Virginia Rose

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In 1973 at age 14, Virginia was injured in a horseback riding accident and continued her life as a paraplegic in a wheelchair.

She graduated from UT Austin in 1981 and earned her Masters in English in 1986. She taught college and high school English for 28 years and retired in 2016.

She began birding in 2003 after her sister, Cathryn Rose, a birder and former Tucson Audubon board member, encouraged her to try it. After hearing a lecture on the House Finch in Austin, sponsored by Travis Audubon, she was hooked! She took every TAS class and went on as many field trips as she could, working around her busy teaching career. Virginia remembers furiously grading in the back seat between birding stops on field trips!

The Travis Audubon teachers and field trip leaders took her everywhere the other walking birders went. In and out of cars, trucks, golf carts, boats, buses and up stairs and over logs and through snow and ice to see rosy finches in New Mexico!

She led beginning birdwalks 2010-2017 and identified over 30 accessible birding spots in Austin.

She joined the Travis Audubon Board of Directors in 2017.

She did her first independent Birdathon with Travis Audubon in April, 2018, and called it Birdability. From dawn to dusk, she visited 5 accessible parks, wheeled about 10 miles, and saw 52 bird species. She has done that Birdathon every year since!

National Audubon found out about Virginia and Birdability in 2018, and the rest is history!

Audubon Texas named Virginia its 2023 Texas Woman in Conservation honoree. Travis Audubon Society in Austin, Texas, named Virginia as the 2024 Victor Emanuel Conservation Award Honoree.

Per Virginia, “Birding brought me a serious, joyful, and meaningful experience complete with a community willing to include me on every level. I wanted to bring the birding experience to as many access-challenged people as I could.

It is happening, Y’all! Thank you! See birdability.org

Upcoming Events

April 2026
$70

Accessible Smith Oaks Field Trip with Virginia Rose

April 15 @ 10:00 am - 2:00 pm

Join Virginia Rose, founder of Birdability, and Pam Smolen, Chair of the Houston Audubon Board of Directors, on an accessible field trip to Smith Oaks! What to Expect:  We plan to begin at the Smith Oaks Rookery where nine species of heron, egret, spoonbill, ibis, cormorant, and Anhinga nest within inches of each other. The High Island rookery offers birders a close view of the annual dramedy of waterbird nesting activity including vibrant breeding plumage, mating hustle and nestlings.

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$50

Laffite’s Cove with Birdability’s Virginia Rose

April 16 @ 8:00 am - 11:00 am

This outing will be led by Virginia Rose, Founder of Birdability, an organization committed to making the birding community and the outdoors accessible, safe, welcoming and inclusive for everybody and every body. This meet-at-site field trip will introduce birders to Laffite’s Cove Nature Preserve, Galveston’s crown jewel during spring migration.

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$50

Birding by Car Accessible Field Trip

April 16 @ 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm

This outing will be led by Virginia Rose, Founder of Birdability, an organization committed to making the birding community and the outdoors accessible, safe, welcoming and inclusive for everybody and every body. Joining Virginia on this trip is FeatherFest guide Anna Deichmann. Anna is the Gulf Coastal Program Director for the American Bird Conservancy and is excited to be co-leading with Virginia for FeatherFest. What to Expect: This meet-at-site field trip will be done caravan style, introducing birders to accessible birding by car along the historically renowned birding hotspot at 8-Mile Road and Sportsman Road.

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$50

Accessible Birding at Galveston Island State Park with Virginia Rose

April 17 @ 9:00 am - 11:30 am

This outing will be led by Virginia Rose, Founder of Birdability, an organization dedicated to making birding and outdoor spaces accessible, safe, welcoming, and inclusive for everybody and every body. What to Expect:  The field trip will focus on the accessible trails on the bay side of the park, with birding conducted primarily from recently revamped trails and the observation tower. The observation tower offers expansive views of surrounding marshes, tidal flats, and coastal prairie. The group will also be…

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$50

Accessible Exploration of Galveston’s East End

April 17 @ 1:00 pm - 4:30 pm

This outing will be led by Virginia Rose, Founder of Birdability, an organization committed to making the birding community and the outdoors accessible, safe, welcoming and inclusive for everybody and every body. Joining Virginia on this trip is FeatherFest guide Anna Deichmann. Anna is the Gulf Coastal Program Director for the American Bird Conservancy and is excited to be co-leading with Virginia for FeatherFest. This meet-at-site field trip will be done caravan style, introducing birders to accessible locations on Galveston’s East End.

Find out more »
$50

Accessible Exploration of Galveston’s West End

April 18 @ 8:00 am - 11:30 am

This outing will be led by Virginia Rose, Founder of Birdability, an organization committed to making the birding community and the outdoors accessible, safe, welcoming and inclusive for everybody and every body. What to Expect:  This meet-at-site field trip will be done caravan style, introducing birders to accessible locations on Galveston’s renowned West End.

Find out more »
$50

Accessible Birding at Exploration Green with Birdability’s Virginia Rose

April 19 @ 9:00 am - 11:30 am

This outing will be led by Virginia Rose, Founder of Birdability, an organization dedicated to making birding and outdoor spaces accessible, safe, welcoming, and inclusive for everybody and every body. Exploration Green features wide, paved, mostly level trails that loop around a series of lakes and wetland cells, making it an excellent location for accessible birding.

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