John Copley Donovan, a long-time member of Travis Audubon, passed away peacefully on July 25, 2025. He and his wife Anne have hosted many birding field trips at their lovely 7 Oaks Ranch over the years. The ranch is 165 acres of hilly oak and juniper woodland, filled with many of Anne and John’s favorite birds: the White-eyed Vireo, Black-chinned Hummingbird, Summer Tanager, Purple Martin, and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, just to name a few. John also enjoyed birding on the Texas coast and was a proud member of the High Island Hoppers Birdathon team in the 2010’s.

When he wasn’t sharing the joy of birding with other Central Texans, John was traveling the world to catch a glimpse of new species. According to his obituary, some of his most memorable trips included Canada, Costa Rica, Ecuador, New Zealand, and Scandinavia.

We offer our deepest condolences to the Donovan Family at this time. John will be greatly missed, and we are honored that he chose to spend so much of his time with the Travis Audubon community over the years.

If you’d like to share any stories of your time with John, please send them to lisa@travisaudubon.org. We will update this blog as thoughts are shared.

Photo credit: The Donovan Family

Thoughts from fellow Travis Audubon members

I met John several times at Chaetura Canyon events. His wife Anne was a big supporter of the Kyles and Chaetura. I served on the CC Management Committee at the same time as Anne for several years and always enjoyed visiting with John at Canyon events. He was a very friendly man and very knowledgeable about the world of birding. He told me of memorable birding trips he and Anne had enjoyed in places like Costa Rick and Ecuador. He will be missed by many Travis Audubon members.

– Mark Wilson