Austin, TX

Mail delivery temporarily halted in South Austin neighborhood due to reported hawk attacks

Published

1 year ago

July 10, 2023

Mail delivery temporarily halted in South Austin neighborhood due to reported hawk attacks

Hawk causes temporary mail stop

Reported hawk attacks in a South Austin neighborhood have caused mail delivery to temporarily stop, leaving residents to pick up their mail at a nearby post office.

AUSTIN, Texas – USPS has temporarily halted mail delivery in a South Austin neighborhood due to an aggressive hawk.

First reported by Axios Austin, residents living on Milam Place and Kenwood Avenue must pick up mail at the South Congress Post Office until further notice.

“Imagine walking out of your house and knowing that you’re going to get punched in the back of the head by an animal with large talons,” said Alfred Del Barrio. “It’s not ideal.”

The tree in front of Del Barrio’s Travis Heights home has been adopted by a neighborhood hawk that is particularly protective of its nest.

Even going out for a run now takes some extra planning. Del Barrio said one time he was able to avoid getting attacked while running because he spotted the hawk’s shadow.

“My brother was on a run, and he thought I punched him in the back of the head, which I haven’t done in 15 years,” said Del Barrio. “I’ve always been able to dodge it. I just kind of like go underneath my awning or run into my car.

It’s not just the residents that are aware of the nuisance.

“The construction guys…get divebombs on their hardhats,” said Del Barrio. “So you just hear a thump on the hardhats on the construction workers.”

The executive director of the Travis Audubon Society says this is not uncommon this time of year.

“We are just basically overlapping with them in their territory, and they are divebombing people to try to protect their nest, said Nicole Netherton. “Because we have had such severe winter weather over the past several winters, it is possible that we have lost a significant enough canopy that birds are having to look for different spots to build their nest…it’s possible that they are maybe building their nest in their runner-up location that just happens to be closer to people.”

MORE WILD NATURE NEWS

Wildlife biologist Blake Hendon estimates the perpetrator is a red-shouldered hawk.

“We don’t receive tons of calls, but we do receive calls periodically. Those tend to be red-shouldered hawks. That’s one of our more common resident nesting hawks in the area,” said Hendon who works for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept. “This is the time of year that they have constructed nests earlier in the season. They’ve laid eggs. And now at this point in time in the season, they are raising their young.”

Hendon noted there is a six to seven-week transition period between the eggs hatching and the fledglings flying off. Because of state and federal laws that protect migratory birds, there is not much people can do.

“Just giving them as much space as possible and really trying to ignore them so that they can get their business and breeding done is probably the best advice,” said Netherton.

Both Hendon and Netherton said using an umbrella as a form of protection can be effective if the area cannot be avoided.

“It’s a short period of time, so if we can just keep that in perspective and try to live with the wildlife,” said Hendon. “These hawks do provide a nice ecological service within our urban areas; certainly, they’re preying on rodents, especially.”

Here is the full statement FOX 7 Austin received from USPS on Monday:

“The Postal Service always strives to provide the best possible service; however, the safety of our employees and customers is our priority. With regards to mail service in the Travis Heights neighborhood, the presence of a hawk has prevented safe delivery of mail to a few of the residents on Milam and Kenwood streets. Local management at the South Congress Post Office has contacted Austin Animal Control and Texas Parks & Wildlife for assistance in resolving the situation, as hawks are a protected species. We are committed to working closely with these organizations to resume mail delivery as quickly as possible. In the interim, affected customers may pick up their mail at the South Congress Post Office, located at 3903 S. Congress, Austin, TX, 78704, from 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday – Friday, and from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. on Saturday. We apologize to our customers for any inconvenience this may have caused and appreciate their patience as we work to successfully resolve this matter.”

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Austin, TX

Texas boasts 10 restaurants on OpenTable’s top 100 list for 2024

Published

4 hours ago

November 24, 2024

Press Room

Texas boasts 10 restaurants on OpenTable’s top 100 list for 2024

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas had a strong showing on OpenTable’s 2024 Top 100 Restaurants with 10 establishments making the list.

What You Need To Know

The best foodie city in Texas, at least according to OpenTable, was Austin, with seven restaurants making the list

The rest of Texas’ major metropolitan areas–Houston, Dallas and San Antonio–each only had one restaurant on the list

OpenTable compiles its top 100 list every year by looking at diner reviews from its 14 million verified users

The Lone Star State had the second-most restaurants on the list, tied with Illinois, behind California, which had a whopping 19 restaurants featured.

The best foodie city in Texas, at least according to OpenTable, was Austin, with seven restaurants making the list.

Aba – Austin
J Carver’s
Jeffrey’s Restaurant
Red Ash Italia
Sammie’s Italian
Uchi Austin
Uchiko Austin

The rest of Texas’ major metropolitan areas–Houston, Dallas and San Antonio–each only had one restaurant on the list.

Steak 48 – Houston
Signature – San Antonio
Hudson House – Lovers Lane – Dallas

OpenTable compiles its top 100 list every year by looking at diner reviews from its 14 million verified users.

According to OpenTable’s website, restaurants with enough reviews are automatically considered and are evaluated by their ratings, percentage of five-star reviews, number of alerts set, percentage of reservations made in advance, percentage of capacity and direct searches.

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Austin, TX

‘Superman!’ Jelani McDonald Proves to Be Crucial Piece to Texas Longhorns Defense

Published

12 hours ago

November 24, 2024

Press Room

‘Superman!’ Jelani McDonald Proves to Be Crucial Piece to Texas Longhorns Defense

AUSTIN — Texas defensive back Jelani McDonald made his mark in the Longhorn secondary on Saturday.

McDonald recorded his first career interception, and it was one for the books.

With five minutes left in the first half as Texas led 14-7, Kentucky had possession. The crowd went wild as McDonald dove for the ball to get possession back to the Longhorn offense. Commentators described the play as a “Superman” performance.

WENT FULL SUPERMAN FOR THIS PICK 👀🤯@TexasFootball x 📺 ABC pic.twitter.com/ZV5AxOSWo7
— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) November 23, 2024
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McDonald’s teammates also had their takes on the play.

“Superman…I mean everybody knows how athletic Jelani is, we’ve been talking about that all season, and even tied back to last season,” Michael Taaffe said. “He’s so athletic. I’m glad he finally got to show that and for you all to see, because we’ve known that forever.”

McDonald has totaled 22 tackles this season, playing in every conference and two non-conference games.

While he’s not a name on everyone’s mouths, like Quinn Ewers, Isaiah Bond, Taaffe or Kelvin Banks Jr., McDonald proved once and for all his impact on the team. McDonald could very much have a breakout season in 2025, and this play, which recorded Texas’ 16th interception of the season taking the national record, opened up the doors for his campaign.

That pick could even be awarded play of the year.

“I’ve been just happy to see him grow and get better as a player,” Anthony Hill Jr., who played with McDonald in the Freshman All-American game, said.

“He was playing corners, so I was like ‘Who’s this guy,’ and then one the game, he’s playing linebackers, and at one game he’s playing safety,” Hill said.

McDonald has one more shot to showcase his talent in the regular season as Texas faces Texas A&M next Saturday. But with two years left of eligibility, the sky is the limit.

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Other Texas Longhorns News:

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Austin, TX

No. 3 Texas ends UK’s bowl chances

Published

21 hours ago

November 23, 2024

Press Room

AUSTIN, Tx. (WKYT) – The Kentucky Wildcats (4-7, 1-7 SEC) ended their SEC slate with a 31-14 loss on the road against the No. 3 Texas Longhorns (10-1, 6-1 SEC). For the first time in eight seasons, UK will not be bowl eligible.

Junior quarterback Brock Vandagriff started the game for the Cats, going 3-7 for 51 yards, one touchdown and one interception. The staff opted to once against start true freshman Cutter Boley in the second half. The LCA alum wet 10-18 for 160 yards and an interception in the loss.

The Wildcats went 1-2 in the red zone and just 2-12 on third down conversions.

Senior inside linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson had a 25-yard fumble return for a touchdown, and also led the defense in tackles with eight.

Texas junior QB Quinn Ewers went 20-31 for 191 yards and two touchdowns for the Longhorns.

The season concludes next week as Kentucky hosts the Governor’s Cup game against Louisville at Kroger Field. Kick-off is set for noon on the SEC Network.

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