Stick with me, baby, and I can show you a good time. My sweet indulgent friend has done that for more years than we have fingers and toes combined to use to count them. So she trusted me when I told her to be at my house at 9:30, bring water, go to the bathroom, and wear a jacket. No question she was ready to go, no questions asked. So off we went to................
The Hornsby Bend Waste Treatment Plant
Well, as fabulous of a job as they do here, we did not come for the Dillo Dirt, we came for the birds. Knowing we were a month or two early I decided we would see some "winter Texans" hanging out on the ponds at least. It would also give us a chance to check the place out before the crowds descend in late February/early March when the migrations begin.
Unfortunately the light wasn't wonderful, the birds were beyond my camera range for good images, and there were only a few varieties. But here are the birds of Hornsby Bend on this cold January day.
A young birder from Austin was visiting relatives near here in 1959. He noticed that some ducks were flying across the Colorado river and being brilliant he figured there were ponds nearby and went looking for them. He found the waste water treatment center and saw a bunches of birds including a couple of rare to the area ones. The next day he came back with friends and birding at the center began.
This little lady was swimming all by herself, making me wonder if she was young or maybe she was on one of her last swims and had headed to the edge of the village to die a peaceful death. Soft hearted me is going for the first idea, just young waiting for Prince Charming to find her and make her his.
This group obviously were all mated up - equal males and females hanging out on a beautiful day.
On the other side of the dike were the marshlands that attracted the little brown birds you can see sitting along the stripey looking images. I called them Killdeer but no guarantees. They were hunkered down trying to stay warm.
The same marshlands had a flock of somethings (don't you love it when I get educational) swarming over the marsh. Too far away to identify, and too fast to really get a good shot, but were still fun to watch.
Take your choice of Cedar Waxwings, Great Tailed Grackles, or American Goldfinches. That is who Uncle AI says are swarming birds that frequent the Austin area in January/February.
Later in the year the Purple Martins will arrive and be welcomed here at Hornsby. The Purple Martin colony began in 2001 when the first gourd rack was hung. It 2002 the second 12 gourd rack was added. The nests are maintained by a great group of volunteers who make sure they are clean and welcoming when the birds return.
In 2025, a young Girl Scout made the Purple Martin Colony the focus of her Girl Scout Gold Award project and made signs and erected them outside the Environmental Center (great picture of the young lady with big boy tools erecting the signs herself on the web site) and provided information for the web page. Read all about Hornsby and the Purple Martins at
https://www.hornsbybend.org/
Could this be the Prince Charming our single little lady was waiting for???? A good friend and one who knows all kinds of wonderful nature things said this is a Shoveler Duck. I captured a Shoveler on Merlin, so she is probably right (although I never doubt her anyway).
Could someone please identify this bird for me??
All I know is that he says his name is Newt, and he lives here. I was a bit suspicious of this shady critter so I went to Uncle AI again and this is what he had to say. Nutria are large, invasive rodents often confused with native beavers (or muskrats) but differ by their long, round, rat-like tails, prominent white whiskers and bright orange front teeth. How could our uncle call this cutie pie a swamp rat? I would take offense if I were he.
That's it for the birding center but we look forward to returning during the migration season to see and hear a wider variety of our feathered friends and weather warmer so we can walk the trails to look for and hear land birds. Pat and I both highly recommend you visit.
So how do you top a waste treatment plant for a Tacky Tuesday??? You go to a graffiti park! What's tackier than seeing our highways and by ways spray painted? Maybe tacky on the highways but when it is confined to an outdoor gallery it is interesting and amazing.
HOPE Outdoor Gallery
You can read all about the HOPE Gallery at their website https://www.hopeoutdoorgallery.com/ but the short version is the 2005 original gallery was located just west of downtown at a failed condo development. With some walls up they turned them into canvases where everyone could become an artist for the day. "Progress" took over and the gallery closed in 2015 but it has reopened south of town for all to come visit. This is a YAY!!!!
Fair warning there will be lots of pictures and little verbiage (I know that just saddens you). I will tell you that in the above photo the grassy area is a ditch between the parking lot and the displays. To get to the displays you walk through a storage container that has been repurposed and of course graffitied. On the far side the walls surround a circular courtyard where curated art is displayed. As you can see by the this picture the outside walls are an open canvas to all. Bring your spray paint when you visit!!
Don't be a good artist and crappy citizen, take your empties with you.
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| What are you waiting for? Come paint! |
The fabulous inner circle where the art is curated. Such wonderful talent.
Didn't I tell you these were artists?? Look at the details, wow, just wow.
Tucked back in a corner behind staircase and where there was some equipment/necessary items/whatever that keeps the place running were these - I think it is by the front door and we went into another door to get to the restroom. At any rate, nice for sure.
