Few Texas families have done as much for the state’s natural legacy as the Bristols of Austin and Fort Worth. For instance, Valarie Bristol, former Travis County commissioner and avid birder, led the charge to preserve the Balcones Canyonlands and…
By Jim Williams Special to the Star Tribune OCTOBER 26, 2023 — 7:35AM Some of the best places to look for birds in Minnesota are its cemeteries. We have more than 3,700 of them. Cemeteries have grass and shrubs and trees,…
It’s an overcast morning in early October when I find myself walking along the rocky, unpaved pathways that snake around the aged headstones of Austin’s Oakwood Cemetery. In typical Texas fashion, it’s a humid one. I am meeting with author Jennifer…
Front Street Books, the Big Bend and Borderland’s full-service, independent bookstore specializing in regional books and local authors, will host a public event with award-winning author and birder Jennifer Bristol. The event, scheduled to last two hours, will celebrate the…
I drafted the outline for Cemetery Birding in the fall of 2019. At the time I was working on another book project with my mom, Valarie Bristol, and was waiting for Parking Lot Birding to be released in April of…
Consensus is elusive in this polarized time. But state parks are an exception. Polls consistently show three-quarters of Texans view state parks favorably. When a parks-funding proposal went before voters in 2019, it received 88 percent support. Few policy matters…
They paved paradise and put up a birding spot. “Parking Lot Birding.” Who wudda thought? It’s an idea from Texas in a recent book with that title, highlighting parking lot opportunities in the Lone Star State. A guide to Texas…
As appeared on the Travis Audubon website Magnolia Gracie Neighbors Greene (1889-1965) Portions of this record will appear in the Bristols’ forthcoming book Magnolia Greene, often known as Mrs. John W. Greene, was an important early member and co-founder…
Right before 9 a.m. on March 6, five or six purple martins swooped acrobatically in the wind above the Austin Water Center for Environmental Research at Hornsby Bend. It was a good sign. The first migratory birds of spring had…
n nn March 28, 2021 A review by Danielle Belleny- American Bird Association Jennifer L. Bristol’s Parking Lot Birding gives birders of all experience levels a passport to birding anywhere. Initially, I was skeptical of the idea that “good” birding…