Fan of Birds: bird photographs from Austin, Texas, and a few trips

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

Mills Pond, Wells Branch · May 2025

Field note

Calling with bill open. 594mm · f/6.3 · 1/1000s · ISO 640

Since March 2022 we have logged 379 species on our checklists and photographed 79, in 23 places.

Most of these photographs come from parks around Austin, Texas. The rest are from trips to Iceland, the Netherlands, and Massachusetts.

By season

Every photograph here was taken between March and May, so we sort birds by season from our Texas eBird checklists instead. Each caption says where and when the photo was taken.

All four seasons

Fall in Central Texas

Fall migration in Texas starts as early as July. Hawks start moving through in late August, and their migration peaks by the second week of November. By November, ducks and coots are settling in on the Hornsby Bend ponds for the winter.

Sources: Travis Audubon, fall migration, Travis Audubon, Hornsby Bend

61 of our 315 Texas checklists fall in September–November, with 130 species on them.

Birding in Texas and Austin

Texas has a state list of 682 bird species, as of October 2026. Austin sits on the Central Flyway, one of the four major bird migration routes.

The city also sits on the Balcones Escarpment, which formed along a fault zone about 40 million years ago. To the west is an uplifted limestone plateau of steep, rocky hills. To the east is the flat Blackland Prairie. Each side has its own birds, and many species reach the edge of their range here. The Golden-fronted Woodpecker, a western bird, is at its eastern limit, and the eastern Red-bellied Woodpecker is near the edge of its nesting range.

More than 400 species have been recorded within 60 miles of Austin. We have logged 315 checklists and 222 species in Texas since 2022, 294 of those checklists in Travis County. These are the five places we go back to most.

Sources: Texas Bird Records Committee, TPWD, Birds of the Austin area

Windy Point, Lake Travis

Bob Wentz Park at Windy Point, Travis County

A 211-acre Travis County park on Lake Travis, with an open, rocky shoreline. Travis Audubon names it, with the Hornsby Bend ponds, as one of the best places for shorebirds in August. Killdeer were on 52 of our 59 checklists here, and Ospreys on 21, about half of them in October and November.

Tip: Open daily 8 am to 6 pm. Entry is $5 a person, and the booth takes cash only.

59 of our eBird checklists127 species on them63 photos here

We photographed Killdeer, Canyon Wren, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Great Blue Heron, and 24 more.

More about Windy Point, Lake Travis

Sources: Travis County Parks, Travis Audubon, July, Travis Audubon, August

River Place Trail

River Place Nature Trail, from Woodland Park

A nature trail west of Austin, about 6 miles there and back, with more than 900 log steps. It follows a creek under limestone cliffs, through oak and juniper woods. Golden-fronted Woodpeckers were on 16 of our 25 checklists here. We photographed a Golden-fronted and a Red-bellied Woodpecker here on the same April afternoon.

Tip: Start at the Woodland Park trailhead, by the pond. No cyclists.

25 of our checklists, 51 species, 3 photos

More about River Place Trail

Sources: Austin Fit Magazine, 2015, TPWD, Birds of the Austin area

Hornsby Bend

Austin Water's Hornsby Bend Biosolids Management Plant

A 1,200-acre Austin Water plant in southeast Austin, with four old sewage lagoons, woods along the Colorado River, and fields. Travis Audubon's 2020 profile puts the site list at 349 species. Shorebirds pass through in spring and from July to October. From November to March, thousands of ducks and coots winter on the ponds, most of them Northern Shovelers.

Tip: Free, 6 am to 9 pm. Show ID at the main gate and ask for the Bird Observation Area.

16 of our checklists, 83 species, 22 photos

More about Hornsby Bend

Sources: Travis Audubon, TPWD, hornsbybend.org

Commons Ford Ranch

Commons Ford Ranch Metropolitan Park, City of Austin

A City of Austin park on Lake Austin, on land that was a cattle ranch in the early 1900s. Travis Audubon has restored its 40-acre native prairie. Invasive plants once covered 99% of it and now cover 15%. Dickcissels were on 5 of our 11 checklists here, all from April to August.

Tip: Open daily 5 am to 10 pm. Travis Audubon leads bird walks here.

11 of our checklists, 56 species, 16 photos

More about Commons Ford Ranch

Sources: City of Austin, Travis Audubon, Travis Audubon, fall, Travis Audubon, November

Mills Pond, Wells Branch

84 acres of parkland and 6 miles of trails in Wells Branch, north Austin

Travis Audubon says thousands of migrating birds stop at the pond. Birders have filed more than 6,000 eBird checklists here. All 7 of ours are from March to May, with Black-and-white, Nashville, Magnolia, Wilson's, and Chestnut-sided Warblers on them.

Tip: Go in late April or early May.

7 of our checklists, 50 species, 11 photos

More about Mills Pond, Wells Branch

Sources: Travis Audubon

All places, with the trips