Join Erik Bruhnke, our March speaker, for a field trip to Bill and Ann Edwards’ beautiful Cherry Springs Ranch on Friday, St. Patrick’s Day, March 17. Registration is limited to 14 participants and the cost is $35.
Erik is a professional tour guide with Victor Emanuel Nature Tours and also owns his own tour company, Naturally Avian. He loves to share his enthusiasm about birds and likes to focus on the enjoyment of birds, not just the length of the day list.
Reasons to visit Cherry Springs Ranch:
- The ranch has grasslands, thickets, pastures, woods and a creek bottom as well as Cherry Springs itself, named for the Escarpment Black Cherry trees.
- It has owl boxes, turkey feeders, around-the-house hummer feeders, chimney swift towers, a robust Purple Martin colony and 40-odd Paul and Georgean Kyle bluebird boxes.
- It has breeding Golden-cheeked Warblers.
- It has history: J. Frank Dobie sold this ranch to the Edwards family in 1958 (and then bought Paisano in Oak Hill). Bill Edwards was a kid then, and says he remembers J. Frank and Bertha Dobie.
- It has dinosaur tracks, a place where birders look down for a few minutes instead of looking up.
One of the most enjoyable things to do at Cherry Springs is to sit on the deck with your picnic lunch and enjoy the amazing view from the hilltop home.
Expect to walk about 1.5 miles on a fairly level rough road and through some grass at a leisurely pace, so wear your hiking shoes and long pants. Bring lunch, water and snacks, and be prepared for the weather.
Registration is limited to 14 participants and the cost is $35. We will meet about 6:30 a.m. in the Bee Caves area on Highway 71 to caravan or carpool to the ranch, which is about 30 miles west of Austin on Highway 71. Details will be sent to registrants. If you have questions, please contact Bill Edwards, edwards(at)world.oberlin.edu or Jane Tillman, jtillman(at)utexas.edu
