A rare vagrant red-necked grebe was recently spotted at the Brownwood Country Club lake. The bird has only been spotted in Texas a few dozen times.

Birder Deb Wallace said, “This bird is in non-breeding plumage and typically is not this far south, and the records from Texas are almost all in winter. According to the Texas Birds Records Committee, there are only 36 accepted records ever in Texas. This is a bird that people travel from long distances to see. Lee and I are from San Antonio and the others are from the Austin area. I know folks from Port Arthur, Corpus Christi and Houston that will be there in the next day or so. Rare birds are good for local economies since we do drive and spend money on hotels, food and gas. The bird was found by Scotty Lofland.”

Photographer Dee Hail captured a photo of the bird and said, “This grebe is mostly found in Alaska and Canada.” The Birdwatchers expressed their appreciation to the Brownwood Country Club for allowing them to photograph the rare bird on their property.