Texas
Ornithological Society

Hi TOS family,

I hope everyone is staying safe!

Houston Audubon closed their High Island sanctuaries to abide by the Galveston County shelter-in-place order. We have not officially closed the TOS sanctuaries, but we strongly encourage you to:

• Stay close to home to bird. Don’t drive an extended distance to go birding. Explore places near your home.
• If you insist on visiting birding locations in other parts of Texas, research the shelter-in-place orders in effect at those locations and along your route and abide by those orders.
• Follow all recommendations for being around other people – wash your hands long, hard and often; cover your mouth when coughing or sneezing; maintain your distance; etc.

As exciting as the migration season is for us, it's hard to think of not visiting the Texas coast, but I encourage you to do your part to help us all get past this as soon as possible. David Sarkozi's 2020 local patch challenge is looking like a really good way to stay safe and still get our required dosage of birds and nature. Join the Texas Local Patch Challenge group on Facebook.

Take care and we'll see each other on the other side of this!
Shelia
Sheltering in place in Austin and appreciating my backyard birds even more than normal!