Join GCBO biologist Susan Heath at the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival November 2-6. Sue will be staffing the GCBO booth at the Trade Show that is associated with the festival. This year's birding festival promises to be one of the best with great field trips, speakers, workshops, boat trips, and so much more. You just never know what great birds will be found during this event so it pays to be ready! For more information, click on the festival image above for a direct link to the RGVBF website.

GCBO biologists Amanda Anderson and Susan Heath along with co-author George Guillen of the Environmental Institute of Houston published an article in The Wilson Journal of Ornithology entitled "A time activity budget of American Oystercatchers (Haematopus palliatus) breeding in Texas". This publication is based on Amanda's thesis research while she worked on GCBO's American Oystercatcher stewardship project as a graduate student at the University of Houston Clear Lake. The article details our observational data of adult oystercatchers during incubation and brood rearing and shows that adult behavior is primarily partitioned into reproductive, self-maintenance, and vigilance behaviors during these two periods of the life cycle. This is the third publication based on our American Oystercatcher project!

If you get our enews on a regular basis you may remember that we were awarded a grant to establish a series of Motus tower antenna arrays on the upper and central Texas coasts. Over the next few months we will be deploying these antenna arrays and we need some help! Many of the arrays will be deployed on telescoping masts which require some physical labor to deploy. We could also use some help investigating various configurations for the antenna arrays. If you have any experience with VHF antenna configurations or just have some muscles you can lend us for antenna deployment, please contact Sue.

When Gardner Campbell passed away, GCBO received contributions that were earmarked for a memorial in his honor. We decided a bench where people could sit and watch birds and butterflies would be fitting. Jan Campbell and Jackie Hicks had attended a mosaic class together and Jackie asked their instructor, Jennifer Remy if she would create a bench top. We supplied a list of birds and she set to creating. This past Tuesday evening, a group of 24 longtime friends, affectionately known as ”Friends of Gardner” came together at GCBO to share a potluck dinner and dedicate the bench. As you can see it is a work of love and is unique just like Gardner. Next time you visit GCBO, be sure to check out Gardner's bench. You just never know what else you might see.

GCBO board member Joe Fischer has put together a fantastic trip to Costa Rica for our Experiences Auction. Enjoy six nights in Costa Rica at three different lodges to get the most out of your visit! You will visit the La Ensenada Lodge, the Bosque de Paz Lodge, and Rancho Naturalista.Each lodge is offering a two night stay for two people with meals included. Each offers birding tours and other amenities. Check out their websites for more information. Bid on your EXPERIENCE in late November!