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


Crisp painting © Margie Crisp 2009

The Hornsby Bend Bird Observatory is a program of the Austin Water Utility's Center for Environmental Research at the Hornsby Bend Biosolids Management Plant. The 1200-acre Hornsby Bend site is located in southeast Austin, Texas. More information about Hornsby Bend can be found at the Center for Environmental Research website.

NOTICE: I am happy to announce that as of today Friday March 22, 2013 the Hornsby Bend site is fully reopened for visitors. We had opened the Platt Lane entrance last week along with part of the River Trail. As of today, visitors can come through our main gate to visit the treatment ponds and use all of the River Trail from Pond 2 to Platt Lane. Please be aware of increased traffic on our main entrance road as clean up, construction, and normal plant activity makes it a busy road. Do not block this main entrance road.

The "General Public" entrance gate to the ponds is open for visitor vehicles. No visitor vehicles are allowed through the operations area gate. We now have a security guard at the gate 24 hours every day, so visitors are required to sign in at the main gate. Our hours are sunrise to sunset every day. Spring is here with birds and blooms in abundance. Welcome back to Hornsby Bend!

For more information - Kevin.Anderson@austintexas.gov

    50 Years of Birding: In 2009, The AWU Center for Environmental Research and the Travis Audubon Society celebrated 50 years of birding at Hornsby Bend. Program details and early history...

    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: The Travis Audubon Society funded Hawkwatch for 9 consecutive years, but was no longer able to do after the 2008 count. Peg Wallace conducted the 2001, 2002, 2008 and 2009 Hawkwatches, and hopes to be on duty as much as her schedule permits this year. The 2009 data are available online, as well as the data for 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001 and 2000.
    Monthly Bird Survey

    Second Saturday 7:00 am and 4:00pm

    Starting in 1999, the monthly Bird Survey has taken place at 7am and 4pm on the 2nd Saturday of the month. We meet at Hornsby Bend in the Center for Environmental Research at 7am for the morning survey [Coffee and donuts at 6:30am] 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 coordinator@hornsbybend.org 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 coordinator@hornsbybend.org 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

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© Copyright 2001-13 Hornsby Bend Bird Observatory All rights reserved.
Email: coordinator@hornsbybend.org
www.hornsbybend.org (Last modified Mar-25-13)