Palomar Audubon Chapter is part of the nearly 500 nationwide chapter network of the National Audubon Society. We bring a local focus to Audubon’s mission, “To conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife, and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth’s biological diversity”. We are a 501(c)3 organization, so your gift qualifies as a charitable donation.
We are successful as an organization only with your help. The major support for all of our programs and activities comes through your generous donations. To donate, please use this donation form and instructions.
Following are some of the activities. programs and projects your donations support:
BIRD WALKS – We lead Saturday bird walks most weeks with over 900 participants. On average over 50 bird species are observed on each walk and all areas of San Diego County are visited along with some walks in nearby counties. We continue to look for new areas to bird and to develop new walk leaders. We welcome all ages and skill levels to join us. Palomar Audubon is proud of our positive reputation for the variety, quality, friendliness, and encouragement of new birders on its bird walks.
PROGRAMS – We have 7 programs a year on a variety of subjects presented at monthly membership meetings. Presenters range from PAS members to experts in their field. Topics range from personal birding experiences to educational presentations on birding and conservation.
SCHOLARSHIP – We seek out young students with an interest in birding, nature, and biology for an annual scholarship to a week-long ABA Young Birders’ Conference in Colorado. We have also provided scholarships to Arizona, Maine, and Costa Rica.
BIRD COUNTS – We participate in the Escondido Christmas Bird Count to gather yearly census information. PAS provides lunch for all the participants. We work to promote participation in The Great Backyard Bird Count and the recording of bird sightings in eBirds. We partner with the San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy to conduct scientific bird counts on their properties.
PUBLICATIONS – We continue to publish “Band Tales”, our newsletter, which keeps our membership informed of our meetings, programs, weekly bird walks, and items of environmental interest. We are now providing an online color copy of “Band Tales” on our website. Band Tales is mailed to Chapter Members and to donors of $25 or more.
ENVIRONMENTAL SUPPORT – We partner with San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy and The Escondido Creek Conservancy (TECC). We support the Friends of Daley Ranch and TECC’s effort to protect additional land adjacent to Daley Ranch. We have provided display birds to the Elfin Forest Visitor Center. We advocate protecting habitat from harmful development. We currently are looking to improve a drought-impacted area with a pond habitat.
BIRDING TRIPS OUTSIDE COUNTY – We plan to continue offering these birding trips to our members. Salton Sea, Eastern Sierra, and Kerr County are some of our most popular and in the past, we have offered trips to Panama, Trinidad / Tobago, and Colombia.
Thank you for your support.
The Board of Directors, Palomar Audubon Society