BIRD CITIES! — Beautiful Hays County

DRAFT 4

Mimi Cavender

TPWD news release: Bird City Texas Certifies Five New Cities & Their First High-Flyer

AUSTIN, Jan. 16, 2025 – Audubon Texas and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) are excited to announce College Station, Denton, Kerrville, San Marcos and Wimberley have joined the Bird City Texas flock, while Galveston has become its first High-flyer.

Read TPWD’s complete news release here.

Hays County now claims three Bird Cities: Dripping Springs, Wimberley, and San Marcos—20% of the 15 in Texas so far! Congratulations! Let’s celebrate the news with a look at what it means to be a certified Bird City. It’s not just lots of birds. Let’s look at Prize, Process, People and Projects, and The Point!

Dawn Houston and Paul Fushille spot birds from the Charro Ranch bird blind. Photo courtesy Tom Hausler

The Prize

Bird City is a certification program developed by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in collaboration with Audubon Texas. According to the Audubon Texas Bird City website, the program's purpose is "to help people protect birds and their habitats where we live, work, and recreate." Certification requirements are designed to address habitat loss and other harmful impacts on birds.

*Project FeederWatch at Charro Ranch Park, Eva Frost, Hays Humm, April 2023

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) manages and conserves the natural and cultural resources of Texas and provides hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation opportunities for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. Connect with us: tpwd.texas.gov/socialmedia

Audubon Texas is the state office of the National Audubon Society. The National Audubon Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit conservation organization that protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow, throughout the Americas, using science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation. Audubon Texas’s state programs, three nature centers in San Antonio and Dallas-Fort Worth, the South Texas sanctuary, and a network of 21 local chapters and numerous partners have an unparalleled wingspan that reaches millions of people each year to inform, inspire, and unite diverse communities in conservation action. Audubon’s vision is a world in which people and wildlife thrive. For more information and to find your local chapter, visit https://tx.audubon.org/. You can also find them on Facebook, Twitter (now X), and Instagram.

September, 2023 About the Cover…Spring Lake

“Where birds thrive, people prosper,” said Chloe Crumley, Audubon Texas engagement manager. “Human-dominated landscapes can support functioning ecosystems. Bird City Texas is an opportunity for communities to commit to standards that elevate urban areas to be ecologically richer and in turn offer us more beautiful, resilient and healthful places to live. We are excited to see more cities across Texas commit to this program.”

Naturalists Rooted in Community by Tina Adkins, December 2023, Dripping Springs

“As development continues across the state, reducing viable habitat for our resident and migratory birds, cities that engage their community to maintain or create habitat are crucial for our dwindling bird populations,” said Judit Green, TPWD urban wildlife biologist. “We need everyone’s help! We all have the ability to make a difference in our homes, schools, businesses and public city spaces by adding native plants and following environmentally friendly practices that support safe, healthy areas for birds and us.”

TPWD’s news release continues:

As spring approaches, certified communities will host a variety of events across the state in support of breeding birds migrating back to northern nesting territories as well as World Migratory Bird Day on May 10. Interested participants are encouraged to visit the websites of certified cities, Audubon Texas and TPWD for opportunities to celebrate and learn more about how to support birds. Alert here to read the announcement as a sidebar?

Communities across the state are encouraged to apply to the Bird City Texas program in service of building a network of bird-friendly cities that protect birds and enrich the lives of all Texans. Applications will open soon and must be completed by June 1st.

For more information about the Bird City Texas program, visit https://birdcity.org/texas.

The Places and Projects

What are the contributing projects and their organizing entities in each of the three certified Hays County cities? It’s complicated. Folks from various organizations often cross-volunteer among multiple opportunities across the County. But the prestigious Bird City certification is, after all, granted to, well, cities! So let’s look at how each of Hays’ three winners (so far) have qualified.

Dripping Springs, intersection of 290 and RR12

Dripping Springs, at the north end of Hays County, at the congested intersection of RR12 and Highway 290, is a formerly sleepy suburb of Austin, 30 miles to the east. Now its bedrooms are building out in all directions across heritage ranchland rich with oak and juniper, prairie grasses, and wildflowers. Its nights are not as starry or its water as plentiful as ten years ago. But residents are determined to cherish what Hill Country treasure remains and to keep it in perpetuity. Becoming a Bird City is a big step.

Organizations contributing to the City’s certification as a Bird City include the Hays County Chapter of Texas Master Naturalist™, Hays County Friends of the Night Sky and DarkSky Texas; Wild Birds Unlimited; and Dripping Springs Birding Club.

Paul Fushille, a Travis County Natural Resource Specialist, had founded the Dripping Springs Birding Club and its Facebook page in 2018. According to City Administrator Michelle Fischer, that same year, Fushille (now Chair of Dripping Springs Parks Commission), together with local retailer Amanda Peña Bustillos, formed the initial Bird City certification team with then Dripping Springs Parks and Community Services director Mariana Espinoza and wrote the City’s first application.

Bird Viewing Station at Dripping Springs Ranch Park. From Modern Pictographs - HCMN Bird Identification Project by Tina Adkins, March 2024 Hays Humm

Dripping Springs included for-profit partners when working for its Bird City certification. Amanda Peña’s local Wild Birds Unlimited, with support from Austin Subaru on Burnet Road, continues to supply bird seed and feeders to bird projects in local parks and schools.

Amanda is “delighted to see that other Hays County cities have also received [Bird City] designation. We are a little biased, but we truly believe the Texas Hill Country is one of the greatest places to watch birds. This special designation shows that our communities are working hard to keep it a place where birds can thrive!”

Mike and Sharon Meves at bird viewing station, Charro …Pictographs article

In his report, Dripping Springs—Bird City! in the October 2024 Hays Humm, Master Naturalist and Charro Ranch Park project organizer Mike Meves is proud of the city’s accomplishment. “Thanks to teamwork by the city and local birders, including the Hays County Chapter of Texas Master Naturalist™, Dripping Springs was designated a Texas Audubon Bird City in 2022 and has risen in the ranks of birding ‘hotspots’ in the state…Dripping Springs alone now boasts four parks listed among the top fifty birding hotspots in Hays County, according to eBird, with Dripping Springs Ranch Park climbing to sixth place.”

When you participate in Project FeederWatch, you may see migrating birds that you have never seen before, such as this Spotted Towhee at Charro Ranch Park. Photo courtesy Eva Frost

“Drip” residents have long worked in or outside environmental organizations to appreciate and protect their natural places. Families participate in Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Project FeederWatch; and because migrating birds (and all living things) need dark nights, folks practice smart lighting and show up for star parties and Lights Out Texas! campaigns. Family fun and trail maintenance volunteer opportunities abound in bird-rich locations such as Charro Ranch Park and Dripping Springs Ranch Park. And there’s more public-access greenspace in development under Parks and Community Services Director Andrew Binz. Community Events Coordinator Johnna Krantz now maintains the Bird City program for Dripping Springs. They have their work cut out for them, as Bird City certification is monitored by Audubon and TPWD for renewal every three years.

So, as suburban sprawl churns out of Austin just to the east, Bird City Dripping Springs and savvy area landowners are rushing to protect their water sources, their dark nights, their remaining wild bird habitat—in other words, our iconic Texas Hill Country.

Several Scouts were very enthusiastic after having teamed up to dig, add compost, and plant their very first tree. “Look what we did!” exclaimed a proud Scout. From Naturalists Rooted in Community by Tina Adkins, December 2023

In the People section, photos should feature HCMNs Michael Meves, Tina Adkins, Doray Lendacky; Paul Fushille, Kat (Pat?) Murphy, Tom Hausler’s photos

In central Hays County, Wimberley residents fought off the big hardware super store but are divided into two tribes: those who want a Starbucks and those who don’t. But they all love birds. Wimberley is the heart of a county that’s the heart of the Hill Country under skies that are the heart of the North American Central Flyway for the Western Hemisphere’s #? migrating bird species. Folks are acutely aware that their once sleepy Blanco riverside artists’ refuge and weekend vacation village is being encroached upon by vast suburbs closing in from Dripping Springs to the north and from San Marcos at the south end of Hays County. In the past decade, RR12, which connects north and south Hays County, has doubled its lanes to accommodate the traffic traversing Hays on workdays and on tourist-choked weekends.

With economic growth also come increasing threats to water resources and wildlife habitat. When announcing Wimberley’s certification as a Bird City, Texas Parks and Wildlife says that as “a champion of community-driven conservation, Wimberley has prioritized dark-sky initiatives and native plant restoration to support local and migratory birds.”

Wimberley is uniting its community to protect what keeps it the beating heart of the eastern Texas Hill Country. Major participants include Wimberley Birding Society, Hays County Chapter of Texas Master Naturalist™, and Hill Country Native Plant Society. Many of the area’s bird-smart folks often volunteer with several organizations county wide.

These organizations’ volunteers create materials and deliver nature education in Wimberley’s parks and protected green spaces, such as Patsy Glenn Refuge with its new engineered wetland; and near watercourses as in Blue Hole Regional Park and its trail-connected Cypress Creek Nature Preserve; and at bluebird-thronged Jacob’s Well Natural Area. Hays County Master Naturalist’s Nest Box project maintains bluebird boxes at Patsy Glenn Refuge, Blue Hole Regional Park, and Jacob’s Well Natural Area.

City-sponsored summer day camps and star parties host a variety of trained volunteer-staffed exhibits. Families enjoy nature education projects, such as Hays County Master Naturalist’s Wild About Nature project with its strong bird component featuring a photo scavenger hunt of Hays County’s most recognizable birds. Wimberley Birding Society’s 19-year-old Birding Field Day gets third graders outdoors, binoculars in hand, identifying local birds at Patsy Glenn bird blind. Nearby, Native Plant Society volunteers maintain a demonstration Pollinator Garden. Or is it by Master Gardeners?

Back Row Left to Right: Stephen Ramirez, Laura Legett, Joe Doherty. Front Row Left to Right: Betsy Cross, Cindy Luongo Cassidy, Cindy Hobson.

Wimberley is also a Dark Sky city in a Lights Out Hays County, ensuring that our twice-yearly migrating birds enjoy hazard-free passage through our night skies and that our resident birds (and all life forms!) get healthful sleep. Betsy, check this info for accuracy? Links?

A Peek at the Peak by Deborah Estes, Hays Humm, May 2024

Upriver, Wimberley’s new Blanco River public access nature park, Sentinel Peak Preserve, is in the works, as is enhancement/protection of the downtown stretch of Cypress Creek Nature Preserve.

Richard Shaver, Director of Wimberley Parks and Recreation, wrote the Bird City certification application. He writes: (Betsy, please make edits here)

“We are incredibly proud to be recognized as a Bird City Texas community, a reflection of the hard work and dedication of so many individuals who care deeply about our natural spaces. The City of Wimberley’s Parks and Recreation Department played a key role in this achievement, particularly through habitat restoration, native plant initiatives, and public education efforts.

“Our team, led by Park Operations Manager Erica Flocke, has worked tirelessly to enhance and protect spaces such as Blue Hole Regional Park, ensuring they remain welcoming havens for both wildlife and people. This certification also highlights the strong spirit of volunteerism in Wimberley, … preserving the beauty and biodiversity that make the Hill Country so special.”

CUT From local birding groups like the Wimberley Birding Society and Master Naturalists to passionate community members, their dedication to conservation and education makes a lasting impact. By working together, we’re not only protecting vital bird habitats but also

NOT TEXT—These are notes from Susan Evans. Some of this (blue) I’ve worked into the text above.

All the people’s names could be later in captions in the photo-rich PEOPLE section.

The Birding Field Day for third graders was conceived and founded by Master Naturalists, and Wimberley Birding Society members Jane Little and Cara Wernli in 2006. Their mission was first, to get kids outdoors, and second, to encourage them to learn and appreciate the wonderful variety of birds to be seen right here in their own Wimberley Texas backyards. The event is held in the Spring of every year at the Patsy Glenn Refuge. The children are divided into four groups and pass through four learning stations: number one: bird nesting, number two: learning how to identify bird species (in the bird blind), number three: using binoculars in the field, and number four: habitat and bird adaptations.

Jackie Mattice continued to lead the program after Jane and Cara retired. After a brief suspension in 2021-2022, the program is back and running again with a date this year in May. We hope to continue to inspire and educate our children all about birds.

Laura Steffy now leads the program,

(Betsy, work as many of these people as you can into photocaptions in the PEOPLE section):

Susan Evans, Mel Seib, Lynne Schaffer, Sara Carlisle, Becky Denton, Irene Bonde, Deb Bradshaw, Jackie Mattice, Laura Steffy

[Mel and Susan] “got a kick out of doing our vocalizations and impersonations of raptors swooping down on prey and ‘walking like birds.’” Betsy, I think you have a photo of one of them in costume. Include this quote in a caption.

You also might want to recognize Betsy Cross and Mike Davis for their wonderful Bird Photography, and Betsy and Bonnie Tull for nest box monitoring. Yes! Betsy, if you don’t provide a photo of yourself with camera in hand, I’ll quit. And you must have one with Bonnie and a birdbox.

Continuing the article’s text:

PHOTO I have no SM photos except in Schulle Canyon. This subsection is all yours.

San Marcos, at the south end of Hays County at RR12 and I-35, for a decade now has been neck and neck with Buda and Kyle as fastest-growing city in the United States! It had been a small college town until 2008, when Lyndon Johnson’s alma mater became Texas State University, and old tree-shaded cottage neighborhoods exploded into the new millennium’s gated suburbs, which have never stopped growing, devouring ranchland and wildlife habitat.

PHOTO In the Spring lake or the SM Springs/Discovery Center area?

In certifying San Marcos as a Bird city, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department recognizes San Marcos “for its conservation of riparian habitats, avian expertise in the area, and expansive partnerships to protect green spaces in this ever-growing community.”

PHOTO From one of the same areas for the preceding photo

A wealth of human resources in this university town have created a powerful environmentalist community. This area’s urban explosion is offset when city government partners with academics and trained volunteers, who study and protect Spring Lake, San Marcos Springs, the San Marcos River, and the Blanco River—San Marcos’ iconic riparian confluence, rich in diverse bird habitat.

Schulle Canyon Natural Area - May, 2022 Hays Humm. “Grab your binoculars! We now have a bird viewing station in a San Marcos natural area.” — Jo Ellen Korthals

Spring 2022 in Schulle Canyon Natural Area
Photos courtesy Betsy Cross

The City is expanding its wildly popular green spaces and parks, such as Purgatory Creek Natural Area, Spring Lake, San Marcos Springs, Schulle Canyon Natural Area, and Ringtail Ridge Natural Area. All bring hikers and birders and tourist dollars to San Marcos. All are protected habitat for this area’s migrating and resident birds.