By Sneed B. Collard III When my 13-year-old son Braden and I arrived at High Island in the spring of 2016, we quivered with anticipation. After two years of birding in our home state of Montana, we had finally decided to venture beyond our borders and attempt a modest ABA Big Year for ourselves. Our […]
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By Alan Murphy, Alan Murphy Photography Every April for the past twenty-five years, I photograph bird migration on the Upper Texas Coast. When I arrive on the coast and drive the back roads looking for birds, the first sounds I always hear is the loud, flutelike song of the Eastern Meadowlark. Although they nest on […]
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By Lauren Miheli, Member and Volunteer Manager Here at Houston Audubon we are so appreciative of the younger generations; from Elementary School to College, young people are a big part of our volunteer efforts. The initiative they take in finding ways to help out at our sanctuaries is super inspiring! This was particularly true throughout the […]
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By Sneed B. Collard III On a balmy, pre-covid morning in June 2019, I arrived at the W.G. Jones State Forest at 5:45 a.m. There I was met by an enthusiastic biologist named Donna Work. Why? So that she could teach me about one of the world’s most intriguing birds, the Red-cockaded Woodpecker. Red-cockaded Woodpeckers, […]
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I awoke well before dawn on April 6, 2019. A night of fitful, anxious sleep pushed me out of bed. After a year of planning, I was eager to start work at Smith Oaks Bird Sanctuary in High Island, Texas. Walking about a quarter of a mile east into the sanctuary, I reached the rookery […]
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Backyards across the United States have had an unusually high number of small, heavily striped finches, known as Pine Siskins, making a recent appearance. This year’s irruption of Pine Siskins has been one of the largest in recorded history! An irruption typically occurs during periods of food shortage in a species’ home range, causing them […]
Read MoreOne of the unintended benefits of having to stay home during this pandemic is an added appreciation for the commonplace beauty of our households, backyards, and parks. Being a senior in high school and eagerly anticipating college, I have always taken the comforts of my home for granted. It was through birdwatching during this pandemic […]
Read MoreBy Glenn Olsen There is so much excitement surrounding spring bird migration and rightfully so, as many colorful and interesting birds return to North America for breeding. I enjoy spring migration, but I also look forward to winter birding with equal excitement as spring! Resident Birds Naturally, we have our resident birds, such as the […]
Read MoreIt feels like it was just yesterday when I was laughing mindlessly with a trash bag in hand and a trash picker in the other. As my friends and I picked up the discarded pieces of plastic and styrofoam along the creek of Edith Moore Sanctuary, I felt as if my body was lost in […]
Read MoreWhat screams holiday cheer more than Christmas Bird Count? In the minds of most birders – almost nothing! Christmas Bird Count is the nation\’s longest-running community science bird project and is in its 121st year! Each year, between December 14 and January 5, volunteers numbering in the thousands brave the weather around the U.S. to […]
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