SAVE THE DATE FOR the 8th Annual MBBF: April 5, 6, and 7, 2024

2023 Schedule of Events

Friday March 24

Bird Tours**
Tour 1:  Powderhorn Ranch WMA
6:30 am - 2:00 pm
Meet at The Point, 608 1st St., Palacios, TX

Tour 2:  Tres Palacios Bay Boat Birding (Boat)
8:00 am - 10:30 am
Meet at The Point, 608 1st St., Palacios, TX

Tour 3: Tres Palacios Bay Boat Birding (Boat)
11:00 am - 1:30 pm
Meet at The Point, 608 1st St., Palacios, TX

Tour No. 4: Tres Palacios Bay Boat Birding (Boat)
2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Meet at The Point, 608 1st St., Palacios, TX

Tour 5:  TNC Mad Island Marsh Preserve
7:00 am - 2:00 pm
Meet at The Point, 608 1st St., Palacios, TX

Tour 6:  MBF Dog Island Preserve
7:00 am - 12:00 pm
Meet at Matagorda Marina at 189 CR 255
Meet your Tour Guides
& Keynote Speaker
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
The Peaceful Pelican
317 E Bay Blvd, Palacios, TX

Please pick up your visitor check in package at The Peaceful Pelican (317 East Bay Blvd.) Thursday, Friday or Saturday

See the commemorative poster by
Donna Lee Nyzio of the Belted Kingfisher

Saturday March 25

Bird Tours**
Tour 7:  Palacios Hot Spots 
7:00 am - 9:30 am
Meet at The Point, 608 1st St., Palacios, TX

Tour 8:  Oyster Lake and "the bridge to nowhere" 
6:30 am to 10:00 am 
Meet at The Point, 608 1st St., Palacios, TX

Tour 9:  "Put some gravel in your travel" - Western Roads and Fish Farms
6:30 am to 10:00 am
Meet at The Point, 608 1st St., Palacios, TX

Tour 10:  Colorado River Roaming  at the Matagorda County Birding Nature Center
6:30 am to 10:00 am
Meet at The Point, 608 1st St., Palacios, TX
Palacios Parade of Birds
10:30 - 11:30 am
Begins on 6th and Main (Railroad Park),
proceed two blocks down Palacios historic downtown,
turn on 4th St. then arrive at City by the Sea Museum.

Parade lineup begins at 9:30 at Railroad Park
Calling all entries to be at lineup on time

Winners announced at 12:30 - 2:30 pm at Raptor Display
Youth Art Contest Celebration
11:30 am - 12:30 pm
2023 Countywide Youth Art Contest Winners
Featuring the Belted Kingfisher
City by the Sea Museum - 401 Commerce St.
Lunch
11:30 am - 2:30 pm
Local Food Trucks at Railroad Park (6th and Main St.)
Raptor Display
1:00 - 2:30 pm
Railroad Park (6th and Main St.)

Parade Winners announced at 12:30 - 2:30 pm

Guests proceed to speaker series at PMAR - 101 Marine Center Dr., Palacios, TX
Speaker Sessions & Vendors*
1:30 - 5:30 pm
PMAR - 101 Marine Center Dr., Palacios, TX
1:30 - 2:30 pm - Session 1
Margie Crisp - “Duck Walk: A Birder’s Improbable Path to Hunting as Conservation”
Madi Radford - “Whooping Cranes of the Gulf Coast: Where Two Populations Survive and Thrive”
Woody Woodrow - “The Smallest Gruiform - The Black Rail - Marsh Birds in a Changing World”

2:30 - 3:30 pm - Session 2
David Newstead - Plovers All Over: Research and Insights from the Plover-iest Corner of the Continent
Leslie Hartman - “Bird Bait - How the Water’s Food Web Supports Birds of the Air”
Jay Tarkington - “Oysters. Building Blocks of the Coast”

3:30 - 4:30 pm - Session 3
Margie Crisp - “Parting The Waters: The Colorado River Raft and Matagorda Bay”
Alexis Balderas - “Audubon Texas: 100 Years of Coastal Bird Islands”
Kelsey Biles - “Wintering Ecology of the American Kestrel: the Behavior, Survival, and Future of our Smallest Raptor”
Dinner** - Guest chef Shawn Watkins
6:00 - 8:00 pm $70/person
Keynote Speaker Romey Swanson
Texas Audubon Director of Conservation Strategy
“Survival by Degrees - The Future of Birds”
Palacios Educational Pavilion
693 South Bay Blvd., Palacios, TX

Sunday March 26

Bird Tours**
Tour 11:  MBF Dog Island Preserve
7:00 am to 12:00 pm
Meet at Matagorda Marina at 189 CR 255

Tour 12:  TNC Mad Island Marsh Preserve 
6:30 am to 2:00 pm
Meet at The Point, 608 1st St., Palacios, TX
Bird Tours**
Tour 13:  Powderhorn Ranch WMA
6:30 am to 2:00 pm 
Meet at The Point, 608 1st St., Palacios, TX

Tour 14:  Carancahua Fish Farms and Tejano Wetlands
 6:30 am to 12:00 pm
Meet at The Point, 608 1st St., Palacios, TX
*Free Attendance and Programs 
** Online Registration Required.
 East Side Elementary Annex
901 2nd Street, Palacios, Texas 77465
(Corner of 2nd Street & Moore Ave)
For a complete map of the Events
Click Here
Contact: lauriebeck@becktv.com
Schedule Subject to Change
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