The September Birding 102 field trip will be a two-for-one event on September 30. In the morning, we will explore the Doeskin Ranch tract of Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge. Then we will have a picnic lunch and visit Jean and Seay Nance’s property close by.
At Doeskin, we’re likely to see year-round birds as well as migrating birds. Some of the species that we will likely see include Swainson’s Hawk, Common Ground-Dove, American Kestrel, Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay, Common Raven, Nashville Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler, Lark Sparrow, and Rufous-crowned Sparrow. Other possibles include Northern Harrier, Broad-winged Hawk, Bell’s Vireo, and Vesper Sparrow.
At the Nance property, we’ll shift our focus to learn some native plants of the Hill Country. Jean is an accomplished birder as well as botanist, and her property is a wonderful example of the level of plant diversity possible in the Hill Country including some very unusual plants that are found only in a few places in the area. We’ll of course be watching and listening for birds while botanizing.
We will meet at 7:00 am at Doeskin Ranch. Carpool options from Austin can be arranged if participants are interested. We’ll have our picnic lunch at Doeskin and then drive to the Nance property. I anticipate heading home around 3:00 pm but definitely no later than 4:00 pm.
The field trip is only open to graduates of Travis Audubon’s Intro to Birds classes who are members of Travis Audubon. Tuition is $25. Feel free to join now if you’re not already a member! If you have questions, contact Shelia at intro2birds@gmail.com or at 512-294-0272.