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Meet Other Birders and Learn from the Experts
In general, birders are a very outgoing, intelligent and helpful group of people. The experienced birdwatchers in the Texas Panhandle are eager to welcome, involve and educate new birders. The Panhandle is so large (more than 25,000 square miles) that to really understand all of the avian species in the area takes lots of participants reporting from all over the Panhandle. By gathering for monthly meetings, we can get to know one another and share our birding adventures, questions and photos. All of that will lead not only to connection and comradarie, but also to better citizen science as we explore and record the birds of the Texas Panhandle. Put the second Tuesday of every month at 6:30 p.m. on your calendar for the Panhandle Bird Club meeting.
August Meeting
Will Masters is an attorney and environmentalist, privileged with deep ties & access to the natural environment here in the Texas Panhandle. He’s a cofounder of Ogallala Life and helped pilot landscape rehydration works on the southern high plains, and the environmental educator at Wildcat Bluff Nature Center.
Ogallala Life started landscape rehydration demonstration work at Wildcat in February 2024. He's seen the response over two growing seasons and learned a whole lot. Will is going to present on the work that’s been done, what’s worked and what hasn’t, and what impact he's hoping for.
Then we'll talk about the observations at Wildcat Bluff. Which birds have been seen, and which haven't that are expected? What species are doing well, and any ideas why? Symptoms of ecological health, or imbalance?
Finally, Will will ask how Wildcat Bluff can better serve the birding community, and how the birding community can help Wildcat Bluff.
Wildcat Bluff Takes Wing: Restoration Lessons and Avian Insights
Tuesday, August 12, at 6:30 p.m.
Amarillo College STEM Research Center
Bird of the Month
Bullock's Oriole
Bullock's Orioles are a summer favorite in the Texas Panhandle. The males' neon orange, black and white coloring is very noticable, even in the summer when the cottonwood trees are completely leafed out.
Bullock's Oriole adult males are distinguished by their black eyeline, black cap, black throat and large, white wingbar. The females have yellow heads, throats and tails with a white belly. Immature birds look very similar to females, except the immature males may have visible darkening on the throat and head.
Bullock's Orioles weave their nests and hang them from tree branches. Because the Texas Panhandle (particularly the eastern areas) hosts both breeding Baltimore and Bullock's Orioles in the summer, it is not uncommon to see hybrid birds with messy black markings that don't perfectly fit into either species' normal field marks.
Orioles won't eat at a seed feeder in your backyard, but they do have a sweet tooth. They can be attracted by orange halves and watered-down grape jelly. They will even try to drink nectar from your hummingbird feeder.
