Bluebird chicks in their nest

The Texas Bluebird Society will host its 2012 season kickoff and silent auction at from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 4, at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches.

The featured speakers are Greg Grant and Cliff Shackelford. Grant, a horticulturist with SFA Gardens, will present two programs including, "I Can't Stop Loving You: A Lifetime Affair with the Blues" and "Berry Me with Bluebirds: Landscaping for the Songbird of Happiness."

Shackelford, a Texas Parks and Wildlife Ornithologist, will present "Knock on Wood: The Woodpeckers of East Texas." Other presentations will prepare new and experienced blue-birders for the upcoming nesting season.

The program is sponsored by SFA Gardens. Silent auction proceeds help support the Texas Bluebird Society.

Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. in the Baker Pattillo Student Center on the SFA Campus. The cost for advance registration is $15 and includes the lectures, a lunch buffet and one door prize ticket. The deadline for advance registration is Saturday, Jan. 21.

For more information and a registration form visit the Texas Bluebird Society website at texasbluebirdsociety.org or contact Greg Grant at grantdamon@sfasu.edu.