Kid's Birding Club -"Bird Buffet"

On January 13th the Edinburg Scenic Wetlands and World Birding Center held their first KBC meeting of the year titled, "Bird Buffet"! This weeks meeting was filled with fun & laughter as kids of all ages prepared to "treat a bird to lunch" for their very first time.

To prepare for the occasion, members set up feeding stations throughout the park and prepared tasty foods for our feathered guest. In no time, KBC members whipped up delicious entrees like a peanut butter & cornmeal mix and decorated trees with fruit hoops and peanut garlands.

Participants were thrilled to get their hands dirty and to learn what kinds of birds their feeders would attract.

"Bird Buffet" is part of a three part series. Each session is designed to give young birders a better understanding of a bird's diet and give them insight on what goes on inside the bodies of these unique creatures.

On January 27th, all kids are invited to participate in our next meeting, "Bird Digestion 1". Here members will learn the journey food takes once it enters the body of a bird. We will end the last session of this three part series on February 3rd with "Bird Digestion II". Here kids will discover what goes on once food goes beyond the stomach.

"The Beauty of Morning Glories" by Dr. John A. McDonald

Wake up your garden with morning glories on Friday, February 2, 2007 at the Edinburg Scenic Wetlands and World Birding Center. Join guest speaker, Dr. John A. McDonald as he will feature “The Beauty of Morning Glories” at 6:00 p.m.

Dr. McDonald received his B.S. and M.S. degree in biology from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University where he studied the biosystematics of morning glories like the genus Ipomoea (Convolvulaceae) of Oaxaca, Mexico.
In 1982, he received his Ph. D. in botany from the University of Texas at Austin.

Today, Dr. McDonald is working as a professor at the University of Texas Pan American. His subjects of interest are plant systematics, biogeography, ethnobotany, and conservation.

As part of EWBC’s Friday Night with a Naturalist Series, Dr. McDonald will discuss how to identifying some of our South Texas and Mexican morning glory species and describe the best way we can add these colorful funnel shaped blossoms to our gardens. He will also touch on some of his past botanical expeditions to Cambodia, Indonesia, and Mexico where he has uncovered rare plant species and served as a consultant for conservation programs.

“Friday Night with a Naturalist” is a free, fun and educational family program held on the first Friday of each month. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and presentations begin at 6 p.m.
EWBC is located at 714 S. Raul Longoria (in the Edinburg Municipal Park) in Edinburg, Texas. For more information on this or other programs, call (956) 381-9922 or visit www.edinburgwbc.org