About
UsAbout
UsBastrop County Audubon Society organized in the fall of 1981. For a while county residents of like mind had been meeting and birding together. They had carried out Christmas bird counts beginning in 1977. Biological scientist David Mitchell was first president and guided the group through the steps leading to qualifying as a National Audubon chapter in 1983. Pam Hensley was first Bird Calls editor. In 1985. BCAS hosted the Audubon State Council meeting in 1985 and again in 1991. In February, 1986, we made a field trip to Lake Buchanan to see the bald eagles. Ornithologist David Nichols, our president in 1989, led studies of county bird life and published the article "Adaptability of Night Herons." In August, 1991, David Carson (with Sally Strong of Austin) won a National Audubon education award for work with the State Textbook Review Committee and Glenn Whitehead and Judy Ing won an award for the newsletter. During the 90's BCAS was known for the Bat Education Program, scripted by Joan Russell, performed by her and then by Judy Mitchell and others for 4th graders. David Carson served on the National Audubon board for 3 years. In 1999 we developed study guides for use at McKinney Roughs Conservation Education Center, featuring art by artist member Margie Crisp. Since 2000 we have installed and maintained over100 blue-bird and other needed nest boxes (thanks to our manufacturer Richard Hulsey) in Bastrop and Buescher State Parks.
General Membership Meetings, which are open to the public, occur without fail the third Tuesday of each month except July, August, and December.
We meet in the First National Bank Meeting Room, 489 Highway 71 West, Bastrop (Click here for a Mapquest map). Doors open at 7:00 p.m. and the meeting is called to order at 7:30. We serve refreshments after the business meeting and the guest speaker's presentation. At the meeting BCAS polo shirts and T-shirts are available for purchase. We provide press releases in the Elgin, Bastrop, and Smithville newspapers prior to the meetings, publicizing the speaker.
If you live in or are visiting Bastrop County, please join us at our meetings!
Our newsletter, Bird Calls, keeps us alert to relevant local, state, and national issues. We publish articles and items of interest and notify members about meetings, projects, field trips, and other events. Published six times a year or more, it is a benefit of local membership. You can view recent issues elsewhere on this Web site.
BCAS performs the annual Christmas Bird Count in areas of Bastrop County, thus contributing valuable information on winter bird distribution. We have performed the bird count since 1977. Some members also routinely observe and compile results on local bird populations, and some evaluate habitat and create bird lists for local property owners on their property.
Members enjoy six or more field trips each year, most often within a 50 mile radius, which area does provide great birding, including habitat for the endangered black-capped vireo or golden-cheeked warbler, etc. We go regularly to convenient Hornsby Bend for the resident and the migratory water birds. And annually we venture farther afield for a one or two-night trip, for example, to High Island, Port Aransas, or Selah Ranch in Johnson City.
Joining Bastrop County Audubon Society is easy: simply print a Membership Application, and mail it with your dues for the level of membership you choose. Your dues will support our conservation efforts in Bastrop County and you receive our newsletter, Bird Calls.
You may also join the National Audubon Society, if you are not already a member. Membership in the National Audubon Society includes a subscription to Audubon magazine. A Membership Application for NAS is available here.
This page was last updated on Tuesday May 15, 2007 11:05 AM