 miles east of Comanche on Hwy 36, Comanche County [occasional].
Harlan's (Red-tailed) Hawk: (1) 2 November (Byron Stone, Tim Fennell), west of Granger, Williamson County [occasional].
Harlan's (Red-tailed) Hawk: (1) 13 November (Randy Pinkston), along Gooseneck Road, south of Salado, 1.3 miles south of FM 2268, Bell County [same individual that has returned to same location for past 3 - 4 winters].

Red-tailed (dark-phase) Hawk: (1) 17 November (Byron Stone, Tim Fennell, Erik Huebner), south of Thrall, CR 424?, eastern Williamson County [rare form].

Byron Stone, "Returning from the whooper sighting, we found a dark-phase Red-tailed Hawk just south of Thrall on CR 424(?). This bird was entirely chocolate brown on head, body and upper wing surfaces, had dark underwing coverts with lighter flight feathers and dark tips to the outer primaries. Legs were yellow. A stunning dark-phase raptor!"

Red-tailed Hawk (melanistic): (1 not Harlan's, nearly all black) 19 November (Brush Freeman), Shiloh Road and ponds, Bastrop County [rare].

Red-tailed Hawk: (38 in 1/2 day) 25 November (Brush Freeman), southwest Bastrop County and northeast Guadalupe County [good count].

Ferruginous Hawk: (2) 28 September (Dan Wilkerson), 1 mile west of Gustine, Comanche County [occasional].
Ferruginous Hawk: (1) 12 October (Shirley & Dan Wilkerson), Comanche County [occasional].
Ferruginous Hawk: (1 dark phase) 5 November (Rob Fergus), Webberville Park, eastern Travis County [rare].
Ferruginous Hawk: (1 light juvenile, soaring with Turkey Vultures) 10 November (Rich Kostecke), CR 220, just east of the Burnet/Bell County line [rare].
Ferruginous Hawk: (1) 23 November (Willie Sekula), 4 miles N.E. of El Oso, Karnes County [rare].
Ferruginous Hawk: (1) 30 November (Derek Muschalek, Willie Sekula), Helmers Road, DeWitt County [rare].

Golden Eagle: (1 adult) 21 November (John Eriksson), Waller, Waller County [very rare; about 5 records for county].

Crested Caracara: (24 in 1/2 day) 25 November (Brush Freeman), southwest Bastrop County and northeast Guadalupe County [good count].
Crested Caracara: (1) 29 November (Mary Dabney Wilson), Hwy 47 at Thompson Creek, Brazos County [uncommon, somewhat less so in Brazos County where this is the first report since February].

Merlins, typically a rare fall migrant, were seen this season in good numbers.
Merlin: (1) 14 September (Darrell Vollert), Clarann Estate, near Chappell Hill, Washington County [rare; first record for estate].
Merlin: (1) 15 September (David Wolf, Jesse Fagan, Robert Truss), Marion Ferry, Lake Sam Rayburn, Angelina County [early arrival; second earliest fall record for area].
Merlin: (1) 22 September (Brush Freeman), north of Granger Lake, Williamson County.
Merlin: (1) 22 September (Tim Fennell), CR 110, east Round Rock, Williamson County [photographed].
Merlin: (2, including one female of Taiga race) 28 September (Byron Stone, Tim Fennell), Friendship Park, Granger Lake, Williamson County.
Merlin: (1) 4 October (Eddie Ray), Texas Eastman in Longview, Harrison County.
Merlin: (1) 13 October (David Wolf), TX 147 bridge over Lake Sam Rayburn, San Augustine County.
Merlin: (1 flying south with determination, with storm front) 13 October (Ellen Ratoosh, Lizzie Furuta), Emerald Forest subdivision, College Station, Brazos County.
Merlin: (3) 13 October (Brush Freeman), Utley, Bastrop County [accompanying a massive migration].
Merlin: (1) 16 October (Randy Pinkston), Temple, Bell County.
Merlin: (1) 20 October (Truman Powell), Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County.
Merlin: (1) 27 October (Brush Freeman), Bastrop County.
Merlin: (1) 2 November (Rich Kostecke), McGregor Park, Lake Belton, Bell County.
Merlin: (1 flying south, just behind Sandhill Cranes) 5 November (Ellen Ratoosh), Emerald Forest subdivision, College Station, Brazos County.
Merlin: (1 female) 17 November (Byron Stone, Erik Huebner), Meadow Lake, Round Rock, Williamson County.
Merlin: (1) 20 November (Joe Yelderman, Karen Arquette, et al.), Waco wetlands, McLennan County.
Merlin: (1) 23 November (Tonna & Larry Harris-Haller, et al.), Lake Bryan, Brazos County.
Merlin: (1) 28 November (Brush Freeman), Sayer's Road, Bastrop County.

Peregrine Falcon: (1) 15-16 August (Susan & Don Schaezler), their property, Guadalupe County [occasional].
Peregrine Falcon: (1) 21 September (Cathy Liles), on stadium lights at Texas A&M football game, College Station, Brazos County [occasional].
Peregrine Falcon: (1) 25 September (Guy Luneau), Texas Eastman at Longview, Harrison County [occasional].
Peregrine Falcon: (1) 9 October (David Phalen), circling over Large Animal Clinic, then head southeast over Texas A&M University campus, College Station, Brazos County [rare].
Peregrine Falcon: (2) 13 October (Brush Freeman), Utley, Bastrop County [accompanying a massive migration].
Peregrine Falcon: (1 juvenile anatum subspecies) 13 October (Byron Stone, Tim Fennell), Meadow Lake, Round Rock, Williamson County [rare].
Peregrine Falcon: (1) 28 September; (1) 26 October (Jesse Fagan), Nacogdoches, Nacogdoches County [occasional]
Peregrine Falcon: (1) 26 October (Tyson Hart, Kim Crumpler, and, independently, Heather Mathewson and Chris Niebuhr), Kyle Field during football game at Texas A&M University, College Station, Brazos County [occasional].
Peregrine Falcon: (1) 30 October (fide Leslie Calvert), near Bryan High School, Bryan, Brazos County [occasional].
Peregrine Falcon: (1) 31 October (Susan Schaezler), her property, Guadalupe County [occasional].

Prairie Falcon: (1) 11 November (David Cimprich), about 2 mi. south of Briggs at the eastern edge of Burnet County [rare].
Prairie Falcon: (1) 16 or 17 and 24 November (Brush Freeman), off 969 west of Bastrop, Bastrop County [rare].
Prairie Falcon: (1) 22 November (Sheridan Coffey, et al.), Schaezler property on Old Wiederstein Road, Guadalupe County [rare].
Prairie Falcon: (1) 23-24 and 29-30 November (Susan Schaezler), Guadalupe County [rare].

TURKEYS THROUGH CRANES

Wild Turkey: (3) 27 August (Darrell Vollert, Dougal Cameron), oxbow lakes property off FM2447 in Brazos River bottom, east of Chappell Hill, Washington County [rare].
Wild Turkey: (8) 6 October (Jesse Fagan, Robert Truss), south of Chireno, Nacogdoches County [occasional].
Wild Turkey: (3) 29 October (Brush Freeman), McKinney Roughs, Bastrop County [uncommon, not often reported].

Northern Bobwhite: (1 heard) 1 August (Darrell Vollert), heard calling in Chappell Hills subdivision from the New Year's Creek bottom, Washington County [occasional].
Northern Bobwhite: (2) 1 August (Darrell Vollert, Tim Kiphart), Brazos River Road, east of Chappell Hill, Washington County [occasional].
Northern Bobwhite: (10 in family group) 25 August (Peter Barnes), north unit of Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County [very rare for WMA; Peter's first record for the WMA.].
Northern Bobwhite: (1 female, 4+ chicks) 7 September (Tim Fennell, Tim Hissam, Kathy McCormick), Granger Lake, Williamson County [uncommon].
Northern Bobwhite: (1 male) 19 September (Ellen Ratoosh), in the planting strip of an apartment complex parking lot at the corner of Southwest Parkway and Anderson, up the street from Bee Creek Park, College Station, Brazos County [rare; unusual location; continues a trend of past spring where bobwhites were sighted in several urban environments.].
Northern Bobwhite: (5) 31 October (Susan Schaezler), her property, Guadalupe County.

King Rail: (1 or 2) 2 November (Byron Stone, Tim Fennell), marsh below Granger Lake dam, Williamson County [rare].

Byron Stone, "The most remarkable finds of the day, however, were in the marsh below Granger Dam. While walking the edge of the cattails, we heard many Soras call in response to handclaps. Near the western edge of the marsh, however, we heard a loud, descending series of grunts which could only be one of the Rallus rails. It was very throaty, sounding like the "engine turning over" call of Clapper Rail, with which I am familiar. We had a copy of the NGS tape of bird songs & calls. We played Virginia calls and got no response. When we played the taped calls of King Rail, however, we had an immediate response consisting of a repeat of the descending grunts followed by a few single "kek" notes. We waited a bit and played the taped call again, and had another immediate response, this time from very near the tape recorder. We did not see the bird, and it did not respond to a third play of the tape, but we are fairly certain that we had 1 or possibly 2 KING RAILS vocalizing in this marsh, based on the response of one or more birds in the marsh to the taped King Rail calls, and by the identical appearance of the live birds call to the taped call, consisting of a very loud, deep, throaty descending series of grunts rather like a Mallard alarm call. This is deeper and louder than any calls of Virgina that I am familiar with."

Virginia Rail: (1 heard) 10 November (Rich Kostecke), Union Grove WMA, Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir, Bell County [no fall records included on 2000 Bell County checklist].

Sora: (1 heard) 13 August (Keith Arnold), Country Club Lake, Bryan, Brazos County [earliest fall sighting for Central Brazos Valley, the previous record being 22 Aug 1981 in Lee County; the only other local record for August is 28 Aug 1959].
Sora: (1) 29 September; (2 adults, 1 juvenile) 20 October; (1) 3 November (Peter Barnes), Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County [uncommon in October; occasional in November].
Sora: (1) 16 November (Rich Kostecke), Union Grove WMA, Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir, Bell County [occasional in November].

Purple Gallinule: (1 adult, 1 juvenile) 20 August; (2 adults, 4 immature) 2 October (Georgette Guernsey), Kurth Lake, Angelina County [occasional].

David Wolf, in Pineywoods Scissor-Tales, "Six Purple Gallinules (2 adults) were still at Kurth Lake on Oct 2, our lates date ever (GG). ... This is currently our only site in our region for this species, but in the past they have not been seen after late August."

Continuous rains at the end of October held back Sandhill Crane migration, but as soon as the weather cleared the cranes passed through in unprecedented numbers, spurring multiple reports and many comments even among non-birders.
Sandhill Crane: (~1137 in 21 flocks, 6 more heard but too far to count) 31 October; (119) 1 November; (20-22+ flocks) 5 November (Brush Freeman), Utley, Bastrop County

Brush Freeman, 31 October, "As of 4:45pm I have noted the best movement of Sandhills to date today with a count of ~1137 in 21 flocks (avg. 54 per flock). I also heard at least 6 other distant flocks beyond the tree line and my visual horizon which were thus were not counted."

Brush Freeman, 5 November, "Before I left for town the sandhills began coming over, when I returned home at almost 3:00 they were pouring over. I counted at least 20-22 flocks that I could see and there were several other distant flocks of almost the same number that I could only hear."

Sandhill Crane: (5) 31 October; (150+ in groups of 60+, 60+, 17 and 15; then later more until 5:30 PM, mostly in flocks of 70-100) 5 November; (large flock) 6 November (Shirley Wilkerson), over Kurten, Brazos County [uncommon].
Sandhill Crane: (120 in 1 flock) 5 November; (2 flocks of ~30 each within 10 minutes) 6 November; (1 flock heard) 7 November (Ellen Ratoosh), Emerald Forest subdivision, College Station, Brazos County.
Sandhill Crane: (~300 in 6 flocks in 1 hour) 5 November (Rob Fergus), Webberville Park, eastern Travis County.
Sandhill Crane: (47 in one flock, flying south) 5 November (Bert Frenz), over Nantucket subdivision, College Station, Brazos County.
Sandhill Crane: (~55 in 1 flock) 6 November (Rich Kostecke), over West Fort Hood, Bell County.
Sandhill Crane: (~600 in 7 flocks) 5 November; (500+ in 4 flocks) 6 November (Darrell Vollert), his residence on FM1155, Chappell Hill, Washington County.

Darrell Vollert, 5 November, "What a gorgeous day we had today! ... This afternoon and evening seven large flocks of Sandhill Cranes flew over my residence. Some were flying really low. One flock of about 20 cranes passed over shortly before 6pm and they had their legs down as if they were going to land nearby. A total of approximately 600 cranes passed over this afternoon. I don't think I've ever seen that many fly over this area in one day before."

Sandhill Crane: (160+ in 4 flocks) 7 November (Darrell Vollert), over FM2447 near New Year's Creek, Washington County.
Sandhill Crane: (225 with 1 Whooping Crane) 17 November (Byron Stone, Tim Fennell, Erik Huebner); ("many" still present) 24 November; (13 at CR 435) 27 November (Tim Fennell), south of Thrall, eastern Williamson County.
Sandhill Crane: (61 on ground) 19 November (Brush Freeman), Shiloh Road and ponds, Bastrop County.
Sandhill Crane: (9) 19 November (Fred Collins), Betka Road, Waller County.

Whooping Cranes, real rarities in migration, were found this fall in an unprecedented number of sightings:
Whooping Crane: (2 adults, 1 juvenile) 4 November (Kiel Kenwood, Frank & Jeanette Bumgardner, Bill & Nada Wareham, E.G. White-Swift, Karen Arquette), for ~3 hours in afternoon in a plowed field off of Lake Shore Drive between Stein Beck Bend Road and the Brazos River, McLennan County [casual].

Frank Bumgardner, "This afternoon between 2:15 and 3:25 there were a family of three Whooping Cranes in a plowed field off of Lake Shore Drive between Stein Beck Bend Road and the Brazos River. Two adults and onne young. Observed by Frank & Jeanette Bumgardner, Bill & Nada Wareham, and E.G. White-Swift. … I want to give credit to Kiel Kenwood who originally located the family of Whooping Cranes in Waco."

Whooping Crane: (2) 5 November (Karen Arquette), 8 miles north of Waco and about 1/4 mile west of I-35, McLennan County [casual].

Karen Arquette, 5 November, "I heard cranes again outside at 9:45am. They were flying pretty low and at the tail end of one flock I saw two Whooping Cranes . I'm 8 miles north of Waco and about 1/4 mile west of I35. Great Backyard bird !!!"

Whooping Crane: (8) 5 November (Elizabeth & Richard Moon), north of Florence, Williamson County [very rare].
Whooping Crane: (1) 17 November (Byron Stone, Tim Fennell, Erik Huebner); (1) 22 November (Mike Austin); (1) 23 November (Lynn Barber), west side of CR 435, southeast of Thrall, eastern Williamson County [casual migrant; photographed by Tim Fennell].

Byron Stone, 17 November, "Notes have already been posted with the most exciting news - we found a single adult Whooping Crane foraging on the ground with a large flock of Sandhill Cranes on the west side of CR 345 southeast of Thrall. ... Whooping Crane - 1, Thrall, still can't believe it but we did get photos."

PLOVERS THROUGH SANDPIPERS

Black-bellied Plover: (1 adult in breeding plumage) 19 August (Darrell Vollert), Brazos bottoms at FM2447, near Chappell Hill, Washington County [rare].

Semipalmated Plover: (5) 15 September (Peter Barnes), north unit, Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County [rare; first record for WMA].

Peter Barnes, "A morning at Richland Creek WMA yielded 61 species. Although species diversity was relatively low, there were quite a few birds of interest. The ponds at the far north end of the North Unit have been drained, and there are extensive mudflats. These ponds can only be accessed by walking from the "blind" at the north end of the North Unit. The shorebirds are quite spread out and the walk around the ponds is 2-3 miles. Water is being pumped into the first large pond on the right near the entrance to the North Unit. A few dabbling ducks were present and more should be there soon. The highlights were 12 species of shorebirds and many large waterbirds in the North Unit."

Bert Frenz, "The Semipalmated Plover is rare anywhere in the Oaks & Prairies and I am not surprised it has not been previously found at the WMA. There are about 60 records for the area, but most of these are at Granger Lake in Williamson and at WMARSS in McLennan, sites that are water areas of Blackland Prairies. The Post Oak Savannah corridor seems to pick up only a few of these migrants."

Semipalmated Plover: (1) 6 September (David Wolf); (16) 8 September (David Wolf, Jesse Fagan); (21) 10 September (David Wolf, Robert Truss); (8) 16 September (Georgette Guernsey); (21) 15 September (David Wolf, et al.); (6) 18 September (Georgette Guernsey), Marion Ferry area, Angelina County [uncommon].
Semipalmated Plover: (1) 19 September (Randy Pinkston), Temple, Bell County [rare].
Semipalmated Plover: (1) 21 September (Pineywood's Audubon field trip), Marion's Ferry, Angelina County [uncommon and somewhat late].
Semipalmated Plover: (1) 13 October (David Wolf), Attoyac arm below TX 147 bridge over Lake Sam Rayburn, San Augustine County [late migrant during cold front; occasional].
Semipalmated Plover: (1) 8 October (Tim Fennell); (1) 20 October (Tim Fennell, Byron Stone, David Stone), Meadow Lake, Round Rock, Williamson County [occasional; a bit late; photographed].

Mountain Plover: (19) 20 October (Tim Fennell, Byron Stone, David Stone); (34) 22 October (Tim Fennell); (41) 25 October (Tim Fennell); (10) 26 October (Tim Fennell); (14) 27 October (Tim Fennell); (13) 2 November (Byron Stone, Tim Fennell); (31) 10 November (Tim Fennell); (4) 17 November (Byron Stone, Tim Fennell, Erik Huebner); (28) 22 November (Mike Austin); (54) 27 November (Tim Fennell), Granger area, Williamson County [rare in region, but locally common here; photographed].

Locations:
1. 'megafield' bounded by Alligator Rd on north, CR 352 on east and CR 353 on south. -- seen here on 20 Oct, 22 Oct, 25 Oct, 26 Oct, 27 Oct, 22 Nov, 27 Nov
2. field southwest of "L" turn on CR 359/360 - 26 Oct, 10 Nov
3. plowed field near Bell Co. line, east of Granger - 2 Nov
4. north side of CR 346 - 10 Nov, 17 Nov

American Avocet: ("a group") 13 October (George Russell), north Lake Livingston, San Jacinto County [occasional].
American Avocet: (1) 20 October (Jesse Fagan, David Wolf), TX 147 bridge over Lake Sam Rayburn, San Augustine County [occasional].
American Avocet: (4-5) 4-5 October; (8) 22 October (David Ringer, Jason Pike), Lake O' the Pines, Marion County [occasional].
American Avocet: (19) 26 October (Jesse Fagan), Nacogdoches ponds, Nacogdoches County [occasional].
American Avocet: (28) 27 October (Jesse Fagan, David Wolf), TX 147 bridge over Lake Sam Rayburn, San Augustine County [occasional].
American Avocet: (5) 2 November (Rich Kostecke), Temple's Lake Park, Lake Belton, Bell County [late migrant, occasional].
American Avocet: (1) 3 November (Peter Barnes), Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County [late migrant; occasional].
American Avocet: (1) 9 November (Rich Kostecke, David Cimprich), southeast Bell County [uncommon].

Solitary Sandpiper: (1) 19 November (Brush Freeman), Shiloh Road and ponds, Bastrop County [rare in November].

Willet: (1) 13 August (Brush Freeman), Utley, Bastrop County [rare].

Upland Sandpiper: (1) 2 November (Byron Stone, Tim Fennell), Granger Lake area, Williamson County [very rare in November].

Whimbrel: (4) 21 August (Lawrence Buford), Sore Finger Wildlife Area, Granger Lake, Williamson County [very rare].

Long-billed Curlew: (2) 15 September (Tim Fennell), Meadow Lake, Round Rock, Williamson County [rare in September].

Long-billed Curlew: (1) 15 September (Tim Fennell), Granger Lake area, Williamson County [rare in September].

Long-billed Curlew: (1) 28 September (Guy Luneau, et al., NETFO hawk watch), flying over Lake O' the Pines, Marion County [casual in East Texas].

fide Peter Barnes, NETFO Newsletter, September, "The most notable shorebird reported was the rare Long-billed Curlew that flew over Lake O' the Pines during the NETFO hawk watch on Sept 28 (GL et al.) ."

Ruddy Turnstone: (2 adults) 19 August (Darrell Vollert), Brazos bottoms at FM2447, near Chappell Hill, Washington County [casual].

Sanderling: (2) 19 September (Frank & Jeanette Bumgardner, John Muldrow), Lake Waco, McLennan County [rare].
Sanderling: (2) 3 November (Peter Barnes), Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County [rare].

Semipalmated Sandpiper: (5) 15 September; (7) 22 September (Peter Barnes), north unit, Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County [rare in Post Oak savannah corridor].

Baird's Sandpiper: (5) 17 August (Chris Harrison); (5+) 18 August (Darrell Vollert, Ellen Ratoosh, Lizzie Furuta), turf farms along FM 50, Brazos bottoms, Burleson County [occasional].
Baird's Sandpiper: (2) 10 September (James Phelps), Turf Farm off FM 50, Burleson County [occasional].
Baird's Sandpiper: (3) 14 September (Louis Debetaz, Jack Windsor), Ryan Lake, Angelina County [occasional].

Pectoral Sandpiper: (2) 16 September (Randy Pinkston), pond on south edge of Temple, Bell County [occasional].
Pectoral Sandpiper: (1) 25 August; (4) 22 September (Peter Barnes), north unit of Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County [occasional].

Dunlin: (1) 13 October (Frank Bumgardner, John Muldrow, David Shackelford), WMARSS, Waco, McLennan County [rare].

Frank Bumbardner, "One Dunlin was with a Semipalmated Sandpiper and a flock of Least at the Waco sewage ponds. ... The dunlin was only the third that I have seen in the county [in 20+ years]."

Dunlin: (3) 13 and 20 October (Jesse Fagan, David Wolf), TX 147 bridge over Lake Sam Rayburn, San Augustine County [occasional].
Dunlin: (1) 27 October (Jesse Fagan, David Wolf), TX 147 bridge over Lake Sam Rayburn, San Augustine County [occasional].

Buff-breasted Sandpiper: (100+) 17 August (Chris Harrison); (100+) 18 August (Darrell Vollert, Ellen Ratoosh); (250+) 10 September; (50+) 12 September (James Phelps), turf farms along FM 50, Brazos bottoms, Burleson County [occasional in Central Brazos Valley].

Chris Harrison, 17 August, "First time I have seen Buff-breasteds in the area in the fall migration and I have never seen them that close before (of course, we didn't have a camera!)."

Darrell Vollert, 18 August, "We saw much of the same yesterday that you saw on Saturday morning at the turf farm. Actually, Buff-breasted Sandpipers are quite reliable at the turf farm during fall migration. Last year Ellen and I birded the turf farm on Sept. 2 and located 8 Buff-breasteds. On Sept. 16 last year we found 100+ Buff-breasteds."

Buff-breasted Sandpiper: (1 juvenile) 16-19 September (Randy Pinkston), pond on south edge of Temple, Bell County [occasional].

Short-billed Dowitcher: (2) 15 September (Peter Barnes), north unit, Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County [rare].
Short-billed Dowitcher: (2 juvenile) 15 September (David Wolf, Jesse Fagan, Robert Truss), Marion Ferry, Lake Sam Rayburn, Angelina County [occasional].

Long-billed Dowitcher: (1 juvenile) 7 September; (2 in basic plumage) 18 October (Randy Pinkston), Temple, Bell County [occasional].
Long-billed Dowitcher: (13 in calling in flight) 5 October (Ellen Ratoosh, Darrell Vollert, RBAS field trip), Brazos River bottoms, Burleson County [rare in Central Brazos Valley].
Long-billed Dowitcher: (180+) 13 October; (49) 20 October; (35) 27 October (Jesse Fagan, David Wolf), TX 147 bridge over Lake Sam Rayburn, San Augustine County [occasional].
Dowitcher species: (35) 27 October (Jesse Fagan, David Wolf), TX 147 bridge over Lake Sam Rayburn, San Augustine County [occasional].
Dowitcher species: (3) 9 November (Rich Kostecke, David Cimprich), Milam County [occasional].
Dowitcher species: (6) 29 November (Peter Barnes), north unit of Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County [Long-billed is occasional to uncommon; Short-billed is rare].

Peter Barnes, "At Richland Creek WMA in Freestone County (north-central Texas) yesterday, I observed 6 silent dowitchers in basic plumage. I had a close view of one bird about 50 feet away. As it flew off directly away from me, I had a decent view of the tail, which showed white and dark bars of approximately equal width. The dark bars were certainly not wider than the light bars. This characteristic suggests Short-billed Dowitcher, yet the references that I have aailable state that Long-billed is the species that migrates later in fall and occasionally winters in north-central Texas."

Wilson's Snipe: (1) 4 September (Tim Fennell); (1) 14 September (Byron Stone, Kathy McCormack, Jenny Rasmussen, Stu Wilson), Meadow Lake, Round Rock, Williamson County [early arrival; rare].

American Woodcock: (1) 7 November (Ann & Kent Richardson), 103E, Angelina County [occasional].

Wilson's Phalarope: (2) 17 August (Chris Harrison), turf farms along FM 50, Brazos bottoms, Burleson County [occasional].
Wilson's Phalarope: (9) 18 August; (8) 19 August (Darrell Vollert), Brazos bottoms at FM2447, near Chappell Hill, Washington County [rare].
Wilson's Phalarope: (2) 15 September (Peter Barnes), north unit, Richland Creek WMA, Freestone County [occasional].
Wilson's Phalarope: (1) 25 November (Brush Freeman), Salt Lake, just south of Luling in extreme northeast Guadalupe County [very rare in November].

GULLS AND TERNS

Laughing Gull: (2, apparent 2nd winter birds) 21 September (Tim Fennell, Byron Stone), Granger Lake dam, Williamson County [rare].

Bonaparte's Gull: (1 adult) 25 October (John Muldrow, fide Willie Sekula), Lake Waco, McLennan County [early arrival; occasional].
Bonaparte's Gull: (4) 11 November; (~30) 23 November (Rich Kostecke), Union Grove WMA, Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir, Bell County [listed as rare in fall on Bell County checklist; regionally it is uncommon].

California Gull: (1) 23 November (Tim Fennell), Lake O' the Pines, Marion County [no records for East Texas; photographed].

Tim Fennell, "While visiting family in northeast TX this weekend, we birded Lake O' the Pines (northeast of Longview) for a couple of hours this morning. The most interesting birds were a Western Grebe (seen from Lakeshore Park looking towards Island View) and a possible winter adult California Gull (at the swimming beach by the boat ramp at Lakeshore Park. I'm not the best with gulls but hopefully some of my photos will turn out to confirm if this is the correct ID or not)."

Herring Gull: (3 adults flying south along the river) 5 October (Ellen Ratoosh, Darrell Vollert, RBAS field trip), Brazos River bottoms, Burleson County [rare].
Herring Gull: (1) 27 October (Jesse Fagan, David Wolf), TX 147 bridge over Lake Sam Rayburn, San Augustine County [occasional].
Herring Gull: (1) 2 November (Carroll Moore, Jack Windsor), Marion's Ferry area and the Angelina River Bridge area, Angelina County [occasional].
Herring Gull: (2 first-winter) 3 November (Randy Pinkston), pond between Belton and Temple, Bell County [rare].

Gull-billed Tern: (1) 19 September (Brush Freeman), Shipp Lake, Bastrop County [casual].

Caspian Terns were reported in greater numbers than usual in Central and East Texas.
Caspian Tern: (1) 7 September (Tim Fennell, Tim Hissam, Kathy McCormick), Lake Alcoa, Milam County [rare].
Caspian Tern: (2) 15 September (Tim Fennell, Chris Merkord, Jennifer Reidy), Granger Lake dam, Williamson County [rare].
Caspian Tern: (2 seen from Cassells-Boykin) 6 September (David Wolf); (1 above Etoile) 8 September; (6) 10 September (David Wolf, Robert Truss); (8 in 3 groups) 15 September (David Wolf, et al.); (5) 16 September (Georgette Guernsey), Marion Ferry area, Angelina County [uncommon].

David Wolf, "We have far more records of Caspian Tern in September than any other month, but this year migrants seemed almost common on Rayburn."

Caspian Tern: (2) 16 September (Brush Freeman), Utley, Bastrop County [rare].

Brush Freeman, "Whilst on the couch reading, door open as usual, when I heard the distinctive, distant calls of a Caspian Tern flying approaching from the north. I hurried out and found a place where I could view the sky and sure enough there were two Caspian Terns, still calling, flying overhead fairly low. New yard bird. They were flying south. These are fairly notable for Bastrop County though occur with some frequency at Lake Bastrop and Fayetteville. They are pretty regular in the fall at Lake Alcoa and points further east and southeast. I am a bit west of their normal migration route."

Brush Freeman, "Surely the Sooty Tern in Ft. Worth and the Black Skimmers in Dewitt were related to the TD but that has passed now. I don't know about Caspians, I feel they have to pass through here unseen by most of us in small numbers, as they are not as rare as the Austin Checklist makes them out to be. I could go with rare to very uncommon, but this may be because there is a lack of observers out and about at the times of year when they are most likely to occur. Lk. Alcoa, Lk. Bastrop and Fayetteville rarely are birded yet there are almost always terns, pelicans, waders/storks etc on them in season . Lake Bastrop , now that it is very restricted with only one public place from which to view the lake (at a price) is now virtually never birded. I haven't been there in a long time and I don't know of anyone else that has. These three lakes are all power plant lakes and for whatever reason always have larids of some type whilst flat Reservoirs Like Granger, Georgetown, Belton, Shippe, Gonzales, Sommerville, etc. seem not to attract the birds in any numbers. Would be interesting to know why that is."

Caspian Tern: (4) 28 September (Guy Luneau, et al., NETFO hawk watch), Lake O' the Pines, Marion County [uncommon].
Caspian Tern: (8) 20 October; (2) 27 October (Jesse Fagan, David Wolf), TX 147 bridge over Lake Sam Rayburn, San Augustine County [occasional].
Caspian Tern: (2) 31 October (Oscar Carmona), over Lake Raven, Huntsville State Park, Walker County [occasional].
Caspian Tern: (1) 2 November (Carroll Moore, Jack Windsor), Marion's Ferry area and the Angelina River Bridge area, Angelina County [occasional].
Caspian Tern: (2) 3 November (Peter Barnes), outside Richland Creek WMA, on FM488, near the Richland Creek reservoir dam, 400 yards from the intersection with Hwy 287, Freestone County [occasional].

Common Tern: (1) 19 September (Frank & Jeanette Bumgardner, John Muldrow), Lake Waco, McLennan County [rare].

Forster's Tern: (300+) 4 October (Georgette Guernsey), Lake Sam Rayburn, Angelina County [good count, abundant].

fide Nancy Bird, "from Etoile Park looking across at the Angelina County shoreline she found 200+ White Pelican, 300+ Foster's Terns and 300+ Egret species. This was shorty after the hurricane hit the Louisiana coast."

Forster's Tern: (10,000+) 12 October; ("fewer") 13 October (George Russell), south of the Hwy 19 Trinity River bridge in north Lake Livingston, Trinity/Walker/San Jacinto counties intersection [unusually large number, moving with cold front].

George Russell, "12 Oct. Lake Livingston (north). Waves of White Pelicans numbering between 7.5 thousand and 10 thousand. Also at least 10K terns and other shore birds as well as several thousand cormorants, 1000+ great and snowy egrets, several hundred great blues. ... Bert, the terns were inhabiting floating logs in an area known as 'the jungle' which is south of the Hwy 19 Trinity River Bridge. They were crowded wing-to-wing, much like the purple martins in migration on practically every one of hundreds of floating logs over a huge area of perhaps hundreds of acres. I called them 'peeps' because there was such a chorus of their chirping."

Least Tern: (1 immature) 16 August (Georgette Guernsey), Kurth Lake, Angelina County [first county record].
Least Tern: (1) 17 August (Dick Pike), Nacogdoches sewage ponds, Nacogdoches County [occasional].
Least Tern: (2) 22 August (Brush Freeman), Shipp and Stagner's Lakes, east of Smithville, Bastrop County [rare].

Black Tern: (2) 3 August (Louis Debetaz, Jack Windsor); (8) 16 August (Georgette Guernsey); (4) 17 August (Louis Debetaz, Charles Kent, Carroll Moore, Jack Windsor); (3) 20 August (Georgette Guernsey), Kurth Lake, Angelina County [early August sighting is rare; others uncommon].
Black Tern: (26+) 17 August (Darrell Vollert), Brazos bottoms at FM2447, near Chappell Hill, Washington County [occasional].
Black Tern: (1) 29 September (Louis Debetaz, Jack Windsor), Kurth Lake, Angelina County [late migrant].

Black Skimmer: (3) 9 September (Brush Freeman), near Guadalupe River and Hwy 183, DeWitt County [casual; appearance coincides with Tropical Storm Faye].

Brush Freeman, "I was driving this morning back home and had 3 Skimmers flying south about 2 miles north of the intersection of the Guadalupe River and Highway 183 in Dewitt Co. It is about the only birding I have been able to do despite the fact I spent the whole storm on the coast and we were right in the eye for hours."

DOVES AND PIGEONS

Eurasian Collared-Dove: (9) 13 August (David Henderson), Gonzales area, Gonzales County [uncommon].
Eurasian Collared-Dove: (6 shot) 1-2 September (fide Keith Arnold), near intersection of FM50 and FM60, Burleson County [still rare in this county].
Eurasian Collared-Dove: (pair) present everyday during winter; (~10) summer (Mark Gray), near Wal-Mart, Bastrop, Bastrop County.
Eurasian Collared-Dove: (no.?) 29 September (fide Brush Freeman), Falls County [first county record].

Brush Freeman, 15 October, "Here are two more ECDO counties for the map. Kaufman Co. per note below and Falls Co. from a note I got on the coast last week. (/29 in the case of the Falls Co, report.)."

Eurasian Collared-Dove: (1) 14 October (Rich Kostecke), Stillhouse Hollow Reservoir, Bell County.
Eurasian Collared-Dove: (2) 16 October (James Phelps), BTU Power Plant on Atkins Road at Finfeather Lake, Brazos County [rare; new location].
Eurasian Collared-Dove: (1) 14 November (Fred Collins), Waller, Waller County [uncommon?].
Eurasian Collared-Dove: (6) 25 November (Brush Freeman), Luling area, Bastrop County.
Eurasian Collared-Dove: (1) 7 September (Tim Fennell, Tim Hissam, Kathy McCormick), CR 419; (1) 15 Septe