Transcript |
The
Spoonbill
Published by the Ornithology Group, Outdoor Nature Club Houston, Texas
Judith Mueller Boyce, Editor; Don Richardson, Technical Consultant
VOLUME XXXX, No. 12
December, 1991
COMING EVENTS
Monday. January 6. 1992: ORNITHOLOGY GROUP MEETING. 7:30
P.M. Harris County Bayland Community Center (north side of
Bissonnet just west of Hillcroft). Ed Kutac will present a
program entitled, "Some Good Texas Birds with Emphasis on
the Lower Rio Grande Valley." Ed has authored several books
including Birder's Guide to Texas and Texas Birds: Where
They Are and How to F~i"nd(Them.A native Texan, Ed is a past
president of the Texas Ornithological Society and the Travis
Audubon Society and a past treasurer of The Nature
Conservancy (Texas Chapter). He currently teaches local
bird identification classes in Austin. Come on out and meet
the man who wrote the books on finding birds in Texas!
Learning Corner will meet at 7:00 P.M. before the meeting.
Don Richardson will discuss sea ducks and identifying geese
by calls.
Saturday. January 11: OG FIELD TRIP TO WEST HARRIS COUNTY
for sparrows, hawks, ducks and geese and other wintering
birds. This trip is expected to view many sparrows and
cover many miles. Bring a lunch and drinks. Meet our
leader, David Bradford, in the bank parking lot at 7:30 A.M.
just opposite the small white church on the east side of
Highway 6 just north of 1-10. For more information call
David Bradford, 855-2615.
Sunday. January 12: THIS 06 FIELD TRIP TO WEST HARRIS
COUNTY is designed to accommodate the novice birder. Slow
and easy, we will spend time learning how to find and
identify sparrows and other birds. Meet trip leader, David
Bradford, in the bank parking lot at 7:30 A.M. opposite the
little white church located on the east side of Highway 6
just north of 1-10. Bring a sack lunch and the desire to
learn sparrows!
Monday. February 3: ORNITHOLOGY GROUP MEETING. 7:30 P.M.
Harris County Bayland Community Center. OG member. Bill
Goloby, will present a program entitled, "A Passion for
Purple...Martins, That Is." Bill, owner and guide of
Penfeathers Tours, has actively birded the Upper Texas coast
since 1966 and has led professional tours of this area since
1984. Learning Corner at 7:00 P.M.
Saturday-Monday. February 15-17: This 06/ONC FIELD TRIP TO
THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY OF TEXAS takes place during the three-
day President's Day weekend. We will meet our leader. Bill
Tarbox, who lived in the Valley for eight years and
presently lives in Houston, at the Santa Ana N.U.R.
headquarters at 7:30 a.m. Bill will lead us to all the
"hotspots," including Bentsen Rio Grande State Park, Falcon
Recreation Area, Salineno and Falcon Dam. If you have never
birded the Valley before or have missed some of the expected
birds, this is the trip for you. We plan to see Green Jay,
Brown Jay, Plain Chachalaca, White-tipped Dove, Audubon's
Oriole and Bronzed Cowbird. Birds we hope to see include
Hook-billed Kite, Gray Hawk, Zone-tailed Hawk, Clay-colored
Robin, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Green Kingfisher, Tropical
Parula and Gray-crowned Yel lowthroat (if the one presently
at Falcon Dam lingers throughout the winter). Remember--
almost any of these could show up. We will use McAllen as
our headquarters. I suggest we stay in the Motel 6
(512/687-3700). However, there are numerous motels in
McAllen and all fill up early. Other choices Include
Rodeway Inn (512/686-1586), La Quinta (512/687-1101) and
Mission Inn (512/581-7451). These last three cost
approximately $45, $65 and $35 respectively. For the more
hardy, both RV and tent camping is available at Bentson Rio
Grande State Park. For more information on camping call,
Cecelia Donaldson (713/649-6543). We plan to bird all day
Saturday and Sunday and a half day on Monday. Sack lunches
are recommended. To register for the trip or ask questions,
call David Bradford at 855-2615 or Bill Tarbox at 955-2368.
NEWS BRIEFS
Minutes of OG December 2, 1991 meeting: Preceding
the meeting Don Richardson conducted a Learning Corner
session, continuing his series on duck identification.
Chairman Bob Honig opened the meeting and invited
any interested member to contact him about filling the
position of Membership Chairperson. Primary duties would
involve providing membership services at each monthly
meeting.
Treasurer Ed Lebeau reported a current asset balance
of $7300.00, and review aspects of budget years 1989, 1990
and 1991. The proposed 1992 budget will be included in the
next issue of The Spoonbill and will be voted on at the
January OG meeting. [The proposed 1992 budget is shown below
these minutes for your consideration.] Included in the 1992
budget is $450 for the Texas Breeding Bird Atlas Project:
$150 for the OG annual contributions for 1989 and 1990 which
were not made and $150 for 1992, the last year of the
project.
Field Trip Chairman, David Bradford, announced a
full schedule of upcoming OG field trips.
Richard Uzar, Arch Dillard, Paula Kennedy, Bob Honig
and Winnie Burkett encouraged participation in 1991
Christmas Bird Counts, particularly Houston (Baytown),
Galveston, Armand Bayou, Buffalo Bayou and Attwater,
respectively.
Julie D'Ablaing, Og librarian, thanked Marion
Worthington for the donation of three books to the 06
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