Photo credit: Dana Nelson, Cattail Marsh, December 18, 2018. Credit for Website Design: Jeff Pittman.
You are welcome to attend monthly meetings, featuring speakers on birding and natural history topics, and including a delicious member-provided evening meal -- with desserts! Our monthly field trips are fun and educational, and focus on locations along the coast, marshes, prairies, and forests of the area.
Saturday March 8
Sabine Woods Work Day; 8:00 am till we finish
To prepare the Woods for Spring. We have some tools but expect to have to fill holes caused by armadillos and feral hogs, so please bring a spade if possible. Loppers and clippers will also be useful.
We plan to provide drinks and refreshments
Membership Meeting Thursday March 20, 2025 7:00 p.m.
Garden Center, Tyrrell Park, Beaumont
Birding New Mexico: A Search for Rosy-Finches
Ross Foreman
Dana Nelson, Christine Sliva, Jana Whittle
Four Golden Triangle Audubon birders flew to Albuquerque, New Mexico in search of Rosy-Finches and other winter birds in the snowy mountains in the area including extreme western Texas. The grand total of species seen was 139. The program will lead you through our journey from the Sandia Mountains north of Albuquerque for the Rosy-Finches through Bernardo Wildlife Area then south to the famous Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge with its wintering Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese, to White Sands National Park and then west into El Paso and Franklin Mountains State Park and Ascarte Park.
We plan to have the doors open at 6:00 p.m. The meeting will start at 7:00 p.m.
Saturday March 22, 2025
Field Trip to Bolivar Flats
This trip will occur as spring shorebird migration is well under way, but while the wintering birds are still present. Bolivar Flats is an internationally important shorebird location. This trip offers an opportunity to compare many of the "true" shorebirds with lots of help in identifying them. If you want help in identifying, gulls, terns, plover or sandpipers, this is the trip for you.
Meet at the vehicle barrier at 9:00 a.m. From Winnie, take TX 124 south to High Island. At the shoreline, turn right (west) on TX 87 and proceed through Gilchrist and Crystal Beach until you reach the intersection where Loop 108 turns right (north). Turn left (the opposite way to Loop 108) along Rettilon Road. At the beach, if conditions permit (beware of soft sand), proceed onto the beach and turn right (west) about 1/2 mile to the vehicle barrier. Follow recent tire tracks, and be careful to avoid any cuts that may have developed. It takes at least 90 minutes to drive from the Golden Triangle. We will leave the vehicle barrier at about 9:15 a.m., although the group will be visually obvious on the flats should you be a few minutes late. Some walking is necessary on this field trip. If the tide is a long way out, the leaders may walk up to 1/2 mile or more from the vehicle barrier, but you can turnaround at any point.
Important Note: If you park on most parts of the beach, including the part next to the Flats, you must have a parking permit on your windshield. The fee for the permit is $10.00 a year and permits are obtainable from most merchants on the Bolivar Peninsula including the Big Store, which opens at 7 AM