Audubon festival celebrates migratory birds
There’s no time like the present to enjoy one of San Antonio’s best birding and nature sites: The Mitchell Lake Audubon Center hosts its annual Migratory Bird Fest today.
The free festival, which will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., marks the spring migration of birds at the 1,200-acre nature and preserve center, on 10750 Pleasanton Road south of Loop 410. It will include a wide range of bird- and nature-related activities, games, crafts, exploration stations, nature- and community-oriented vendors, food trucks, a native plant sale and a tree giveaway.
Sara Beesley, Mitchell Lake Audubon Center director, said this is an opportunity for the public to explore the center, which usually has an entry fee, for free.
“This is an opportunity to explore and find out more about birds,” Beesley said. “If you’re just getting into birds or if you are a backyard birder, this is a great way to start learning just a little more about the birds and why they are awesome.”
The festival celebrates the migratory bird species that make Mitchell Lake home, Beesley
said. Mitchell Lake lies in the Central Flyway, a natural migratory bird route used by tens of thousands of birds each year. Those birds use the lake as a stop on their winter and spring migrations. Beesley said over 98 percent of neo-tropic migratory bird species stop over in San Antonio at Mitchell Lake. That’s approximately 340 species.
“This (festival) is celebrating the end of the migration as they finish their journey,” Beesley said.
Since the center has 7.5 miles of walking trails and driving
paths, the center will have golf carts to drive visitors to and from trail locations during the festival.
For a $1 donation, attendees will receive one ticket for a chance to win a $100 H-E-B gift card. All proceeds from the raffle and sales of other items at the festival will benefit Mitchell Lake and its conservation programs.
This year marks the first time since the pandemic that Mitchell Lake will hold the annual festival in-person. Last year’s event was virtual.
“We really missed being able to engage with our community and with our partners,” Beesley said. “We’re just excited to get people together again.”
The festival schedule is as follows:
• 10-11:30 a.m. - Bird Banding Demonstration
• 10:30 a.m. - Bird walk
• 11 a.m. - Last Chance Forever Bird of Prey Live Bird Presentation
• 11:45 a.m. - Nature walk
• 12:15 p.m. - Storytime and craft
• 12:30 p.m. - Meet Marty the
Snake
• 12:30 p.m. - Bird walk
• 1 p.m. - Nature walk
• 1:30 p.m. - Storytime and craft
Information about the Migratory Bird Fest and directions to getting to Mitchell Lake can be found on the center’s website or by contacting the center at 210628-1639 or mlac@audubon.org.
More information about Mitchell Lake and its history can be found at tclf.org/mitchell-lake.