|
|
Photos courtesy of GCBO staff
except where noted.
XHX is Coming!
It's that time again. We are gearing up for Xtreme Hummingbird Xtravaganza in September. The first Ruby-throated Hummingbirds making their way south for the winter will arrive in late July. They will continue through the end of October so if you are a hummingbird enthusiast, its time to get ready. We will hold our XHX event at the peak of their migration on Saturday, September 16th and Saturday, September 23rd. The success of this event depends greatly on volunteer participation so if you want to volunteer to help, contact Tricia. Bill Clark Raptors of Mexico and Central America Talk
On Friday, October 6, 2017 at 7:30pm, join us to hear
Bill Clark speak on the raptors of Mexico and Central
America at GCBO. Bill will describe his new field guide,
show all of the color plates, and discuss the various
parts of the guide, including the species accounts. In
addition, he will describe some species in detail and
point out some identification problems as well as
address recent taxonomic changes and play vocalizations.
We will have Bill's book on hand so you can purchase a
copy and get it signed. For more information on this
talk, please contact
Sue. Bill Clark Raptors in Flight Workshop at GCBO & Smith Point
Bill Clark has agreed to host a raptor identification workshop at GCBO in October! On Saturday, October 7th, he will present a series of lectures on how to identify raptors in flight and then on Sunday, October 8th, he will spend the day with all participants at the Smith Point Hawk Watch putting everything he presented on Saturday to use in the field. In addition, Robert and Kay Lookingbill will catch live raptors to show participants at Smith Point. What a great deal! The cost is $150/participant and we are limited to 20 participants. Call Tricia today to sign up at 979-480-0999. For more information please check our website here. GCBO Joins ANCA
The GCBO recently joined the Association of Nature Center Administrators as a professional member. This is a great organization focused to help non-profit nature organizations and their leadership staff. As part of this program, we opted to join the ANCA Reciprocal Network which is a group of ANCA member centers that reciprocate free or discounted admission and/or gift store and program purchases to one another's members. More than 180 centers nationwide participate in this program. Check out the list of ANCA Members in the Network on the ANCA website. Note that this list is updated monthly. This is just another way that we want to say thank you to our GCBO members! Motus Network Detections
photo by David Newstead Exciting news! Over the course of the winter and spring we installed 10 Motus towers along the coast from Texas City south to Rockport and we deployed one on a tugboat that traverses the GIWW between Houston and Corpus Christi several times monthly. We are still sifting through the data but our array has had at least 33 detections since inception. The bulk of these (15) were Swainson's Thrushes that were tagged this past winter near Bogota, Colombia and they were detected this spring as they moved north to their breeding grounds. Three of these tags were detected by multiple towers which provides really useful information to the researchers who tagged the birds on timing and direction of movement along the Texas coast. Our towers also detected two Black-crowned Night-herons that were tagged on an island in Lake Erie. Also very neat is a Red Knot tagged in Quebec, a Semipalmated Plover tagged on the Hudson Bay in Manitoba and a Whimbrel also tagged on the Hudson Bay but in Ontario. Finally, our towers picked up six different Sanderlings that were banded on the Bolivar Peninsula as they headed north in spring. For more information on the Motus Network, check out motus.org. Native Plant Nursery Workdays
Saturdays in July and August, Chris Kneupper will be hosting informal workdays from 8:30 until 11:30 to help populate our native plant nursery. You can come and help by working an hour or two propagating additional plants to populate the nursery or help us organize the nursery in preparation for public sales. Please consider providing seeds or cuttings from your yard of locally-adapted plants useful for landscaping and backyard habitat or those useful as nectar plants for hummingbirds and butterflies or larval host plants for butterflies. You can come by on these Saturdays to drop off plants, seeds, and/or pots. For more information on the nursery and a list of available plants, check our website here. GCBO Wish List
Take a look at our wishlist and see if you can donate any of these items. We will be happy to provide you with a tax donation letter for your efforts! Thanks so much. - bags of black oil sunflower seed - bags of chicken scratch - 20 ft extension ladder - empty one gallon black plastic pots, used or new - funds or in-kind donations of treated lumber and hardware for plant benches - flammable storage cabinet for our gas cans - heavy duty 55 gallon plastic garbage can - heavy duty 55 gallon plastic garbage bags - 10 lb sledge hammer Monthly Bird Banding at GCBO
In June we caught several young White-eyed Vireos including this one that was in the net right next to an adult male which we assume is the father. Note the dark eye on the youngster (left) and the white eye of the adult (right) which is where the bird gets it's name. In July bird banding will be the fourth Saturday of the month rather than the third so it will be on Saturday, July 22th from 8:00am until noon. Remember, the birds get up early so the earlier you are here, the more you'll see. Seeing birds in the hand is a great way to get kids, young and old, excited about wildlife. See the map on our webpage for directions or use your GPS to take you to 299 Hwy 332 West, Lake Jackson, TX. |
|||||
| www.gcbo.org | Telephone 979-480-0999 | Contact Us | ||||||
299 W. Hwy 332, Lake Jackson, TX 77566
Comments About This E-Mail
To ensure these e-mails reach your inbox, please add news@gcbo.org to your address book or safe sender list.