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Photos courtesy of GCBO staff, Jackie Kroupa, and the National Park Service. July 2008 A Classic Tour
Each year during the Great Texas Birding Classic we hold an online auction to raise funds for the Conservation Grants awarded for habitat protection along the Texas coast. All of those auction items are donated by corporations and individuals who wish to support habitat conservation for birds. One of the items donated was a Hill Country Weekend stay at the lovely and birdy Buck Hollow Ranch owned by GCBO Board President Jan Cato. The highest bidders for this particular auction item were our devoted members, Barbara and Ellis Burkhardt from Lake Jackson, TX. The tour was the first weekend in June and was highlighted by clear blue skies, excellent food prepared by Jan, and mornings filled with special birds. Our target species for the bird treks led by GCBO Director Cecilia Riley were Black-capped and Hutton’s Vireos, Golden-cheeked Warbler, Painted and Varied Buntings, Hooded and Scott’s Orioles. None were disappointed as we found them all, as well as about 60 other ranch breeding birds! Afternoons were spent on butterfly and wildlife photography as well as exploring the cool, crystal clear waters of the Dry Frio River and its canyons. We wish to extend our gratitude to the Catos and the Burkhardts for supporting the Classic! Piping Plovers Found in Designated Critical Habitat
In 2001, USFWS designated 37 areas of Critical Wintering Habitat deemed crucial to the wintering population of Piping Plovers. Twelve of these fall on the Upper Texas Coast (UTC). In 2006, the Texas General Land Office challenged the designations of 19 of the 37 critical habitat designations along the UTC citing burdens on development and faulty economic analysis. As a result of the court ordered settlement, all 19 units were vacated and remanded for reconsideration. This spring, the USFWS published a proposal to redesignate the 19 wintering Piping Plover critical habitat units in Texas with realigned boundaries. The proposed rule is available for public review and comment at http://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/Library/. Electronic and written comments are due by July 21, 2008. Our survey technician, Ben Wardwell, has had 540 Piping Plover detections along the UTC since January and 33% were found in the now vacated critical areas. As shown on the above map, a large portion of them were at the Matagorda Bay Nature Park which is one units in question. Although preliminary, this data supports the USFWS redesignations. We will be submitting a formal report of these findings to the USFWS in support of the proposed redesignations. Ben is anxiously awaiting the return of Piping Plovers from their breeding grounds and would appreciate notification of sightings on the UTC. A New Bird Blind for Wimberley
As coordinator for the Great Texas Birding Classic, Carol Jones has the opportunity and privilege of meeting wonderful people who care a great deal about birds. Jesse Huth is one of those people. He began participating in the Birding Classic seven years ago as a Roughwings competitor and has competed every year since. Two years ago he embarked on a project to build a bird blind to share his love of birds with the people in his community. The blind is on Patsy Glenn Refuge near Jesse’s home town of Wimberley, Texas, and as shown in the above photo allows easy, comfortable viewing while not disturbing the birds. Since Wimberley is not located in one of the counties that make up the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, this project was not eligible for a Birding Classic grant and Jesse was on his own to raise all the funds to build his dream. Please congratulate Jesse on the successful completion of this project and plan to attend the dedication day on July 26th at 10:00am. The blind is located along RR12 just behind the Community Center in Wimberley. Ben Finds a Sea Turtle Nest
On June 25,
2008, Ben Wardwell found turtle tracks in the sand near the
Quintana Jetty while he was surveying for sand plovers.
The next day he reported them to the Sea Turtle Restoration
Project at 1-866-TURTLE-5 and they were able to locate and
collect the eggs (52 of them!) from a Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle nest nearby.
These are the first eggs found on Quintana Beach this year.
Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtles are residents of the Gulf of Mexico
and were near extinction in the mid-1980's. This is the
30th anniversary year of a cooperative program between Mexico
and the U.S. to prevent their extinction. As of June 30th,
more than 180
Kemp's nests have been found along the Texas coast, up from 128
last year. Eggs collected along the coast are incubated
and the hatchlings released on Padre Island National Seashore where project
leaders hope they will return to breed as adults.
You can find out more about this project at the
Sea Turtle Restoration
Project webpage.
You are invited to join us for our monthly bird banding program at the GCBO Headquarters in Lake Jackson on July 19th. Licensed bird banders and GCBO research associates Robert and Kay Lookingbill band at the sanctuary on the third Saturday of each month. Birds are captured for banding in very fine nylon nets known as “mist nets” because they are almost invisible in the environment. Captured birds are weighed and measured and their species, sex, and age are recorded. Each is fitted with an aluminum leg band with a unique number provided by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and released unharmed. If the bird is captured again, the band provides the link to retrieve its history, which then gives important information on the routes used by migrating birds, their longevity, and general physical condition.
A Good Summer Read
While you're waiting out the heat this summer consider reading Doug Tallamy's new book Bringing Nature Home. Dr. Tallamy is an entomology professor at the University of Delaware. He and his students have begun to do research on the value of native versus exotic plants to our ecosystems and they have uncovered a number of interesting things. For example, in Pennsylvania they discovered that native plants host 35 times the biomass of caterpillars than exotic plants do. Wow! Caterpillars are one of the most important food items for migratory bird species. This book spells out why it is so important to have native plants in our yards and gardens and provides practical advice on how to go about the process of changing boxwoods, crepe myrtles, and lawns into habitat that can support wildlife even on a small scale. If you are concerned about wildlife habitat, this book is a must read. |
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| www.gcbo.org | Telephone 979-480-0999 | Contact Us |
103 W. Hwy 332, Lake Jackson, TX 77566
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