Travis Audubon Society
3710 Cedar St.
Box 5
Austin, Texas 78705
512.300.BIRD (2473)
info@travisaudubon.org
3710 Cedar St.
Box 5
Austin, Texas 78705
512.300.BIRD (2473)
info@travisaudubon.org
Our Education Mission
Travis Audubon's Education Committee is dedicated to providing
high-quality educational opportunities geared toward environmental
conservation, bird identification, and bird-friendly habitat awareness
for all ages. We focus on topics related to birds but also offer other
nature topics as appropriate, and suggestions for new courses are
welcomed.
Examples of classes that Travis Audubon typically offers are:
Our classes are led by professional instructors with significant,
relevant experience to the topics. We charge tuition (with a discount
for Travis Audubon Society members) to help cover our expenses in
offering the classes. Many of them fill up early, so if you are
interested, don't wait to register.
Our Classes below:
Click here for Non-Travis Audubon Classes
Travis Audubon's Education Committee is dedicated to providing
high-quality educational opportunities geared toward environmental
conservation, bird identification, and bird-friendly habitat awareness
for all ages. We focus on topics related to birds but also offer other
nature topics as appropriate, and suggestions for new courses are
welcomed.
Examples of classes that Travis Audubon typically offers are:
Our classes are led by professional instructors with significant,
relevant experience to the topics. We charge tuition (with a discount
for Travis Audubon Society members) to help cover our expenses in
offering the classes. Many of them fill up early, so if you are
interested, don't wait to register.
Our Classes below:
Click here for Non-Travis Audubon Classes
Scroll down this page
for upcoming class
details:
Watch for Beginning
Birding Classes
Hummingbird Gardening
July 10th
Hummingbird ID
July 15th
for upcoming class
details:
Watch for Beginning
Birding Classes
Hummingbird Gardening
July 10th
Hummingbird ID
July 15th
Course registration
To register for any Travis
Audubon class, you must
contact the course registrar
listed in the course
description and receive a
response verifying that a
place is available.
Course withdrawal
and refund policies
If a registrant withdraws from
a class at least 48 hours
before the 1st session, Travis
Audubon Society (TAS) will
offer a full refund less a $5
administrative fee that helps
defray our costs. If TAS
cancels the class, we will
fully refund the tuition.
The registrar must receive
payment for a class by 14
days before the 1st class
session. If, at that time, the
class is full and there is a
waiting list, the registrar may
remove an unpaid registrant
from the roster and offer the
place to the next person on
the waiting list.
To register for any Travis
Audubon class, you must
contact the course registrar
listed in the course
description and receive a
response verifying that a
place is available.
Course withdrawal
and refund policies
If a registrant withdraws from
a class at least 48 hours
before the 1st session, Travis
Audubon Society (TAS) will
offer a full refund less a $5
administrative fee that helps
defray our costs. If TAS
cancels the class, we will
fully refund the tuition.
The registrar must receive
payment for a class by 14
days before the 1st class
session. If, at that time, the
class is full and there is a
waiting list, the registrar may
remove an unpaid registrant
from the roster and offer the
place to the next person on
the waiting list.
| Passing It On |
At Travis Audubon we
believe that teaching
about birds and nature
is vitally important.
This way we "plant
seeds" for the future,
for the environment
and those coming after
us who will live in it.
believe that teaching
about birds and nature
is vitally important.
This way we "plant
seeds" for the future,
for the environment
and those coming after
us who will live in it.
Travis Audubon Classes
| Intermediate Birding Class (Jaci Kopra) |
Beginning Birding Classes! Check Back here for the next dates! Click here for beginning Birding Class details |
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Shorebird Identification Class
Sandpipers and plovers are a fascinating group of
birds. They undertake some of the most spectacular
long-distance migrations of any animals (radio-tagged
Bar-tailed Godwits have recently been recorded flying
over 6,200 non-stop miles in six-and-a-half to seven-
and-a-half days!) and are already moving southward
through our area. Can you tell which of those little
brown birds on the mudflats at Hornsby Bend are which?
If not, Tim Fennell’s Shorebird Identification Class is a
great way for intermediate birders to learn how to
distinguish the Least, Semipalmated, and Western
Sandpipers, Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs, and other
similar shorebirds. Tim teaches science at the Liberal
Arts and Science High School in Austin and has been
teaching the Shorebird Identification Class for Travis
Audubon since 1998.
Class lectures will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on
July 24, August 7 and August 14 at the Hornsby Bend
Center for Environmental Research. There will be local
field trips on July 26 and August 9, and an optional trip
to the Texas coast on the weekend of August 16-17.
The tuition is $75 for TAS members and $85 for non-
members. For those who go to the coast, there will be
an additional fee to cover Tim’s expenses. This should
range from $30 to $45, depending upon how many sign
up. Birders who want to take this class should register
by sending e-mail to Jean Martin or call 343-7053.
Introduction to Raptors Class
If you struggle when trying to differentiate between
Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawks, or identify a Merlin
or other species of raptor, this introductory class on
raptors will improve your skills. Classroom sessions will
focus on basic identification techniques to help you
recognize the different buteos, accipiters, and falcons,
which occur in central Texas and along the coast. The
class will not include owls.
Robert Reeves will once again teach the raptor class.
Robert has been a serious birder for about 34 years,
and has been a TAS member for 14 years. Other TAS
classes he has taught include Beginning Birding,
Waterfowl Identification, and Backyard Birding.
Two morning classroom sessions will be held at the
Hornsby Bend Center for Environmental Research on
Saturdays, September 13 and 20, from 9:30 a.m.-12:00
noon, followed by visits to the Hornsby Bend Hawkwatch
site. Hawkwatches have been conducted at Hornsby
Bend since August 2000 and provide a good
opportunity to begin to practice what you have learned
in class.
The class will feature an optional field trip the weekend
of September 27-28 to Hazel Bazemore County Park
near Corpus Christi, which is one of the most important
hawkwatch sites in North America. In 2007, over half a
million Broad-winged Hawks were counted during the
season at the Hazel Bazemore Hawkwatch, and many
years the total number reaches 100,000 Broad-winged
Hawks in a single day. Twenty-seven different species
of raptors were recorded last year. Although we can’t
guarantee you’ll see huge numbers of a variety of
raptors, the class field trip will be taken during the
period, which is generally the peak of the migration
season. The possibility of witnessing one of the great
spectacles of nature makes this class a "can't miss"
event. Since last year’s hawkwatch a new hawkwatch
platform was built at Hazel Bazemore, which should
make observation of hawks even more fun.
Tuition for the class is $60 for TAS members and $75
for non-members. Participants who go on the field trip
will be expected to pay an additional fee to cover Robert’
s expenses. This should range from $25 to $35,
depending upon how many take the trip.
Registration is limited, so mark your calendar and
contact the registrar, Byron Stone, beginning August 1,
by sending him e-mail at BYRON
Fall Grasses Workshop
Fall is the time of year when most of our native prairie
grasses bloom, making them easier to identify. Learn to
recognize many of the common grasses of central
Texas during a two-day workshop held at a preserve in
eastern Burnet County from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., on Sept.
20 and 27.
This is the fourth year that Bill Reiner will teach the
class on fall-blooming grasses. He was a biological
technician at Balcones Canyonlands NWR for five
years, where he became familiar with most of the more
than 90 grass species that have been identified there.
He has led grass-identification walks at the refuge and
has taught a class on spring-blooming grasses.
Currently, Bill is a biologist managing the City of Austin's
Balcones Canyonlands Preserve.
The tuition for the workshop is $50 for TAS members
and $65 for non-members. To register, contact Jean
Martin after Aug. 24 at JEAN or phone 343-7053.
Participants will be provided with additional information
about the class and directions to the meeting place
when they register.
Sandpipers and plovers are a fascinating group of
birds. They undertake some of the most spectacular
long-distance migrations of any animals (radio-tagged
Bar-tailed Godwits have recently been recorded flying
over 6,200 non-stop miles in six-and-a-half to seven-
and-a-half days!) and are already moving southward
through our area. Can you tell which of those little
brown birds on the mudflats at Hornsby Bend are which?
If not, Tim Fennell’s Shorebird Identification Class is a
great way for intermediate birders to learn how to
distinguish the Least, Semipalmated, and Western
Sandpipers, Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs, and other
similar shorebirds. Tim teaches science at the Liberal
Arts and Science High School in Austin and has been
teaching the Shorebird Identification Class for Travis
Audubon since 1998.
Class lectures will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on
July 24, August 7 and August 14 at the Hornsby Bend
Center for Environmental Research. There will be local
field trips on July 26 and August 9, and an optional trip
to the Texas coast on the weekend of August 16-17.
The tuition is $75 for TAS members and $85 for non-
members. For those who go to the coast, there will be
an additional fee to cover Tim’s expenses. This should
range from $30 to $45, depending upon how many sign
up. Birders who want to take this class should register
by sending e-mail to Jean Martin or call 343-7053.
Introduction to Raptors Class
If you struggle when trying to differentiate between
Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawks, or identify a Merlin
or other species of raptor, this introductory class on
raptors will improve your skills. Classroom sessions will
focus on basic identification techniques to help you
recognize the different buteos, accipiters, and falcons,
which occur in central Texas and along the coast. The
class will not include owls.
Robert Reeves will once again teach the raptor class.
Robert has been a serious birder for about 34 years,
and has been a TAS member for 14 years. Other TAS
classes he has taught include Beginning Birding,
Waterfowl Identification, and Backyard Birding.
Two morning classroom sessions will be held at the
Hornsby Bend Center for Environmental Research on
Saturdays, September 13 and 20, from 9:30 a.m.-12:00
noon, followed by visits to the Hornsby Bend Hawkwatch
site. Hawkwatches have been conducted at Hornsby
Bend since August 2000 and provide a good
opportunity to begin to practice what you have learned
in class.
The class will feature an optional field trip the weekend
of September 27-28 to Hazel Bazemore County Park
near Corpus Christi, which is one of the most important
hawkwatch sites in North America. In 2007, over half a
million Broad-winged Hawks were counted during the
season at the Hazel Bazemore Hawkwatch, and many
years the total number reaches 100,000 Broad-winged
Hawks in a single day. Twenty-seven different species
of raptors were recorded last year. Although we can’t
guarantee you’ll see huge numbers of a variety of
raptors, the class field trip will be taken during the
period, which is generally the peak of the migration
season. The possibility of witnessing one of the great
spectacles of nature makes this class a "can't miss"
event. Since last year’s hawkwatch a new hawkwatch
platform was built at Hazel Bazemore, which should
make observation of hawks even more fun.
Tuition for the class is $60 for TAS members and $75
for non-members. Participants who go on the field trip
will be expected to pay an additional fee to cover Robert’
s expenses. This should range from $25 to $35,
depending upon how many take the trip.
Registration is limited, so mark your calendar and
contact the registrar, Byron Stone, beginning August 1,
by sending him e-mail at BYRON
Fall Grasses Workshop
Fall is the time of year when most of our native prairie
grasses bloom, making them easier to identify. Learn to
recognize many of the common grasses of central
Texas during a two-day workshop held at a preserve in
eastern Burnet County from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., on Sept.
20 and 27.
This is the fourth year that Bill Reiner will teach the
class on fall-blooming grasses. He was a biological
technician at Balcones Canyonlands NWR for five
years, where he became familiar with most of the more
than 90 grass species that have been identified there.
He has led grass-identification walks at the refuge and
has taught a class on spring-blooming grasses.
Currently, Bill is a biologist managing the City of Austin's
Balcones Canyonlands Preserve.
The tuition for the workshop is $50 for TAS members
and $65 for non-members. To register, contact Jean
Martin after Aug. 24 at JEAN or phone 343-7053.
Participants will be provided with additional information
about the class and directions to the meeting place
when they register.