Meetings and Field Trips

.

Membership Meeting

Thursday, May 17, 2012; 7:00 PM

Garden Center, Tyrrell Park, Beaumont

Trinity River National Wildlife Refuge

Stuart Marcus

Stuart Marcus is the first and current Refuge Manager of the 25,000 acre Trinity River National Wildlife located in Liberty, TX. He graduated from the University of Florida in 1977 with a degree in Wildlife Ecology.

Stuart worked as a seasonal forester with the U. S. Forest Service in 1977 and 1978 at Pisgah National Forest in western North Carolina. He started his career with the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1979 as a Biological Technician at the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge located in north Florida. He went on to work as an Assistant Refuge Manager at three other refuges, throughout different parts of Florida. He was promoted to Refuge Manager of the Trinity River Refuge in June 1994. For the first five years he worked out of his house, moved to a storefront office in Liberty for 13 years and just in early March moved into a new headquarters office located on the Refuge.

Directions to Garden Center in Tyrrell Park.

From the south

Go "north" on US69/96/287 around the south side of Beaumont.

Take Texas 124 (south or west, whichever it is signed) towards Fannett (left turn under the highway).

Travel about a mile to the first light.

At the first light, turn left onto Tyrrell Park Road and go about 1/2 mile.

Turn left into Tyrrell Park through the nice new arch.

Almost immediately turn left at the conservatory into the parking lot for the Garden Center.

From IH10

Exit at Walden Road on the west side of Beaumont

Go south of Walden Road for about 1/2 mile to the first light

At the light go straight over Highway 124 onto Tyrrell Park Road and go about 1/2 mile.

Turn left into Tyrrell Park through the nice new arch.

Almost immediately turn left at the conservatory into the parking lot for the Garden Center.

 IMPORTANT NOTICE

In the June Brown Pelican we indicated that a Work Day was planned for Sabine Woods for Saturday May 19.  For a variety of reasons, we have postponed this work day.  We have not yet been able to confirm a new date for this Work Day.

Saturday May 26

Field Trip to Hardin County

Important Note: Field Trip notices published here should always be regarded as needing confirmation. Between the notices here being prepared and the field trip date, conditions could change. Our ability to access sites could change; and local bird concentrations could change quite rapidly. We want to be able to make changes and adjustments to take advantage of the latter. Changes will always be posted here on the website at www.goldentriangleaudubon.org. Confirmation of the location will also normally be available at the Membership Meeting that is usually, but not always, two days prior to each trip, or by contacting Field Trip Committee chair, Steve Mayes at 409-722-5807 or sgmayes@hotmail.com

We will focus on the area north of Silsbee to look for the breeding birds of the area. This is typically a half-day trip. We plan to look for the nesting species of the area – Hooded, Pine, Prairie and Swainson’s Warblers (and possibly Prothonotary Warbler), Yellow-breasted Chat, White-eyed, Red-eyed and Yellow-throated Vireo, Indigo and Painted Bunting, Gray Catbird, Summer Tanager, Acadian Flycatcher, Brown-headed Nuthatch and others. Some of these species are easier to see on the breeding grounds than on migration. Swainson's Warbler is a particular target of this trip. We have often been rewarded with excellent views of this normally very secretive species on this field trip. Yellow-breasted Chats, skulkers in migration, have often been seen perched high up in the open. We have even seen Greater Roadrunners on this trip, and four years ago, a singing Eastern Towhee was completely unexpected.

     The meeting place will be at 7:00 a.m. (note the necessary early start if we are to find the breeding birds!) at the shopping center on the northeast corner of the intersection of FM92 and FM418 in the northern part of Silsbee. To reach this from Beaumont, take US 69 north and then US96 north. Take Business 96 into and through downtown Silsbee. When Business 96 turns right a short distance after crossing the railroad, continue straight ahead on FM92 for about a mile to the shopping center. We will bird the Firetower Road/Gore Store Road/Camp Waluta area and any nearby areas that are brought to our attention as being productive. Many areas along Firetower Road were clear cut two or three years ago, and while this has undoubtedly reduced the diversity of species, it has created much habitat that is proving very attractive to Prairie Warblers. However, we will likely spend most time in the northern section of Firetower Road, and along Gore Store Road between Firetower Road and the Beech Creek bridge. We will probably finish about noon. We normally stay east of the area of Gore Store Road that burned last year.