The Matagorda County Birding Nature Center (MCBNC) announced it has kicked off its 2022 membership drive and hopes to increase its membership rolls so it can continue to fulfill its mission of raising public awareness and involvement in nature through education, conservation and eco-tourism.
The Birding Nature Center has operated for more than 30 years on approximately 38 acres of river-front property outside Bay City and includes nature trails, wetlands, woodlands, native prairie, gardens, boardwalks and bridges and outdoor and indoor education facilities.
“For years we have provided a beautiful place for people in our community – as well as tourists from around the world – a beautiful place where they can come and enjoy nature,” said Sara
Huebner, newly elected president of the all-volunteer MCBNC board of directors.
The membership dues provide the Birding Nature Center with an important source of funding that keeps it operating and maintained, Huebner said.
“The nature center operates solely on membership dues, donations, entry fees, rental income and grants. We do not receive any tax dollars,” Huebner said.
The nature center is a unique property just outside of Bay City that borders the Colorado River and includes three distinct eco-systems, 300-year-old live oak trees and wild areas, Huebner said.
This year the Birding Nature Center is working to refurbish its butterfly garden with different varieties of milkweed and nectar-producing plants to become a way station specifically for monarch butterflies that migrate through Texas during their migration from Canada to Mexico.
“The Texas gulf coast provides a chain of life-saving habitat for the monarchs,” Huebner said.
“And Matagorda County is a critical point in that chain.”
The nature center also plans to complete an underground piping system from its new water well, which was installed in 2021, to all its ponds, Huebner said.
The new well will make it possible for water levels to be maintained in all the ponds year-round.
The nature center also plans to hold outdoor learning opportunities for school children again this year over spring break and during the summer.
More information on specific events will be announced when plans are final.
Huebner said that the nature center also launched a new website this month concurrently with its membership drive.
“I encourage everyone to visit our new website at mcbnc.org,” she said. “We’ve upgraded it to accommodate membership signup and payment entirely online. People also can check our reservation calendar and book one of our venues on the website.”
In addition, the new site includes a gift shop that features souvenir items.
She said the center has teamed up with some local artists who will soon provide unique nature-themed handmade items as well.
If you would like to join the Birding Nature Center, go to MCBNC.org and click on Join Us from the top of the homepage.
From there you can choose a link that takes you to a membership form and payment information.
There are five levels of membership available: Individual ($20),
Family ($30), Patron ($100), Lifetime VIP ($1,000) and Corporate ($1,000).
And for a limited time, anyone who signs up for a Patron or Lifetime VIP membership will receive a commemorative 2021 Audubon Christmas Bird Count tote bag. The bag features four red headed woodpeckers reproduced from an original art piece created especially for the Nature Center by a local artist.
