Texas
Ornithological Society
Spring Meeting 2006 April 20-22
Invitation to TOS Spring Meeting
The Texas Ornithological Society and your host, the Monte Mucho Audubon Society, invite you to attend the Spring Meeting in Laredo, Texas April 20—22, 2006. Expect to have a great time and great birding as you visit the hot spots of our South Texas brush lands. The MMAS has lined up some great field trips for the occasion, including 5 private ranches (two of which have access to the Rio Grande River), two very productive and popular local birding trails, a trip to the Falcon/San Ygnacio area and the near-by Chaparral Wildlife Management Area. Our regional specialties include all but two of the thirty species which people come to Texas to see—the Black-capped Vireo and the Golden-cheeked Warbler. However, you have better than average chances at all the others. Here are some we expect to see: Brown Jay, all five oriole species, Muscovy duck, Red-billed Pigeon, Chachalaca, Scaled Quail, Hook-billed Kite, Zone-tailed Hawk, Green Parakeet, all three kingfishers, many flycatcher species, Black Phoebe, Bell’s Vireo, Black-tailed Gnatcatchers, Clay-colored Robin, and many circum-Gulf passerines which are found here during spring migration.
Now I would like to address three issues we have heard expressed about the Laredo meeting: (1) safety, (2) distance and (3) possibility of seeing WCSE’s. To the first I will state unequivocally that travel to Laredo, Texas is not dangerous. Of course there is crime in Laredo, just as there is crime in Houston, Dallas/Ft.Worth, Austin or any other city in our nation. However, the safety issue is for those who venture across the Rio Grande River into Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. We strongly urge you not to do so! If you want to shop for Mexican products, there are ample opportunities to do so in Laredo, and I am sure the local merchants (many of whom are those from Mexico who have opened shops on the United States side to re-capture the markets they have lost) will be most grateful. Also, Laredo is no longer a small town on the Rio Grande. It is the largest port of entry in the United States, sports a population approaching 200,000 and is the second fastest growing city in the nation. So let us lay that issue aside. A second issue is distance. A good mark on traveling to Laredo is San Antonio. The distance from San Antonio to Laredo is 150 miles, all IH 35 without all the tension of that highway between Dallas and San Antonio—it’s cruise control and go! Now to the final question/concern: what are the chances of seeing White-collared Seedeaters (WCSE’s). All I can say is that 5 of the 9 field tripsites regularly report WCSE’s. I would appraise your chances are better than average this time of year, especially since the Laredo area is the hot spot for WCSE’s in the nation.
All of the above aside, I eagerly anticipate seeing all of you in Laredo in April. Who knows what we will turn up in this vastly unexplored birding region of Texas? Only last year we had the Blue Bunting, Crimson-collared Grosbeak, and Yellow-faced Grasquit reported at Las Palmas by very knowledgeable observers. And if all the above is not enough, we have lined up great evening speakers and field trip guides---Martin Reid, Willie Sekula, Marc Woodin and Gene Blacklock and more!
VAMOS Á LAREDO!
--Jim Hailey—President, Monte Mucho Audubon Society