Travis Audubon Society
3710 Cedar St.
Box 5
Austin, Texas 78705

512.300.BIRD (2473)
info@travisaudubon.org
TAS Logo
Passing It On
At Travis Audubon we
believe that teaching
about birds and nature
is vitally important.
This  way we "plant
seeds" for the future,
for the environment
and those coming after
us who will live in it.
Past Travis Audubon Classes
Intermediate Birding Class
(Jaci Kopra)

Bird Drawing I

Instructor - Linda Anderson:
Have you ever wanted to sketch an unfamiliar bird in the
field so you can identify it later, but you don't even try
because you "couldn't draw a stick"?  Despair not! Travis
Audubon Society is now offering a bird-drawing class,
and the instructor will show you just how much latent
talent you really have.

Linda Anderson has taught bird drawing sessions at our
Youth Birding Camps to rave reviews. She presented
expanded workshops for adults on the same topic and
the response was just as enthusiastic.  You will learn the
language of drawing, which is applicable to all objects
although birds will be the focus of this workshop.  The
class will sharpen your observation skills and teach you
to look at birds in an entirely new way.

Dates:
October 1st and 3rd ,2007(M, W), 7-9 p.m.

Field trip: Saturday, October 6th, 2007 TBA morning.
Location:  Hornsby Bend

Bird Drawing II

Instructor - Linda Anderson
After many requests to expand the bird drawing class,
Travis Audubon is now offering Bird Drawing II for
students who have taken Bird Drawing I, or who have
some experience with drawing.  The class will focus on
learning painting and illustration techniques.  Students
will work from drawings in the field made previously in the
first class, and/or photographs.  Drawing skills will be
expanded and experimentation with various media will be
offered.

Chimney Swift Tower Workshop at Chaetura Canyon

Chimney Swifts are now listed as an endangered species
in Nova Scotia, and the future for these aerial
insectivores is also uncertain in the remainder of their
breeding range.  Georgean and Paul Kyle will conduct a
workshop on building and maintaining new habitat for this
declining species on Sunday, March 9th, 2008 from 1-4
pm.

The workshop will begin with an introduction to Chimney
Swifts that includes a slide presentation and video
highlights from a typical nesting season.

Participants will then construct an actual Chimney Swift
Tower.  After the project is completed, participants will
take a one-mile walking tour of the Chaetura Canyon Bird
Sanctuary.  There are currently 16 Chimney Swift towers
on the property that demonstrate a variety of designs and
materials.  One of the towers will be opened, and the
class will be shown how to evaluate the nesting
productivity of last year's season.  Refreshments will be
served on the deck overlooking the Canyon following the
tour.

Chaetura Canyon has been the epicenter for Chimney
Swift conservation and research world-wide for more than
20 years.  Master Naturalists and property owners with
wildlife exemptions may find this workshop useful in their
conservation efforts. Chimney Swift Towers also make
great Eagle Scout projects, so Scout Masters, Eagle
candidates and their parents should consider taking
advantage of this unique opportunity.

Registration is limited to 10 builders (16 years of age and
older).  

For a preview of the walking tour, visit www.ChimneySwifts.
org  and click on the "Chaetura Canyon Bird Sanctuary"
link.


Gull Identification Workshop

Travis Audubon Society will offer a gull identification class
on Saturday, March 22, 2008.  Byron Stone, who also
teaches Travis Audubon's popular Sparrow Identification
Class, will teach the class.  The gull class will consist of 5
to 6 hours of classroom instruction on a single day, and a
brief field excursion to a nearby reservoir to practice
identification skills with local gulls.  An optional weekend
excursion to a coastal location will be offered on a
separate weekend for a modest additional fee to cover
the instructor's expenses.

This class will focus heavily on identification of the six
species of gull that occur regularly in good numbers in
Texas, including Ring-billed, Herring, Laughing,
Franklin's, Bonaparte's and Lesser Black-backed Gulls.
Class participants will learn a general approach to gull
identification that will be helpful anywhere in the world,
and will learn to determine the age of most gulls they
encounter, which is a prerequisite for accurate
identification of the most confusing species of non-adult
gulls.  The class will cover in some detail the identification
of each age-group of each of the above species, and
participants will learn what field marks are important to
separate each of the above species from each other and
from other similar gulls which occur occasionally in the
state.

In addition to the above 6 species, some time will be
spent on identification of an additional 5 or 6 species of
gull which occur less frequently in Texas, including
California, Thayer's, Glaucous, Mew and possibly Little
Gull, Sabine's Gull and Black-legged Kittiwake.

Byron will use digital images of gulls at rest and in flight,
which he has collected in his travels, or borrowed with
permission from others, much like the way he teaches his
sparrow classes and workshops.  Class will be limited to
30 participants, and initial registration preference will be
given to Travis Audubon Society members who have
previously taken a TAS class.
Rare Bird Alert