Tuesday May 11, 2010 – Board meeting 7pm at Mez miz Cafe.

Saturday May 29, 2010 – Field Trip to Dyess Air Force Base. Meet at 7:00am at the Dyess Visitors Center. Carpool if possible and RSVP with Dan if you plan to go on this trip. Email – bigcountryaudubon@live.com or call the hotline by May 20^th, so that vans can be provided on base. Bring water and bug spray. We should see some very good birds out there.

Saturday June 19, 2010 – Field trip to Waste Water Treatment Plant. We will leave from Towne Crier at 7:30 am. Come earlier if you want to buy breakfast. We will carpool. Bring water and bug spray. Target birds: Dickcissel and Black-neck Stilt.

Saturday July 17, 2010 – Field trip to Abilene State Park including Abilene Lake–Meet at Laura’s Blind at 8:00 am; bird, then come back to the blind to work awhile. Contact a friend to car pool from Abilene if you wish. Bring water and bug spray.

Jan. 16 – Bera Fay

Jan. 23 – Dan

Jan 30 – The Wiggins

Feb. 6 – Kathy & Esta

Feb. 13 – Larry

Feb. 20 – Dan

Feb. 27 – Larry

Mar. 6 – Dan

These are all board members who have volunteered to perform this duty along with Harry who takes on the duties during the week.  Board members are going to begin inviting the general membership to accompany them in the performance of these duties.  Please try to help if you can.

Saturday, Jan. 23, 2010 – Field trip to Waste Water Treatment Plant.  We will depart from McDonald’s at 1201 N. Judge Ely at 8:00am.  Come earlier if you would like to buy breakfast.  Target birds are Black-necked Stilt, Wilson’s Phalarope and sandpipers.  Bring water and a snack.

Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010 – Membership meeting 7:00pm at the Rose Park Senior Center.  John English, Nature photographer and Big Country Audubon member will present,  “Wildlife, Nature & Scenic Photography”. Will cover techniques and equipment used as well as photographs shown as examples.

Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010 – Colorado City State Park.  We will depart at 7:00am from Whataburger 4241 South 1st St.  Come early if you would like to buy breakfast.  Target birds are Bushtits, Verdin and Pyrrhuloxia.  Bring water and snacks.  We plan to eat lunch in Colorado City.

Thursday, Mar. 4, 2010 – Membership meeting 7:00pm at the Rose Park Senior Center.  Dan Symonds, member of Big Country Audubon will present, “Birding Central Spain”.

Sat., Mar. 20, 2010 – Field Trip to Dyess Air Force Base.  We will meet at the main gate visitors center for passes at 0730.  You should have a picture ID.  This will be a half day trip.  Wild Turkey and Swainson’s Hawk will be the target birds.  Please email BigCountryAudubon@live.com or call the hotline by March 18th, if you plan to attend.

Fri & Sat,  April 9- 10, 2010 – Field trip to Ft. Hood.  This may be an overnight trip with details to be worked out later.  Look forward to this  good trip!  Target birds will be the Golden-cheeked Warbler and Black-capped Vireo.

Saturday, Nov. 14, 2009 – Field trip to Lake O.H. Ivie.  We will leave from Burger King on Antilley Road promptly at 7:00am. This will be an all day trip, bring a sack lunch and water.  We will try to stop at a frequented eatery for lunch.  Target birds are returning waterfowl and Bald Eagles.

Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009 – This will be a half day field trip around Lake Ft. Phantom Hill.  We will meet at Denny’s on I-20 & FM600 at 7:30am.  Come earlier if you wish to eat breakfast.  Bring snacks and water.  Target birds will be Osprey, Vermillion Flycatcher and Canvasback.

Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009 – Christmas Party at 6:00pm at the Lueders Train Depot on the Ben Richey Boys Ranch at 501 Ben Richey Drive.  Please bring your favorite party finger food.  If you wish to exchange gifts, please bring one that doesn’t exceed a value of $10.

Thursday, April 2, 2009: General Meeting

Eleanor (Ellie) Hamby will speak at our April meeting at 7:00 PM at the Rose Park Senior Activity Center.

Ellie Hamby will present Journey to Galapogos. Ellie has been photographing people and wildlife all over the world for many years. Her specialty is capturing the faces of people and particularly the Tonga’s of Southern Zambia. She has had solo exhibitions of her photography in the United States and Africa and does numerous speaking engagements concerning her photography. Her photos have been on the cover of magazines and she has had extensive newspaper coverage in Zambia and the USA of her photography.

A Marine Iguana suns himself on the beach. Photo by Ellie Hamby

Her late husband, Kelly, and she traveled to over 70 countries and lived in Zambia, Africa for six years. She always travels with her camera at her side, relying on her camera and her sense of capturing, through the lens.  For more information and to see her photos of people, go to: http://www.photosbyellie.org/

Blue-footed Booby, by Ellie Hamby

The Galapagos Islands are beautiful islands and they are famed for their  biodiversity and for their vast number of endemic species. You will enjoy Ellie’s pictures and stories, so please come and bring a friend!

Saturday, April 4, 2009:  Star Party at the Abilene State Park

On Saturday, April 4th, there will be a Star Party at the Abilene State Park sponsored by Big Country Astronomy and the Friends of Abilene State Park. The event will run from sunset to midnight: Come and go or come and stay! There will be several telescopes, plus monitors, to explore the skies. This will be part of the local celebration of the International Year of Astronomy.

February 5, 2009: General Meeting, 7 pm

Sooty Tern

Strangers to the Ground:  The Birds of Tern Island, Hawaii

presented by Matthew York

Matthew York is a graduate of Baylor University.  He did his Masters’ work for Sul Ross State University concentrating on life ecology of Montezuma Quail (Cyrtonyx montezumae) in the Davis Mountains, Texas.

In addition to having an interest in birds as far back as he can remember, he has served as an Avian Wildlife Biologist with several species and organizations.  These include work with Golden-cheeked Warblers (Dendroica chrysoparia) for The Nature Conservancy at Fort Hood,  Seabird Field Assistant at Hawaiian Islands National Wildlife Refuge on Tern Island Field Station with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service:

Matt rescues a Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle at Tern Island

This past year he served as Avian Field Biologist with the Institute for Wildlife Studies.  There, he was a part of the San Clemente Island Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus mearnsi)  Recovery and Monitoring Project.  This endangered subspecies is found only on San Clemente Island, the southernmost member of the Channel Islands off the coast of Southern California.  Recently moving back to Texas to be closer to home and loved ones, he will be working for Texas A&M analyzing habitat characteristics, nesting locations, and presence or absence of the Black-capped Vireo (Vireo atricapilla) in portions of central Texas.

Please join us February 5, 2009, at 7 p.m. at Rose Park Activity Center, Room A, South 7th and Barrow Streets. Our meetings are free and open to the public.

A Laysan Albatross (l) saunters past a pair of Black-footed Albatrosses during their bonding dance on Tern Island

Note: February field trips and other activities will be added as soon as they are confirmed.

The long-awaited Painted Bunting patches are now here!  They are very handsome and even more striking than the above photo depicts.  One will look awesome on your birding vest; two will look stereoscopic on your hat; and three will look ridiculous plastered to your day pack – but who am I to comment on your style of club spirit.

The patches are only $6.00 a piece.  If you’d like one, two, or more, please contact us with your name, snail mail address, and how many patches you want.  Then send your check (addressed to Big Country Audubon)  to:

Big Country Audubon Society

P.O. Box 569

Abilene, Texas 79604

We will get your patches to you as fast as the US Post Office operates, around five to seven working days.  If you want your patches yesterday, call me (I’m in the phone book) or our hotline at 325-691-8981 and we can arrange a time for you to come over and pick them up.  If you are a patient birder, we will have the patches at our February 5 meeting for your purchase.

Proceeds from these patches will support the Club’s activities and they are a great way to promote our Club.  Don’t let them all fly away before you get yours!

Board Meeting: Tuesday, January 13, 2009  – 7:00 pm. Board meeting at MezAmiz Coffee Shop on South 7th.  Come early (6:30pm) to order dinner.  All members are welcome.

Field Trip: Saturday, January 17, 2009 – 7:30 am. Wild Goose Chase in Haskell County!  We’ll carpool from the Towne Crier on Business 20, leaving at 7:45 am.  Come earlier to enjoy their breakfast buffet.  Our target species are geese (Greater White-fronted, Canada, Snow, and Ross’s), hawks and falcons.  There’s a possibility we could see a Brant, too!

Wildlife Landscape Conference:  Saturday, January 24, 2009 – 8:30 am. In the Extension Conference Room at the Taylor County Extension Center.  Sponsored by the Big Country Master Naturalists, Texas Parks and Wildlife, and AgriLIFE Extension.  Topics covered will be Gardening for Wildlife, Hummingbird Habitats, Attracting Bluebirds, Managing Nestboxes, Backyard and Landowner Certification, Wildlife Exemption Requirements, and much more!  Registration is $15 and this includes a box lunch.  For more information please contact Taylor County Extension Office, 1982 Lytle Way, Abilene, TX 79602, Phone: 325-672-6048, or e-mail Taylor-tx@tamu.edu for more information.

February meeting:  February 5, 2009: to be announced

December 4, 2008: Christmas Party!

Who: All Big Country Audubon members and their families
What: Christmas Party
When: Thursday, December 4, at 7:00 p.m.
Where: Rose Park Activity Center located at S. 7th and Barrow, Room A
Bring: Your favorite finger foods, snacks, and a wrapped nature-related gift for the Christmas gift exchange (completely voluntary). Please limit your gift to $10.00.
BCAS will provide: Drinks, plates, and napkins. A very short program (15 to 20 minutes) will be presented!

Saturday, December 13, 2008: Field Trip to Cedar Gap Farm.

We’ll plan to meet at the Hutto’s at 8 a.m and leave before lunch. This is a great field trip to introduce beginners to the joys of birdwatching so fill your car with friends and enjoy the short drive. Our target birds are Red-breasted Nuthatch (pictured above), Spotted Towhee (pictured below), and White-throated Sparrow. For directions and a map, click on birding locations.

Christmas Bird Count – Saturday, January 3, 2009

This year’s 109th Christmas Bird Count will be conducted Saturday, January 3, 2009. If you have never been involved in a CBC or you are a die hard participant, now is the time to get involved. We divide into groups with each group responsible for a pre-selected area in and around Abilene. Each group leader determines the start time, when to take lunch breaks (or whether to bring a lunch), and when to call it quits. You do not have to know what birds you are observing. There will be someone in the group who can identify the species; you only need to know how to count. If you would like to stay home and watch your feeders and report the birds seen at your feeders, we need these results, too.

If you would like to help us count birds this year, please contact us through this web site. Leave your name and a contact e-mail or phone number and I will contact you and assign you to a group. That group’s leader will then contact you regarding time and place to meet. After a day of counting, we will all meet at 6:00 p.m. at my house to turn in the tally sheets, eat, and swap stories.

CBC counts are used as long-term population trends of winter birds. Conducted since 1900, National Audubon uses the data to determine which bird species are increasing, declining, or holding steady. A small fee of five dollars per person aged 19 and older is required for participation. Feeder watchers and those 18 years old and younger are not required to pay a fee. This fee helps offset the printing costs of the Summary of the CBC which every participant receives.

So join us this year. We always have lots of fun; someone usually finds a rarity; and you’ll be contributing to one of the most powerful conservation tools in use today!

November 6, 2008: General Meeting, 7 p.m.

Bird Density and Mortality at Windows, presented by Heidi Trudell

Please come to our November meeting and hear Heidi Trudell discuss her two-year study on birds flying into windows. Heidi studied bird/window strikes while attending Principia College in Illinois from 2003 to 2005. We are all aware that birds hit windows, but there have been few scientific studies done on this subject.

Above: actual imprint of a bird-strike on a glass window pane. (c) Heidi Trudell, 2008

Heidi’s list of accomplishments besides Birder Extraordinaire has been as an intern at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge in spring 2006, counting hawks for Hawk Watch International at Smith Point in fall 2006, bird/bat mortality study during the preconstruction phase of the Lone Star Wind Farm 2006-2007; and she currently works part-time as an avian response team member for the wind farm while attending Cisco Jr. College. In her spare time she enjoys birding, herping, everything remotely connected to solar cars, and volunteering for the Abilene Zoo working with Attwater’s Prairie Chickens and rehabbing birds.

Please join us November 6, 2008, at 7 p.m. at Rose Park Activity Center, Room A, South 7th and Barrow Streets. Our meetings are free and open to the public.

November 8, 2008: Field Trip to Lake O.H. Ivie

Above: Mountain Bluebirds drink from a roadside puddle around Lake O.H. Ivie, 2007.

Please join us for our November 8, 2008 field trip to Lake O.H. Ivie. We’ll leave from the Burger King on Antilley Drive at 7:00am. Please come about 30 minutes early if you plan to order breakfast. We’ll carpool to the lake. Pack snacks or a lunch; although Lake Ivie has two cafes that are highly recommended! We’ll look for returning waterfowl and the Bald Eagles that frequently winter on the lake. Past years’ highlights include Pacific Loon, Eurasian Wigeon, Common Loon, Sage Thrasher, Mountain Bluebirds, Hooded Mergansers, and Porcupine. If you don’t go, you’ll never know what you will miss! For more information, check out the Lake Ivie section under Birding Locations.