The Audubon Foundation of Texas awarded 7 grants to 6 Texas Audubon Chapters at its Fall 2023 meeting. We thank H-E-B for sponsoring our Collaborative Grant program and supporting our mission to protect Texas wildlife and habitats.
We appreciate H-E-B’s dedication to environmental sustainability and their support of small grassroots non-profits. Together, we aim to preserve Texas for future generations.
Bexar Audubon Society (BAS) – Chapter Name Change
BAS requested funds to update educational materials in line with their impending chapter name change. In May 2023, during its Annual Retreat, the Bexar Audubon Society board decided to change the chapter name for FY 2024, spanning from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024. The chapter serves 10 counties in South-Central Texas, and the current name, “Bexar Audubon,” doesn’t accurately represent this broad geographical coverage. After the new name is selected and approved, the grant funds will be allocated to defray some of the costs associated with rebranding the educational materials. The goal behind the name change is to better include and represent counties beyond Bexar. As part of this initiative, BAS will conduct outreach activities across all counties they serve, clarifying the reasons behind the name change and emphasizing each county’s role in bird conservation. This effort will include distributing the newly rebranded educational materials.
Awarded – $1,000
Prairie and Timbers Audubon Society (PTAS) – MoSI Bird Banding Stations
PTAS requested funds to establish two permanent MoSI bird banding stations— one on the Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area (LLELA) property in Lewisville, Texas and one on the property of the Heard Museum in McKinney, Texas. The MoSI Program (Monitoreo de Sobrevivencia Invernal/Monitoring Overwintering Survival) is a cooperative effort among public agencies, private organizations, and independent bird banders in Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean to better understand spatial- and habitat-related variation in the non-breeding season physical condition and survivorship of migratory land birds. Their goal will be to provide perpetual winter banding opportunities for researchers, volunteers, and trainees at both of these locations. The bird banding stations will provide researchers with consistent information for inquiry into bird populations, habitats, and survival. PTAS regularly encourages community members with an interest in bird studies to visit their stations and provide them with information on the research they conduct, on precautions to ensure bird (and human) safety, and successes of their endeavors.
Awarded – $1,000
Rio Brazos Audubon Society (RBAS) – Educational Outreach Materials
RBAS requested funds to purchase outreach materials to give away at events: coloring books, young people’s field guides, and printed handouts. These educational materials will be distributed to young people at outreach events who express and demonstrate a budding interest in birds and the environment.
Awarded – $300.00
Rio Brazos Audubon Society (RBAS) – Nocturnal Flight Calls Monitoring Station
RBAS requested funds for Year 2 of the Nocturnal Flight Calls Monitoring Station (NFCMS2). Nocturnal Flight Calls (NFC), short vocalizations of migrating birds, allow migration to be studied at the species level, at precise locations and after dark, thereby complementing Doppler radar and eBird. The Rio Brazos Audubon Society already maintains an AFT funded NFC monitoring station in College Station, Texas. RBAS proposes to upgrade their disk-space storage, monitoring equipment, and analysis software for nocturnal flight calls. Two main goals are: (1) to shift to two-site comparison-type acoustical studies which will have more immediate returns on investment than single-site general migration surveys. Targeted studies will provide key data to corporate, city and campus decisionmakers about, for instance, facilities night lighting, and the siting, lighting and hours of operation of wind farms; and (2) provide volunteer opportunities to members of RBAS by recording and uploading sound files to the new server, training on recognizing the flight calls of various species; and to providing feedback to the developers of NFC analysis programs
Awarded – $1,000
Coastal Bend Audubon Society (CBAS) – Fencing for North Bay Sanctuary
CBAS requested funds to help cover some of the cost to finish building a fence and gate with a neighboring property landowner at their chapter-owned North Bay Sanctuary. Approximately two-thirds of the fence (barbed wire) was replaced two years ago by a neighboring property owner, but the remainder of the fence needs replacement. The requested funds would be used entirely on fencing materials and would cover ~20% of the estimated costs. They plan to replace the fencing/gate thus allowing the neighboring landowner to graze cattle on the sanctuary at CBAS’s discretion as a management tool. The fencing will also allow for establishment and maintenance of a fire break so that they can apply prescribed fire in the future. The project will improve the entire 75-acre property by making it manageable towards their own bird conservation objectives. CBAS will be able to demonstrate and convey key tenets of land management to their membership through volunteer opportunities and notices in newsletters. Visitors to the sanctuary will be made aware of the importance of managed grazing and prescribed fire on management of important bird habitats.
Awarded – $2,500
Golden Triangle Audubon Society (GTAS) – Habitat Restoration at Sabine Woods Sanctuary
GTAS requested funds to continue their efforts of restoring habitat for migratory birds along the Gulf Coast at Sabine Woods Sanctuary. The members of GTAS maintain the 27-acres at Sabine Woods Sanctuary by mowing trails, maintaining bird drips, watering trees and removing invasive plant species. After removing invasive species (primarily McCartney Rose, also known at Cherokee Rose), native trees can be planted, such as Live Oaks, Mulberry and Willow trees. These trees provide a natural food source for birds. GTAS has two yearly organized workdays where approximately twenty volunteers show up to help clear and mow trails. Throughout the year, members voluntarily show up to help maintain drips, water trees when needed, and of course battle the McCartney Rose. GTAS continues throughout the year to improve the sanctuary making this a first stop for spring migration and a last stop for fall migration. Both birds and people flock to Sabine Woods, especially in the spring.
Awarded – $2,500
Houston Audubon (HAS) – Habitat Restoration at Smith Oaks Bird Sanctuary
HAS requested funds for habitat restoration of a minimum of 2 acres and plant over 500 native shrubs, grasses and pollinator plants at Smith Oaks Bird Sanctuary in High Island, Texas. Houston Audubon will host 5 volunteer workdays with approximately 35 volunteers per workday. During these five separate events, volunteers will focus on improving both the visitor infrastructure and wildlife habitat by removing exotic invasive plant species and planting native grasses and wildflowers. They plan to plant native plants grown by Houston Audubon’s Natives Nursery, which specializes in local native prairie grasses and wildflowers. Their goal is to restore critical stopover habitat for migratory birds, engage public awareness through voluntarism, and enhance the nature-based visitor experience. Managing their sanctuaries and preserving and restoring associated habitats are critical conservation actions important to supporting healthy bird populations, now and into the future.?Houston Audubon works diligently year-round to protect, maintain, and restore these areas for food and a safe space for refuge for birds and other wildlife and for providing quality experiences in nature that inspire all ages. Tens of thousands of people flock to High Island each spring to witness hundreds of thousands of extraordinary bird species that depend on this land as they migrate northward.