Instructor Molly Keck, an entomologist with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, will provide an overview of butterflies - biology, species identification, and habitats - and teach participants how to attract them to their own yards. Class participants will take home either a butterfly-friendly plant or seeds for their own gardens. Registration costs $15/person and closes as soon as all class spaces are filled.

Master Naturalist Jack Cochran will lead this hiking tour at the Balcones Canyonlands NWR Headquarters. Bird songs and calls provide information that helps birders to identify avian species and distinguish between closely related species like Eastern versus Western Meadowlarks. Bird vocalizations also provide insight into some of the more complex communications that go on between birds. This hike will alternate between brief discussions of bird song and listening to (and seeing) the springtime birds at the Refuge. Registration for the tour is $50/person.

For a $100/person fee, two expert guides will bring a small group of people by van to a variety of birding locations over the course of the morning. There will be some hiking on rocky, uneven terrain. In the woodlands, guides will be helping participants to find species such as the Golden-cheeked Warbler, which is federally listed as endangered, Yellow-throated and Red-eyed Vireos, Cooper's Hawk, and Black-and-white Warbler.

In the drier upland savannas and shrublands, guides will work to help participants observe the Black-capped and Bell's Vireos, Crested Cascara, Blue Grosbeak, Indigo and Painted bunting, Scott's Oriole, Scissor-tailed and Vermilion Flycatchers, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Verdin, Common Ground-Dove and Canyon Towhee.

This event is part of the 2024 Balcones Songbird Festival. Because spaces are strictly limited, people are encouraged to register as early as possible, here.

Ricky and Lisa Grant, owners of Enchanted Mushrooms in Llano, will present a program titled The Nature of Mushrooms. They will talk about the many uses of mushrooms: cooking, wellness tinctures, probiotic fertilizers for organic gardening, and more. The meeting is free and open to the public.

Participants will work together on this hike, using guides and nature applications, to identify the flowers they observe and appreciate the wildflowers’ purposes and uses. Texas wildflowers come in many different shapes, sizes and colors, and time will be taken to examine them as the group moves along the trail. Some portions of the trail are steep and rocky. In addition to the usual recommended hiking accoutrements like sturdy shoes, hats, water, etc., participants also should consider bringing a camera and wildflower guide if they have one. Nature-centric apps like Seek, iNaturalist and Merlin Bird ID are recommended as well, but with limited cell reception, use of the apps during the hike may be sporadic. Registration is required, here, and spaces are limited.

On the third Saturday of each month, the San Antonio Water System sponsors a guided birdwatching tour at the San Antonio Botanical Garden. Participants will learn about the Garden’s resident and migrant birds; their characteristics; requirements such as food, nesting, and protection; and the native plants that help attract birds to anyone’s yard. The registration fee is $15/person and the registration remains open until a given tour has all slots filled. The link to register is located here.

The HLBWS Study Group meets at 11:00 a.m. on the third Monday of each month, from September through June. Topics of discussion and related readings are announced to members in advance of each meeting. Come join in the fun and camaraderie, and gain a greater appreciation of the topic at hand.

NOTE: This event is on the third Monday of the month due to the eclipse on April 8, 2024 and it will start at 7:30 a.m. and conclude earlier than usual. This change will give participants adequate travel time to arrive at the Marble Falls Public Library for Book Discussion Group.

Ordinarily on the second Monday of each month, the Friends of Inks Dam National Fish Hatchery conducts a bird survey led by a team of experts. For more information about the bird surveys, please use the “Contact Us” form found here.

The window for team birdwatching in the Great Texas Birding Classic opens TODAY and runs to May 15, 2024. Teams must have registered by the April 1, 2024 deadline to take part in this event. Teams can participate in any of several ways and requirements can be found on the How to Participate page of TPWD’s website.

For the price of admission to the museum ($10/adult, $6/seniors 65+, $6/child ages 5-17, and children under age 4 are FREE), visitors can participate in a wide variety of family-friendly activities related to pollinators in the natural environment. These include making wildflower seed balls, viewing the entomology exhibit, meeting experts from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, learning about central Texas native bees from Two Hives Honey, and much more! Here is where you can find the link to pre-purchase your admission tickets.

Cliff Shackelford, retired State Ornithologist, spends time taking calls and questions related to birds. For more information, visit Red River Radio online.

This month’s TMN Tuesday session is a bit different from the customary format. Specifically, this meeting will be a virtual volunteer fair, in which the goal is to match up volunteers to various projects and work efforts in need of support from the Texas Master Naturalists.

Ordinarily, on the second Tuesday of each month, the Texas Master Naturalist Program hosts a FREE, online session designed to help people learn about top conservation issues of the state, earn advanced training hours (for Master Naturalist certification), and interact with wildlife professionals from across the state. Specific topics/speaker information are updated in the week leading up to each online event, so check back for updates. Find the link to register for TMNTuesdays here.

On Monday, April 8, 2024, a total solar eclipse will pass over Burnet County during the noon hour. County emergency management officials caution that thousands of visitors will come to the Highland Lakes area to view the eclipse, and advise residents to prepare accordingly with adequate stores of food, fuel, etc.

Every Sunday (except when there is a 5th Sunday in a month), for $10/person, an expert guide leads a bird walk around the various habitats of Mitchell Lake Audubon Center. Participants may see as many as 30-50 different bird species. The bird walk can last up to 4 hours and is best suited for those aged 15 and up. For full information and the link to purchase tickets, please see this page.

Please note: This meeting will be held online ONLY using the Zoom platform because of the expected traffic congestion from out-of-town visitors who want to view the eclipse. Due to the shift to an online only format for this meeting, there will be no pre-meeting bird walk at Haley Nelson Park.

Keith White, Meteorologist and Climate Program Leader for the National Weather Service Austin/San Antonio Office, will present a seasonal climate outlook for the Hill Country and surrounding areas. He will provide a brief recap of recent weather and current drought status. Then, he will discuss local climatology, or average conditions, and the outlook for the next 3 to 6 months, with a focus on what we can learn from the El Nino/Southern Oscillation. Specifics on potential impacts to drought, fire weather, flooding potential, and the 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season will also be included. He may address some additional topics, such as eastward movement of the “dry line,” if time permits.

Keith White has been serving south-central Texas in the National Weather Service since January 2020. His interests include climate and drought, severe storms, and public outreach, among other weather-related topics. Keith has a Bachelors in Atmospheric Science from UW- Milwaukee, and a Masters in Atmospheric Science from Texas A&M.

Virtual doors will open at 9:30 a.m. for social time. The business portion of the meeting will start at 10:00 a.m. and the invited speaker will begin at approximately 10:30 a.m.

Non-members who would like to participate in the online meeting should use the “Contact Us” form to request registration.

SAVE THE DATE! Members can expect to receive more information about this birdwatching field trip, styled as a Big Sit on the resort’s front porch, in the future. Admission to the resort is $5/person.

HLBWS members are invited to participate in a Wildflower Bingo Game! The game is a way to increase our engagement with our natural surroundings in an enjoyable yet challenging format. A Bingo card is being distributed via Groups.io to all members, and the card has a total of 25 items. The goal is to find and photograph as many of the items as each member can find. The winner is the person who completes all 12 Bingos (5 rows across, 5 columns down, and 2 diagonals). In the event of a tie, a winner will be drawn randomly from the tie group. All photos must be taken during the contest window, from April 1 to May 10, 2024! No need to seek perfection, just a clear enough image for the plant to be recognized as one of the Bingo card’s items. Stay safe and have fun out there, members!!

The Falls on the Colorado Museum is holding a spring wildflower photo contest - with a twist! Photos must include an animal or animals among the wildflowers. The museum may use the photos on its website and feature them in an exhibit and calendar later this year. For complete contest rules and submission guidelines, please visit the museum’s website, call 830-798-2157, or email focmuseumchair@gmail.com. The museum is located at 2001 Broadway in Marble Falls.

The Highland Lakes Master Gardeners Association is hosting the 24th annual Hill Country Lawn and Garden Show. HLBWS will have a booth displaying information about our organization, native plants that are vital habitat for birds and pollinators, and handouts with fun activities for the family to enjoy! FREE packets of wildflower seeds will be available, too!

Join Rebeca Quiñonez-Piñón (NWF), Craig Hensley (TPWD) and Christine Anastas (TMN) for a full-day workshop that will provide participants “with the technical skills and knowledge needed to collect monarch-related information in the field, and provide meaningful data to the different organizations that are performing some kind of monarch butterfly related scientific research. Topics will include: understanding and using the Monarch Larvae Monitoring Protocol (MLMP), testing for the Ophryocystis elektroscirrha (OE) protozoan parasite (Monarch Health), tagging monarchs (Fall migration tracking), and collecting information on monarch sightings, as well as on reporting to such organizations such as Monarch Health Lab, Monarch Watch, and Journey North. Participants also will learn how to efficiently use iNaturalist and the Texas Nature Tracker as social platforms to identify species and to collect specific monarch data.” The registration fee is $75/person and refund policies are strict. Visit EventBrite to find full details and access to registration.

Kate Griffin, a program specialist at the botanical garden, will talk about gardening that is designed to invite wildlife, starting with butterflies, birds and native bees. She will explain how native plants help birds, pollinators, and increase diversity overall in the environment. The instruction is classroom-based, but will conclude with participants entering into the Garden to learn some more about design basics and water-saving tips. The registration fee is $17/person. Registration will remain open until all seats are filled.

Participants on this easy, 2-part hike will work together, using guides and nature applications, to identify the native wildflowers alongside the trail. Participants will leave the hike with a deeper appreciate of the purposes and uses of springtime native flora. Folks who don’t have any nature apps on their mobile devices, or who have them but haven’t spent time learning how to use them, will learn more about how handy these tools can be in identifying plants. Participants should dress for the outdoors, including closed-toe shoes or hiking boots, wearing sunscreen, and having insect repellant handy. Registration is required, here, and spaces are strictly limited.

BLUEM 2024 is a family-friendly outdoor event amidst a spring wildflower landscape. Park entry is $5/person and includes photo ops in the flowers, access to all the park trails, yard games and the scavenger hunt.

Play passes that include access to rock climbing, a bungee trampoline, archery, roping, guided hikes, face painting and the petting zoo are $20/person. Adventure passes that include everything in the play pass plus axe throwing, UTV tours, electric mountain bike rides and kayak rentals are $40/person. Food will be available for purchase.

To purchase tickets, please visit www.lcra.org/park-event/bluem/.

The Mitchell Lake Audubon Center is holding another, FREE Migratory Bird Fest this year! This festival will be filled with family-friendly activities, vendor booths, native plant and nature book sales, food trucks, and so much more. It’s an event not to be missed! Find the full details here.

Per the registration page for this event, “Over the past 4 yrs, The Red-tailed Hawk Project has captured and sampled more than 400 hawks from 7 of the 16 described subspecies and deployed over 100 tracking units.” Bryce Robinson will summarize findings from the project to date, and discuss future research questions that the project hopes to address. Advanced registration is required for this FREE online event.

Tom and Patsy Inglet, who are experienced birders and Master Naturalists, will lead this workshop to help beginners learn more about birds and how to identify them. They will share tools, tips, and techniques to build participants’ birding skills. This workshop includes 1.5 hours of classroom instruction and 1.5 hours of guided practice outdoors in the Garden. Participants should dress for the weather and wear walking shoes. Registration, which costs $20/person, is required. Registration will remain open only until the workshop is filled.

The HLBWS Study Group meets at 11:00 a.m. on the third Monday of each month, from September through June. Topics of discussion and related readings are announced to members in advance of each meeting. This month, the group will discuss articles about urban wildlife, recommended by our March speaker, Natasia Moore. Come join in the fun and camaraderie, and gain a greater appreciation of the topic at hand.