Candy Abshier WMA Recovers From Ike

We are happy to report that debris removal is ongoing at Candy Abshier Wildlife Management Area at the tip of Smith Point in Chambers County.  This site, which is the home of the Smith Point Hawk Watch, was littered with debris from Hurricane Ike forcing us to cancel the hawk watch last season.  FEMA and the Texas Department of Transportation stepped in to perform the cleanup of approximately 500,000 cubic yards of debris.  Although the tower is in need of inspection and repair to ensure it is safe, we are confident that the hawk watch will resume next August 15.

Quintana Gets New Life

On Saturday, January 31st, GCBO staff along with 15 volunteers spent several hours planting trees and shrubs at the Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary to help restore what was lost after Hurricane Ike.  Sadly, it appears that several of the largest oaks did not survive the salt water inundation, but new green leaves are popping up everywhere and we are looking forward to the recovery that spring will bring.  During the workday we planted Live Oak, Sugar Hackberry, Yaupon, Wax Myrtle, Coral Bean, Giant Turk's Cap, Salvia, and native Turk's Cap.  These plants will do best if watered regularly so if you would like to volunteer for watering duty, please contact Sue at GCBO.  Thanks very much to all our dedicated volunteers and to the City of Lake Jackson for providing mulch for the gardens and trails.

New Purple Martin House

Last month, we mentioned the Purple Martin housing crisis along the coast caused by Hurricane Ike's destructive winds.  We asked and you responded!  Thanks to generous donations of a house from Carol Jones, gourds from Susan Conaty, and piping for a pole from Tad Finnell, the Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary is now sporting a new martin house with four gourds attached.  While John and Sue were putting up the house, they saw three Purple Martins circling overhead!  We have another house and pole from Jim and Karen McBride and more gourds coming from Joan and Scott Holt that will be placed strategically along the coast.

A Big Ole Barred Owl Box

After building us a fantastic new platform feeder, Bob Woods, carpenter extraordinaire, surprised us with this Barred Owl box a few weeks ago.  Won't the owls love this!  We can't wait to see hoo (pun intended) uses it and maybe we'll get a chance to band some baby owls.  Stay tuned for further updates.  Thanks again Bob.

Join Us For Bird Banding

Join us from 8:00 until noon on Saturday, March 21st for our monthly bird banding session.  Watch as Robert & Kay Lookingbill band the birds and explain how to determine the species, age, and sex of birds in the hand.  In February we caught this beautiful Pileated Woodpecker.  What a showy bird!  This is a great way to get kids excited about wildlife, but all ages are welcome.  See the map on our webpage for directions.  Note that mapquest and googlemaps will not guide you to the right place using our address.

Native Plant of the Month

Mexican Plum (Prunus mexicana), is native to the eastern U.S. from Missouri and eastern Kansas south to Texas.  It is a single-trunked tree that grows 15 to 35 feet tall with fragrant, showy white flowers that come out before the leaves.  Mexican plum makes an attractive and aromatic accent tree or shrub.  The plums ripen from July through September and are attractive to both birds and butterflies.  Mexican Plum is also the larval host for the Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly and Cecropia moths.  This plant is best propagated through softwood cuttings taken during the summer and is a great native alternative to Chinaberrytree (Melia azedarach).  Mexican Plums are blooming now at our Lake Jackson Sanctuary.  Come on by and check out how beautiful they are.  Photo courtesy of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.