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.
2024-25 Christmas Bird Counts
Christmas Bird Counts have a long history. The first counts were conducted in 1900. While the local counts do not have quite as long a history, the two Big Thicket counts have been conducted every year since1978.
Please help the compilers by enabling them to plan in the week preceding the count by letting them know early of your wish to participate, and avoiding last minute changes if at all possible. Other than the Orange County count, traditional conducted on January 1, the local accounts this year are all on Saturdays! (If you are afraid you may have to change your schedule very close to a count, please be aware that most compilers can accommodate a last-minute withdrawal more easily than trying to assign someone unexpected to a group at the last minute, but do tell the compiler that you have some schedule uncertainty.) Details of other Texas counts are available on the Houston Audubon web site at https://houstonaudubon.org/birding/christmas-bird-counts/cbc.html
Johnson Bayou - Southwest Louisiana (LAJB): Saturday, December 14, 2024 Johnson Bayou CBC has a rich history beginning in 1976 to the present. Though the count is located just across the state line in Louisiana, most participants are from Texas and everyone is welcome. While much of the area is private, local landowners have allowed access to their property for this count (notarized releases required in many cases), areas rarely birded and normally inaccessible to birders at other times offering a good chance for rarities. Areas covered include beach, coastal cheniers, marsh and grasslands. Johnson Bayou, Louisiana, is located 15 miles east of the bridge from Pleasure Island to Louisiana on Highway 82. Please contact Gary Kelley (garymke@sbcglobal.net, telephone 409-679-1616) for more information, assignments and further directions.
Turkey Creek (TXTC): Saturday, December 21, 2024 This count in Hardin and Tyler Counties includes the Turkey Creek and Hickory Creek Savannah Units of the Big Thicket National Preserve. Meet at the entrance to the Big Thicket Visitor Center on US69 at FM420, about 7 miles north of Kountze at 6:30 AM. Sponsored by the Big Thicket National Preserve. Compiler: Lynn Jackson vlbjax@yahoo.com Co-compiler: John Whittle.
Beech Creek (TXBE): Saturday, December 28, 2024 This count takes place in Tyler and Jasper Counties and includes Steinhagen Lake, the Beech Creek unit of Big Thicket National Preserve and Martin Dies State Park. Meet at the Corps of Engineers Picnic Area on FM92 immediately north of the intersection with FM1746 in Town Bluff at 6:30 AM. Sponsored by the Big Thicket National Preserve. Compiler: Lynn Jackson vlbjax@yahoo.com Co-compiler: John Whittle.
Orange County (TXOC): Wednesday, January 1, 2025. Habitat covers marsh, woodlands, and the Cow Bayou watershed. Included is the road to the former Bailey’s Fish Camp as well as Bessie Heights Marsh and Claiborne West Park. Orange County is very much underbirded for a county that is well served with roads and has a good number of local birders. The compiler again this year is Lynn Jackson. Please contact her at vlbjax@yahoo.com if you would like to participate.