Join us Thursday evening at 7 p.m., October 4, 2007 to hear Laura Packer talk about the Dyess Air Force Base Eastern Bluebird Nestbox Trail. For the past two years Laura has monitored the nestboxes at Dyess, and she will share her pictures, stories, and data with us. This is the same program she presented to the Texas Bluebird Symposium last month. Material will be available to help you get started with building nestboxes, creating a trail, and the ups and downs of being a monitor. Whether you put up one nest box or twenty to attract the bluebirds (or other cavity nesters), you will want to hear her program. It contains a wealth of information on attracting birds to boxes, how to monitor the boxes for success, and controlling predators.

Laura has always enjoyed birds but became an avid birder 14 years ago when her then 12-year-old son decided he needed a ride to BCAS field trips. Her birding journeys have taken her coast to coast, from Canada to Mexico, and overseas to Europe. Laura conducts spring and fall Northern Bobwhite counts with TPWD and Dyess, helps with the migratory bird surveys at Dyess, runs a breeding bird survey in Callahan County, and is developing a bird checklist for Dyess. She has led field trips and participated in and coordinated the local Christmas Bird Counts for many years. Laura is a member of the Texas Ornithological Society, the Texas Bluebird Society, the North American Bluebird Society, the Nature Conservancy, and the Big Country Audubon Society. She also enjoys photographing birds and their behavior and sharing what she has learned about birds with others.

Please join us October 4, 2007, at 7 p.m. at Rose Park Activity Center, Room A, South 7th and Barrow Streets. Our meetings are free and open to the public.