High Country Audubon Society

07/16/2026

High Country Audubon helped fund this project to help get rid of the highly invasive Mile-A-Minute w**d here in the High Country. Come on out to learn more about this!

07/01/2026

The next High Country Audubon Brookshire Park Bird Walk is happening July 4th from 8am to 10am (rain or shine). This event is free and open to the public! All ages are welcome! Beginning birders or those who are a little rusty are welcome, and there are extra pairs of binoculars for anyone who might need them.

HCAS member Guy McGrane leads the monthly Brookshire Park Bird & Nature Walks the 1st Saturday of every month. There are delightful things to discover in the park no matter what the time of year or the weather. The focus is on birds, but there are also opportunities to enjoy the flora and other wildlife in the park.

Meet at the picnic shelter / restrooms in the main parking lot at 8:00 a.m. on the first Saturday of each month. Guy leads the group down the greenway, looping around the sparrow fields on the way back, for a total distance of about a mile.

The park is on the New River about two miles east of downtown Boone, on the left just before the river crosses under the highway 421 bridge.

Directions to Brookshire Park (250 Brookshire Road, Boone, NC)

Click link below for directions:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/250+Brookshire+Rd,+Boone,+NC+28607

06/22/2026

06/22/2026

06/22/2026

Bipartisan momentum continues to build for America's public lands!

Last week, the America the Beautiful Act, led by Sens. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Angus King (I-Maine), cleared the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The legislation would build on the success of the Great American Outdoors Act by extending and strengthening the Legacy Restoration Fund, helping address maintenance and restoration needs across national parks, wildlife refuges, forests, and other public lands.

06/22/2026

Bring the kids out to Watauga County Public Library for:

Nesting Neighbors Storytime
June 25 at 11:00am in the Youth library section

We will be sharing information about some of our nesting neighborhood birds, reading "Robin's Home" and another nesting related book, singing some related songs and doing a nesting craft.

Program should last 30 to 45 minutes.

There will also be a Family Bird Walk AT VALLE CRUCIS PARK on July 8th at 9 am -11 am.

05/21/2026

The honeybee gets the attention. These eight do most of the work.

Native bees pollinate earlier in spring, fly in cooler weather, and visit flowers honeybees skip entirely. Most of them nest in the ground or in hollow stems — not in hives. Most of them can't sting you. And most of them are in your yard right now without you knowing it.

The metallic green one on the coneflower is a sweat bee. The one cutting perfect circles from your rose leaves is a leafcutter. The large one hovering near the deck is a carpenter bee — and the males can't sting at all.

05/15/2026

We have had several additional birds picked up by our Motus Tower (a bird tracking system). For details, including a description of what a Motus Tower is, use the link below.

https://highcountryaudubon.org/motus-tower/

There is also a list of birds on the same page with links to see their individual maps. It is pretty fascinating to see how far "our" birds travel.

Thanks,
Richard Laurent
Webmaster/Publicity Chair
High Country Audubon

Conservation and education for birds in western North Carolina

05/13/2026

I am sharing this request for volunteers for a stream cleanup at Elk K**b State Park. I hope we can provide help for this worthwhile cause.

Thanks,
Richard Laurent
Webmaster/Publicity Chair
high Country Audubon
____________________________________________________________

Good afternoon,
I’m reaching out on behalf of Elk K**b State Park to ask if you would be willing to share our upcoming Volunteer Day on Thursday, May 21, 2026, from 10AM-12PM with the members of the High Country Audubon Society.
We’ll be working together to improve the beautiful streams within the park that have collected litter from the floods associated with Hurricane Helene. Volunteers should wear long pants and close toed shoes. Registration is required as this opportunity is limited to 10 participants.
Please share this invitation with anyone who may be interested in participating.
For more information or to sign up to participate, please visit our website: NC the Beautiful: Stream Sweep - North Carolina Department of Natural & Cultural Resources
Thank you for supporting our outdoor spaces!

Halle Talcott

Volunteer Program Coordinator

Division of Parks and Recreation

N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources