Edward Plumer: Hunt for the Brown Booby

Saturday, November 15, 2014

Hunt for the Brown Booby

On a rare bird alert from eBirds, we went to the Bob Wentz Park on Lake Travis early last Saturday afternoon, looking for a Brown Booby that had been seen repeatedly around Windy Point. We hiked around the perimeter of the exposed land south of the park since most of the recent sightings had been towards the dam.

Google map with annotations

We saw a large raft of mixed duck species, a large number of coots, and a few cormorants. We even saw a formation of Sandhill Cranes flying over head. However, we were disappointed not to see the Booby. We may have been at the park too late in the day.

This morning, we got up early and returned to the park before 9:00 am, despite the cold and dreary weather. Danielle suggested we stay at the parking lot which overlooks the area and scope the area first. We immediately saw three Ospreys soaring to the south. Within ten minutes, Danielle spotted the Booby north west of the park in the direction of the marina. It was identifiable in the binoculars but a bit out of reach for a decent photograph.

Despite the distance of over 2000, the Brown Booby was clearly recognizable with its strongly demarcated white breast and belly and huge webbed feet. The bird was plunge diving from a low height. As it fished, it slowly drifted further up-river and we lost track of it after about 30 minutes. It is hard to imagine what this bird is doing in Lake Travis in central Texas as it is a tropical bird which spends most of its time at sea, coming to nest on tropical islands during breeding season.