People AT TRAVIS AUDUBON

Office Staff Board of Directors Executive Director Nicole Netherton President Frances Cerbins Land Manager and Educator Chris Murray President-Elect Eric Stager Education and Program Coordinator Caley Zuzula Treasurer Carol Ray Operations Coordinator Judith Allen Secretary Julia Marsden Design Director & Website Producer Nora Chovanec Directors Karen Bartoletti Clif Ladd Suzanne Kho Committees Dennis Palafox Advocacy Clif Ladd Sharon Richardson Baker Team Clif Ladd Virginia Rose Chris Murray Mark Wilson Blair Woods Management Mark Wilson Jo Wilson Commons Ford Shelia Hargis Ellen Filtness Chaetura Canyon Management Paul Kyle Advisory Council J. David Bamberger Georgean Kyle Valarie Bristol Adult Education Byron Stone Victor Emanuel Field Trip Dennis Palafox Sam Fason Hornsby Bend Eric Stager Bryan Hale Outreach/Member Meetings Jane Tillman Karen Huber Cindy Sperry Mary Kelly Youth Virginia Rose Susan Rieff Mary Kay Sexton Andrew Sansom Carter Smith

1 Upcoming Events WITH TRAVIS AUDUBON

Super Tuesday! At Emma Long Metropolitan Park with Jane Tillman and Suzie McCann 1600 City Park Rd, Austin, TX 78730 02MAR, 19 FIELD TRIPS Beginner Bird Walk: Camp Mabry 2200 W 35th St, Austin, TX 78703 02MAR, 19 CLASSES, SANCTUARY EVENTS Birding by Ear with Mikael Behrens 03MAR, 19 YOUTH & FAMILY Young Birders Club: Wildflower Center 05MAR, 19 FIELD TRIPS Two-hour Tuesday at Lake Creek Trail with Jane Tillman 06MAR, 19 CLASSES CLASS: Introduction to Birds and Birding Spring 2019 09MAR, 19 FIELD TRIPS Hornsby Bend Monthly Bird Count 09MAR, 19 SANCTUARY EVENTS Baker Sanctuary Restoration Day 12219 Lime Creek Rd, Leander, TX 78641, USA 10MAR, 19 FIELD TRIPS Guadalupe River State Park Field Trip led by Deb & Lee Wallace 10MAR, 19 Ruffled Feathers Book Club Meeting 3710 Cedar St., Austin, TX 78705 12MAR, 19 FIELD TRIPS Super Tuesday at Mitchell Lake with Lee and Deb Wallace 14MAR, 19 YOUTH & FAMILY Birds of Lake Pflugerville with Sebastian Casarez 18216 Weiss Ln, Pflugerville, TX 78660 16MAR, 19 FIELD TRIPS Hornsby Bend Monthly Bird Walk 16MAR, 19 FIELD TRIPS Birdability: Govalle Metropolitan Park 20MAR, 19 FIELD TRIPS Wild Wednesday at Brushy Creek Regional Trail 21MAR, 19

2 TAS 67th Birthday Party + Annual Business Meeting + Speaker Series 4700 Grover Ave, Austin, TX 78756 23MAR, 19 YOUTH & FAMILY, SANCTUARY EVENTS Blair Woods Family Nature Day: Celebrate Urban Birds 5401 E Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Austin, TX 78721, USA 24MAR, 19 SANCTUARY EVENTS Blair Woods Restoration Day 5401 E. MLK Jr. Blvd. 24MAR, 19 SANCTUARY EVENTS Chaetura Canyon Video Premiere 26MAR, 19 FIELD TRIPS Two-Hour Tuesday at City of Bee Cave Central Park with Amy Sugeno 02APR, 19 FIELD TRIPS Super Tuesday at Pedernales Falls State Park with Terry Banks 03APR, 19 FIELD TRIPS, BIRDATHON Birdathon: Birding at Bamberger Ranch 05APR, 19 FIELD TRIPS Migratory Birds in the Landscape 06APR, 19 FIELD TRIPS, BIRDATHON Birdathon: Cherry Springers 06APR, 19 FIELD TRIPS Beginner Bird Walk: St. Edward’s Park 7301 Spicewood Springs Rd, Austin, TX 78759 06APR, 19 FIELD TRIPS, SANCTUARY EVENTS, BIRDATHON Birdathon: Mindful Birders 07APR, 19 FIELD TRIPS, SANCTUARY EVENTS, BIRDATHON Birdathon: Warblers at Baker 07APR, 19 YOUTH & FAMILY Young Birders Club: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center 09APR, 19 FIELD TRIPS Two-hour Tuesday at Camp Mabry with Jane Tillman 13APR, 19 FIELD TRIPS Hornsby Bend Monthly Bird Count 17APR, 19 FIELD TRIPS, BIRDATHON Birdathon: Birding at Los Madrones 19APR, 19 FIELD TRIPS, BIRDATHON Birdathon: Birding at Jandarosa Ranch 20APR, 19 FIELD TRIPS

3 Hornsby Bend Monthly Bird Walk 20APR, 19 FIELD TRIPS, BIRDATHON Birdathon: Powderhorn Ranch 20APR, 19 SANCTUARY EVENTS Blair Woods Restoration Day 5401 E Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Austin, TX 78721, USA 23APR, 19 CLASSES Class: Spring Warblers 27APR, 19 FIELD TRIPS, BIRDATHON Birdathon: Coastal Migrants and East Warblers 27APR, 19 YOUTH & FAMILY, SANCTUARY EVENTS Blair Woods Family Nature Day: Migration 5401 E Martin Luther King Jr Blvd, Austin, TX 78721, USA 28APR, 19 FIELD TRIPS, BIRDATHON Birdathon: Early Birders 30APR, 19 Speaker Series: Exploring New Guinea’s Lost Worlds and Elusive Birds of Paradise with Bruce Beehler 4700 Grover Ave, Austin, TX 78756

4 Updates AT TRAVIS AUDUBON

Austin Tree Experts Visit Blair Woods

POSTED ON JANUARY 15, 2019 Many thanks to the good folks at Austin Tree Experts who graciously donated their time and expertise at Blair Woods the last several weeks. The crew from Austin Tree Experts removed non-native, invasive plants lining the Blair Woods driveway and also cut and removed several large, technical snags which had loomed over various public spaces at the preserve. Volunteers Keep Baker Beautiful

POSTED ON JANUARY 28, 2019 Many thanks to the 18 hard-working volunteers who spent their Saturday morning at Baker last weekend! With their help, approximately 12 cubic yards of mulch was spread on hiking trails, hundreds of Spanish Oak acorns were sown, and over 600 feet of an old, rusty, barbed wire fence was removed. Great work and thanks for your support! January Bird Forecast

POSTED ON JANUARY 30, 2019

By: Jim Spencer

What to watch for in January – Unusual Birds at your Feeders Here’s the Central Texas bird forecast for the month, courtesy of Travis Audubon. Learn more about Central Texas birds and bird-related events for all ages at travisaudubon.org or by calling 512-300-BIRD. Follow us at www.facebook.com/travisaudubon Are you feeding the birds? If so, keep an eye out for two uncommon species that have shown up this winter.

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Purple Finches and Red-breasted Nuthatches are two northern species of birds that are considered irruptive species. The Texas Ornithological Society Handbook of Texas Birds defines irruptive species as those that are “normally absent from the state or a given area, but subject to large-scale non-annual incursions.” Often there are variable numbers of years between these events. Usually the irruptions are due to food shortages in their normal range.

Of the two, the Purple Finch is rare in the Austin/Travis County area, while Red-breasted Nuthatches seem to show up in very low numbers every year. For Purple Finches, there are scattered records in 2015, 2014, 2011, 2004, 2003, 2002, 1979, 1976 and 1974. So far this late fall and winter they have been seen or heard at locations including Emma Long and Commons Ford Ranch Metropolitan Parks, at a private residence northwest of St. Edward’s Park and in Travis Country, and at McKinney Falls State Park.

Purple Finches have large conical bills and will visit backyard feeders, particularly enjoying black oil sunflower seed. They are House Sparrow sized, about 6 inches long, with notched tails. The males and females look very different from each other. The female has a brownish back and tail, with crisp short, dark streaks on a white breast and belly. The most distinctive head features are the strong white eyebrow mostly behind the eye, and the brown cheek patch.

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She could be confused with the very common House Finch, less common Pine Siskin, or some native sparrows. Be sure to check your field guide. One way to make the identification is to take a decent photo and use the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Merlin Photo ID App.

A House Finch female will have blurry grayish streaking on her breast and flanks and a plain head. While it seems that most Travis County records are for female Purple Finches, you may get lucky and see a male. No, it is not purple. Compare the male’s extensive red coloring on its back and head, and red on its flanks, with the brown blurry streaking on the House Finch’s flank and less red on the head.

The Red-breasted Nuthatch is the life of the party with its endearing tooting calls. It is a shame we don’t have more of this northern bird. It could be mistaken for a Carolina Chickadee if you only get a quick look, but is quite different. The Red-breasted Nuthatch is a little smaller than a

7 chickadee. It has a long pointed bill it uses to probe for insects in bark as it busily moves down, up and around tree trunks and branches. It has almost no neck, and a flat head, with a white eyebrow and throat and strikingly black eyeline. Its belly is pale orange and the top of its head, its back and tail are bluish gray. These nuthatches are generally solitary, but will follow mixed flocks of chickadees, titmice, and other small songbirds.

Compiled by Jane Tillman, Travis Audubon Volunteer REPOSTED WITH PERMISSION FROM KXAN’S WEATHER BLOG

Meet the 2019 Board Nominees

POSTED ON JANUARY 31, 2019 Learn more about the 2019 Board Nominees by reading their bios below! Election will take place at the March Member Meeting– more details for that meeting coming soon.

Christy Esmahan, Ph.D. Christy received a B.A. in Microbiology from Miami University, in Ohio, and then a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the Universidad de León in Spain. She worked for 15 years as an educator at the high school and university level. Now she works as a biomedical/pharmaceutical translator (Spanish/English) and writes novels. She has always been interested in birds, but has had more time to devote to birding since she became an empty nester. She has birded in Thailand, Taiwan and Mexico. She volunteered with Amigos de las Americas in Houston for 7 years, and was a board member for 3 years. Currently she is a board member of a non-profit press, Kallisto Gaia, here in Austin. She and her husband are avid birders and have been members of Travis Audubon since they moved to Austin a few years ago. Her involvement with TAS includes being a member of the Advocacy Committee for the last 2 years, taking several birding classes, including current enrollment in the Master Birder Class, and participating in the Ruffled Feathers book club, birdathons and numerous birding outings. In 2017 she was selected by the National Audubon Society to participate in a 2-day advocacy workshop in Washington DC. She would love to become a board member of TAS.

Lino Mendiola III Lino is an Austin attorney specializing in electric energy law and is a partner at Eversheds Sutherland. Lino graduated from Harvard Law School in 1994 and then clerked for the Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court. He has practiced law in a private law firm his entire career with the exception of a one-year sabbatical during which he served as the Reginald F. Lewis Fellow for Law Teaching at Harvard Law School. Lino is an experienced non-profit leader, having served on various boards. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the St. David’s Foundation and on the Board of Directors of Child, Inc., the Travis County Head Start provider. Lino’s term on the Child, Inc. Board will expire in May, 2019. Lino began birding in the spring of 2014 after participating in a Travis Audubon monthly bird walk at Hornsby Bend. Since then, Lino has birded around the country and has participated in a couple of international trips. Lino is a member of the TAS Field Trip Committee and is a graduate of the Master Birder program.

Julia Marsden Julia Marsden grew up in (where she saw her first shore bird, an avocet, at the local sewage treatment facility). After lots of years away–in college in Missouri, and life in Maine, Puerto Rico, and Maryland–she returned to Texas in 1990.

8 Ms. Marsden spent eleven years on the state board of the League of Women Voters of Texas; nine of those were spent as Advocacy/Legislative Vice-President and State Water Chair. During this time she spent ten years as the public (citizen) member on the Lower Colorado River Regional Water Planning Group, appointed to the first state water planning group following the passage of SB1.

A biologist and retired secondary science teacher, she volunteers at the Blood and Tissue Center in Austin and serves as a docent/volunteer at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. She loves to travel and bird!

Dennis Palafox Picture and bio coming soon! Found a Baby Bird? Here’s What You Should Do

POSTED ON FEBRUARY 4, 2019 Spring is just six weeks away, which means it’s almost baby bird season. Since they are so small and look so vulnerable, it is nearly instinct to pick it up and try to care for it. However, that’s often not the best thing for the bird. Here’s a clever infographic by Rosemary Mosco that shows you what to do when you find a baby bird:

9 If the bird needs to see a licensed wildlife rehabilitator or wildlife care center, please call Austin Wildlife Rescue at 512-472-9453. Texas Judge Upholds Endangered Species Act Protections for Golden-cheeked Warbler

POSTED ON FEBRUARY 7, 2019 AUSTIN, Texas— A federal judge in Austin yesterday ruled that the golden-cheeked warbler should remain protected under the Endangered Species Act. The Texas songbird is severely threatened by rampant urban sprawl. In affirming the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s denial of a petition to take the golden-cheeked warbler off the endangered species list, the court found that the warbler continues to be threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, predation and climate change.

That petition was submitted by several right-wing think tanks and Susan Combs, currently the acting secretary of policy, management and budget in the Trump administration’s U.S. Department of the Interior.

Conservation groups participated in the legal proceedings to defend the songbird’s protection.

“We’re thrilled that this cynical attempt to take protection away from the warbler has been stopped,” said Ryan Shannon, a staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “With the continued protection of the Endangered Species Act, hopefully this Texas native will charm birders from all over the world for a long time to come.”

The golden-cheeked warbler is a small songbird endemic to the Hill Country of central Texas and has striking yellow markings on its cheeks. Loss of habitat due to ranching and urban sprawl has long endangered it. The species was protected under the Endangered Species Act in 1990.

Austin and central Texas are home to the mature ashe juniper woodlands that are the only place in the world where the warbler breeds. The areas are also some of the fastest-growing regions in the country. Between 1999 and 2011, 29 percent of the bird’s habitat was destroyed.

“It’s simply too soon to remove protections for the warbler, which continues to lose habitat to urban sprawl,” said Nicole Netherton, executive director of Travis Audubon. “Central Texas is the only place in the world where golden-cheeked warblers are born and raised, and continued protections will help encourage their breeding success for years to come.”

Like so many other imperiled animals, the warbler has greatly benefited from Endangered Species Act protection. Although the bird’s numbers are difficult to estimate, surveys continue to document more warblers every year, and several habitat areas have been protected.

“The Endangered Species Act has a proven record of success bringing species back from the brink from extinction,” said Jason Rylander, senior counsel at Defenders of Wildlife. “The golden- cheeked warbler could be another success story, but as the Fish and Wildlife Service recognized, real threats to the species persist. The court made the right decision for the warbler.”

10 “We believe Judge Sparks’ ruling reflects the true status of the golden-cheeked warbler,” said Shelia Hargis of Texas Ornithological Society. “The science does not support delisting, and much more work is needed to better understand and address the challenges facing this species. Fortunately these efforts are strengthened by the collaboration of nonprofits such as Travis Audubon, the Nature Conservancy and local, county and federal government entities such as city of Austin, Travis County and U.S. Fish and Wildlife.”

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.4 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

Baker’s GBBC Draws Birders of all Ages

POSTED ON FEBRUARY 21, 2019 The fifth annual Great Backyard Bird Count at Baker Sanctuary was a success with over fifty birders of all ages in attendance! While it was a bit chilly and windy, the birders still managed to tally 15 species over the course of the two hour survey. American Robins were by far the most common species seen with over 500 tallied. Picture This: Birdathon 2019 Photography Contest + Fundraiser

POSTED ON FEBRUARY 22, 2019 Do you enjoy birding through a camera lens as much as through binoculars? Show off your birding finesse AND your photography skills while supporting Travis Audubon!

For the first time ever, Travis Audubon’s Birdathon will include a photography contest. There are some guidelines for the photos that can be submitted. Photos should: – contain birds (and no people!) – be taken between April 1 and May 5, 2019 (you know, Birdathon dates!) – be taken in Texas – be submitted by the photographer (or guardian if the photographer is a minor)

Since this is a fundraiser, entry into the contest is $5 per photo. Photos do not need to be taken during an official Birdathon excursion. If you have a great photo op while drinking coffee on your back porch, then that’s great!

What’s in it for the winners? The top five photos will be featured on Travis Audubon’s social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) with photographer recognition. The first place photo winner will be featured in our Signal Smoke blog and will have their photo included in our Annual Report.

Who is judging the photos? We are in the process of securing judges. We will let you know as soon as we know!

Submit your photos by sending them to [email protected]. You will receive a reply that asks you a few easy questions and provides a link to pay the entry fee.

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