Hornsby Bend Bird Observatory
A cooperative partnership promoting
the study and understanding of birds in Central Texas


Birds of Hornsby Bend
    Seasonal guide
    Bird location guide
    Checklist
    Recent sightings!

Monitoring Results
    Monthly bird surveys
    Hawkwatch data
    Shorebird data
    Christmas bird counts
    Owl monitoring

HBBO Happenings
    Calendar
    Projects
    Online presentations

Maps
    Getting here
    When you're here

Contacts

The Hornsby Bend Bird Observatory is located near Austin, Texas at the Austin Water Utility's Hornsby Bend Biosolids Management Plant. It is hosted by the Austin Water Utility's Center for Environmental Research at Hornsby Bend. More information about Hornsby Bend can be found at the Center for Environmental Research website.

Hornsby Bend is open to visitors 7 days a week from dawn to dark. Please only use the marked "Public Entrance" to access the ponds (see photo). See the Bird location guide page for more information about the site.

    Special Report: Eric Carpenter's Big Year at Hornsby Bend. Eric's report on his 2005 efforts provides a lot of good information about Hornsby Bend.

    Hawkwatch: Peg Wallace is the Hornsby Bend Hawkwatch Coordinator for 2008. Peg conducted the 2001 and 2002 Hawkwatches, and split the time last year with Gary Newgord . This is the 9th consecutive year for the Travis Audubon Society funded Hawkwatch. The watch will run from August 20th through mid October. The 2008 data are available online, as well as the data for 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001 and 2000.
    Monthly Bird Survey

    Second Saturday 7:00 am and 4:00pm

    Now in its 7th year, the monthly Bird Survey takes place on the 2nd Saturday of the month - 7am and 4pm. We meet at Hornsby Bend in the Center for Environmental Research at 7am for the morning survey [Coffee and donuts at 630am] and 4pm for the afternoon survey. All levels of birders are welcome - the survey is a great way to improve your skills since we form teams matching experienced and novice birders. In the morning, we have teams covering different areas of the Hornsby Bend facility and count numbers of all birds seen. We meet again around 11am to tally up the species. The afternoon involves looking for species missed that morning, and we go until sundown. If you'd like to join us for the morning or the afternoon or both just show up at 7am or 4pm. We meet at the CER building which is the first building at the entrance to Hornsby Bend. We'd love your help!
    For more information contact:
    Eric Carpenter at ecarpe@gmail.com


    Monthly Birding Fieldtrip

    Third Saturday Jan-Nov 7:30 am - 11 am

    Our free monthly birding fieldtrip takes place on the third Saturday of each month and departs from the parking lot of the Center for Environmental Research at 7:30 am and ends by 11:00 am. The fieldtrip leader always is a gifted birder who knows Hornsby Bend well, so you are bound to get a promised 50 species minimum and explore new parts of Hornsby Bend.
    For more information contact:
    Kevin Anderson at Kevin.Anderson@ci.austin.tx.us or 512-972-1960

    Ecological Literacy Days
    Last Saturday of every month 9 am - 1 pm
    Combining volunteer work with learning about local ecology, the Ecological Literacy Day at Hornsby Bend begins with several hours of outdoor work - ranging from trail maintenance to habitat restoration to work in the native plant nursery - and ends with at least an hour of learning about local ecology - birds, bugs, and more! Wear boots and work clothing, and be sure to bring your binoculars.
    For more information contact:
    Kevin Anderson at Kevin.Anderson@ci.austin.tx.us or 512-972-1960

    Christmas Bird Count data
    The Austin Christmas Bird Count is the longest running citizen science bird monitoring program in Central Texas. A venerable tradition, the count has turned up 263 species on 43 Austin Christmas Bird Counts since 1953. The data from these counts now is available here for study.

    Shorebird Surveys
    Survey forms with instructions are available for download here (694K PDF file - requires free Adobe Acrobat Reader®), and in the mailboxes at the entrance to the ponds. Count the number of each species at the ponds, fill out the form, and return it to the box on your way out. The shorebird survey data will be posted on this website as it is compiled.
    For more information contact:
    Eric Carpenter at ecarpe@gmail.com


© Copyright 2001-08 Hornsby Bend Bird Observatory All rights reserved.
Email: Kevin.Anderson@ci.austin.tx.us
www.hornsbybend.org (Lastified Sep-10-08)