Hello, I birded the Granger Lake area today from around 8 to 1:15 pm. Stopped at CR 428 first, where the Striped Sparrow was being seen. When I walked up to the group of birders it had just disappeared into the grass on the north side of the road, but it soon after appeared, giving great looks. It was seen pretty well on and off for the next hour or so. Folks were actively spreading bird seed, and there were a ton of birds in the area in addition to the sparrow including loads of Harriss Sparrows, Pine Siskins, the Red-headed Woodpecker, and two heard-only Pileated Woodpeckers. A Brown Thrasher also made an appearance with the sparrows feeding along the grassy verge of the road. I spent the rest of the morning moving north and west around the lake. From the dam I found 2 Bonapartes Gulls, and counted 38 Eared Grebes. This was conservative. I checked out the larids at Friendship Park, but did not find anything other than Ring-billed Gulls and Forsters Terns. I did hear a Ladder-backed Woodpecker here though, and got great looks at a western Red-tailed Hawk. The roads around the megafield area had Horned Larks, a Sandhill Crane, and a Burrowing Owl. The woodland areas on CR 348 had lots of birds, the highlights being at least 3 singing Fox Sparrows and a pair of Brown Thrashers. There was a huge flock of Common Grackles, so I looked for Rusty Blackbirds but wasnt able to find any. Good birding, Christian Walker Austin TX Begin forwarded message: > From: ebird-checklist@xxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: eBird Report - Granger Lake Area (HOTE 031), Jan 16, 2015 > Date: January 16, 2015 at 5:54:25 PM CST > To: christian.walker@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > > Granger Lake Area (HOTE 031), Williamson, US-TX > Jan 16, 2015 8:00 AM - 1:15 PM > Protocol: Traveling > 50.0 mile(s) > Comments: Stopped by CR 428 for Striped Sparrow, then moved north and > west in big loop around lake, hitting megafield, dam, friendship park, Willis > Creek area (but not the park), and all the roads in-between. Did not bird > south of the lake. Clear, calm, 45-70 degrees Fahrenheit. Many birders at CR > 428, a few others seen throughout the day. > 73 species (+3 other taxa) > > Gadwall 7 > Mallard 2 > Northern Shoveler 6 > Green-winged Teal 2 > Ruddy Duck 10 > Eared Grebe 38 conservative count. > Double-crested Cormorant 20 > Great Blue Heron 2 > Black Vulture 3 > Turkey Vulture 28 > Northern Harrier 3 > Cooper's Hawk 1 > Red-shouldered Hawk 3 > Red-tailed Hawk 12 > Red-tailed Hawk (Western) 1 Dark belly band, darker buffy color on > breast and vent. Very dark overall, strong red in tail. > American Coot 8 > Sandhill Crane 1 On CR 350 pond. > Killdeer 22 > Greater Yellowlegs 1 > Bonaparte's Gull 2 > Ring-billed Gull 75 > Forster's Tern 12 > Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon) 4 > Eurasian Collared-Dove 1 > Mourning Dove 15 > Burrowing Owl 1 Great looks at culvert just north of intersection of CR > 352 and 357. Flew out and perched on a post when it heard my wheels on the > gravel. > Red-headed Woodpecker 1 Adult at CR 428 (striped Sparrow spot). > Red-bellied Woodpecker 10 > Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1 > Ladder-backed Woodpecker 2 One heard at Friendship park, another heard > at CR 350. > Downy Woodpecker 5 > Northern Flicker 2 HO > Pileated Woodpecker 2 Heard calling at CR 428. Wild monkey call. > Crested Caracara 8 > American Kestrel 10 > Eastern Phoebe 6 > Loggerhead Shrike 16 > Blue Jay 4 > American Crow 20 > Horned Lark 4 1 HO at CR 357, 3 seen at CR 352. > Carolina Chickadee 14 > Tufted/Black-crested Titmouse 4 > House Wren 2 > Carolina Wren 12 > Bewick's Wren 1 Near the river off of CR 347. > Ruby-crowned Kinglet 5 > Eastern Bluebird 1 > Hermit Thrush 1 > American Robin 5 > Brown Thrasher 3 1 seen at CR 428, 2 others later on around noon at CR > 348. > Northern Mockingbird 12 > European Starling 12 > American Pipit 23 > Cedar Waxwing 7 > Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 17 > Striped Sparrow 1 Good looks at the bird. Seen from 8:30 on and off til > about 9:15 am. Buffy flanks, black bill, mostly rufous crown (broad rufous > lateral crown stripes with faint gray central crown stripe) gray breast, > black cheek patch, broad buffy white super cilium. Buffy vent. Scratches like > towhee. Gray breast extends up onto collar. Black cheeks meet at bill > creating black mask. Head shape a bit like RCSP. Back pattern like > Zonotrichia or LISP. Shorter tail than RCSP. Seen 30 to 100 feet away through > 60x swarovski. About 12 others there. > Chipping Sparrow 2 > Vesper Sparrow 27 > Savannah Sparrow 22 > Fox Sparrow 3 On CR 348. > Song Sparrow 6 > Lincoln's Sparrow 8 > White-throated Sparrow 10 > Harris's Sparrow 21 > White-crowned Sparrow 39 > Northern Cardinal 32 > Red-winged Blackbird 130 > Western Meadowlark 5 > Western/Eastern Meadowlark 450 > Brewer's Blackbird 19 > Common Grackle 300 > Great-tailed Grackle 15 > Brown-headed Cowbird 75 > Pine Siskin 3 > American Goldfinch 13 > House Sparrow 5 > > View this checklist online at > http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S21370426 > > This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org) Christian Walker Independent Adjuster Austin, Texas (512) 431-2495 Edit your Freelists account settings for TEXBIRDS at //www.freelists.org/list/texbirds Reposting of traffic from TEXBIRDS is prohibited without seeking permission from the List Owner