Saturday, May 4,  7:30 AM – 10:30 AM
$50 per person, max. 20 people

Experience a morning of birding at Shield Ranch! Winner of the Victor Emanuel Conservation Award for 2022 for their El Ranchito summer camp, Shield Ranch offers something exceptionally rare in our rapidly urbanizing community—a truly wild place.

Shield Ranch was established in 1938 as a family ranch. Located along six and a half breathtaking miles of Barton Creek just 18 miles southwest of downtown Austin, these 6,400 acres are protected through conservation easements with The Nature Conservancy and the City of Austin. Decades of intentional land stewardship have created a mosaic of habitats and a diverse community of native plants and animals. Spring on the ranch is an exciting time to look for birds, including the endangered Golden-cheeked Warbler.

Our host will be Bob Ayres, an owner of Shield Ranch. Chris Gunter, TAS Board Member, will be the bird guide. We will meet at the Ranch and gather into the fewest number of vehicles to carpool to our trailhead. You can expect the terrain to be typical ranch two-track roads and rocky, uneven trails of moderate difficulty. At 10:30, we will take a break at the ranch house, and those who can stay longer are welcome to continue birding with Bob until noon.

REGISTER HERE

When prompted to credit to a fundraiser, please select the event you’re joining.

Payment for Birdathon events is due at registration. If you change your mind about attending an event, you may be able to transfer your registration to another Birdathon 2024 event. Event registration payments are considered donations and are non-refundable. We sincerely appreciate your generous support! Events occur rain or shine. Please contact the Travis Audubon office with your questions.

The email used to register for this trip will be used to communicate any changes or cancellations due to weather or other factors. Please ALWAYS check your email inbox on the morning of the walk, prior to leaving your home, in case of last-minute changes in the trip plan. Please also check to be sure our emails do not land in your spam folder. When in doubt, please call or email your trip leader. We encourage participants to put the leader’s email address in their safe sender list. Their contact information is included in this trip description.