Field Trip: Birding San Antonio
Oct
19
8:00 AM08:00

Field Trip: Birding San Antonio

The group will meet between 8:00 AM and 8:15 AM at the Mitchell Lake Audubon Center parking lot, 10750 Pleasanton Rd., San Antonio, TX 78221. There is a $5/person entrance fee in the Audubon building and National Audubon Society members receive a $2 discount. The entrance is under construction, but there will be a sign indicating where to turn in from Pleasanton Rd. (See directions below.) Once you enter the property, continue straight past the construction area and you will find the parking lot.
 

Birding will begin promptly at 8:15 AM and we will carpool around the property on the driving loop, which should be open, driving around the Bird Pond and back to Mitchell Lake.

Expect Vermilion Flycatcher, Bewick's Wren, Pyrrhuloxia, some shorebirds and waterfowl, and maybe even Audubon's Oriole.

DRIVING DIRECTIONS:  The driving time is just over 2 hours. Take IH-37 north toward San Antonio. Take exit 133 to IH-410 West. Take exit 46 toward Moursland Rd. and turn left on Moursland Rd, which merges into Pleasanton Rd.  Follow Pleasanton Rd. 2.5 miles. Mitchell Lake is on the left.
 

 If you are running late, text or call Liam Wolff at (706) 607-0229 to join up with the group.
 

If there is time and interest, we can travel the ~30 miles to Government Canyon State Natural Area ($6 entrance) where we will search for Hill Country birds like Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay, Canyon Wren, and Zone-tailed Hawk. We will take a vote once we finish up at Mitchell Lake.

 

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Field Trip: Corpus Christi Fall Migration Extravaganza
Sep
14
8:00 AM08:00

Field Trip: Corpus Christi Fall Migration Extravaganza

Explore birding hotspots Rose Hill Memorial Park and Blucher Park as we seek out warblers in challenging fall plumage, empids galore, and any other transient birds we can lay our eyes on.

Meet at 8 am at the main entrance to Blucher Park on Carrizo Street.  (Take Kinney or Blucher to Carrizo as there is a lot construction on Comanche.)  After looking for migrant songbirds at Blucher, we will move on to Rose Hill Cemetery. 

This will be a half-day trip.  Bring snacks, bug spray and plenty of water. 

Larry Jordan will lead the first Audubon Outdoor Club field trip of the season on Saturday, Sept. 14 to search for migrating songbirds.  Please contact him if you need more information at lawrencemjordan@hotmail.com or 361-443-0744.

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AOC Monthly Meeting
May
14
7:00 PM19:00

AOC Monthly Meeting

Join us at 7pm at the South Texas Botanical Gardens & Nature Center as we gather for our monthly meeting. There will be no speaker this month. Instead, our members will bring a flashdrive with a collection of their favorite bird photos to showcase their photography.

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Apr
9
6:00 PM18:00

Birds & Beers Springtime Event

Do you like birds? Do you like beer? If the answer is YES, join us at Blucher Park at 6PM on Thursday, April 11th for our Springtime Beers & Birds event in coordination with The Annex.

Meet at the Carrizo St. side of Blucher Park at 6PM where we will walk into the park in pursuit of warblers, vireos, thrushes, cuckoos, grosbeaks, and more!

Then, at 7PM regroup at The Annex bar, where you can enjoy one complimentary drink included with your ticket!

Ready to sign up? Click the link below!

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AOC Field Trip: Duval County Birding
Mar
9
8:00 AM08:00

AOC Field Trip: Duval County Birding

Duval County (La Rosita and San Diego Creek)

We will meet at 6:45 a.m. at the Sunoco station at the corner of FM 1889 and Northwest Blvd. about 3 miles west of Five Points, to carpool about 45 minutes to our first stop in San Diego where we will walk the creek in search of woodland migrants and resident species.

Then we'll move on to the unincorporated town of La Rosita between San Diego and Freer. There should be Curve-billed Thrashers, Pyrrhuloxia, Black-throated Sparrows and other desert dwellers, as well as the possibility for other species that love a quiet country habitat.

The trip will end by lunch time.  Minimal walking.

Bring snacks and water, and dress for the weather.

Leader:  Judy Kestner, 361-701-1962. jkestner@stx.rr.com

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AOC Field Trip: Choke Canyon State Park
Feb
24
8:00 AM08:00

AOC Field Trip: Choke Canyon State Park

Located a little over halfway between Corpus Christi and San Antonio, Choke Canyon State Park is an excellent locale for birding, with thousands of ducks and other waterfowl and plenty of songbirds too, such as Audubon’s Oriole. One winter, a Spotted Rail and Hook-billed Kite were present here. We may not see anything that rare, but you never know what you may find!

Meet at 8:00 AM by the restrooms on the southeast side of the park. After passing through the entrance gate ($5 fee), take a right at the first T-intersection followed immediately by another right. This road will lead you to the parking lot by the restrooms. We will bird around the freshwater pond here and the nearby trails. Afterwards, we can check the reservoir for more waterfowl.

Liam Wolff leads.

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AOC Field Trip: Flour Bluff Ponds and Forests
Feb
10
8:00 AM08:00

AOC Field Trip: Flour Bluff Ponds and Forests

Larry Jordan leads the group across the Encinal Peninsula in search of waterfowl and songbird at ponds across Flour Bluff and at the AOC’s own Held-Moran Nature Sanctuary. Further details to come.

We will meet at the main entrance to the Held-Moran Sanctuary at 8:00 am.  This is on Mediterranean Drive near the intersection with Samoa.  We will spend some time at the sanctuary and then look at some other sites in Flour Bluff including the pond on Caribbean and the Judith Reader Pond.  This will be a half-day trip, so bring water, snacks and bug spray.

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AOC Trip to Costa Rica
Feb
3
to Feb 10

AOC Trip to Costa Rica

If you’ve always wanted to go birding in Costa Rica — or never taken a birding trip abroad at all — this program with Audubon Outdoor Club of Corpus Christi is a great introduction to the neotropical birds of Central America. You’ll spend time in the Caribbean lowlands and the mountainous southern highlands, seeking out species typical of the differing elevations and habitats. Accompanied by an expert local birding guide, you'll have the opportunity to spot many of the country’s 900-plus species. Combine that with its accessibility and friendly people, and Costa Rica is a perfect destination for beginners and more advanced birders alike. Plus, encounter wildlife such as frogs, monkeys, bats, and sloths.

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AOC Field Trip: Victoria Birding Hotspots
Jan
13
8:00 AM08:00

AOC Field Trip: Victoria Birding Hotspots

Brent Ortego leads the group around the best hotspots in the Victoria, Texas area.

Meet at Texas Zoo at 7:30 AM. Drive to Fox Bend and walk along the river looking for Limpkin and other species of interest.  Drive to restroom at exit. Drive to Duck Pond looking for Least Grebe. Drive along river to Rose Garden area for overlook of park and city. Drive to Invista Wetlands for waterbirds. Drive to Brent Ortego's house for hummingbirds.

Update: lunch will no longer be provided so please plan accordingly and bring a lunch and snacks.

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AOC Field Trip: Rio Grande Valley Rarity Chase
Dec
2
8:00 AM08:00

AOC Field Trip: Rio Grande Valley Rarity Chase

We will meet at Resaca de la Palma State Park in Brownsville, Texas at 8 AM in front of the visitor center. Fortunately, most of our targets are at this one state park, so we should enjoy a great day of birding almost exclusively at this location. There is a $4 entry fee at the visitor center, which opens at 8 AM and takes cash or card. If you arrive earlier than 8 AM you can fill out a self-pay envelope with cash. We will first target the 3rd US record (1st Texas record) Gray-collared Becard at the feeders or wherever it has most recently been seen in the park. Then we will target Roadside Hawk at the dry resaca, where it often perches momentarily on stumps in the resaca. We can walk down the maintenance trail at the beginning of the park in search of the Dusky-capped Flycatcher (lawrenceii subspecies - a potential split!) and Golden-crowned Warbler. We will likely spend most of the day waiting for our targets, as they can be elusive. Fortunately, the trails are very easy and there are benches in most areas. There are restrooms and snacks available in the visitor center, but please bring water and a lunch.

Should we fail to locate Dusky-capped Flycatcher and Golden-crowned Warbler, we can try for the latter first at Hugh Ramsey Park in Harlingen (25 min from Resaca) and we can search for the former at the National Butterfly Center (1 hr west of Resaca).

Unfortunately, no spots were available on a Santa Margarita Ranch trip in Starr County for Dec. 3. Due to the incredible rarities seen there lately (Bare-throated Tiger-Heron and Mottled Owl, both 3rd US records), there is very high demand for access onto the ranch, and only two guides who can take groups onto the private property, so there is a long waitlist. Furthermore, the cost for access has increased from $25 to a whopping $160. If you would still like to visit Santa Margarita Ranch in the future, e-mail santamargaritatxranch@gmail.com.

Leader is Liam Wolff. Please text any questions to him at (706) 607-0229.

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