Oystercatcher Diaries 2022: Week of April 18, 2022

By Susan Heath It was too windy to check the Brazoria Bays this week so we had to skip it. We’ll find out what’s happening there in a couple of weeks if the wind ever dies down. It was windy again on Thursday and Alan was having a few back issues and didn’t feel he should be bouncing around on … Read More

Oystercatcher Diaries 2022: Week of April 11, 2022

By Susan Heath This is the spring of wind! It was too windy to check the entirety of East Matagorda Bay so Taylor, Kenlynn, and I took the boat to the ramp in Matagorda and went out to check on the nests at Old Gulf Cut since its pretty protected there. A7A & unbanded were still incubating but there were … Read More

Oystercatcher Diaries 2022: Week of April 4, 2022

By Susan Heath We got a break in the wind this week and were able to do a complete survey of the Brazoria Bays. Taylor, Kenlynn and I headed out Tuesday morning after a brief fog delay. We went to the Brazoria County part of West Galveston Bay and checked on the two pairs there. E3A was still incubating three … Read More

Oystercatcher Diaries 2022: Week of March 28, 2022

By Susan Heath It was windy, windy, windy all week and then miraculously on Thursday it was almost a perfect day. Alan and I were joined by my friend Rich Kostecke, an independent avian researcher from Austin, on our weekly trek through West Galveston Bay. Since we hadn’t been able to check Swan Lake last week and the tide was … Read More

Oystercatcher Diaries 2022: Week of March 21, 2022

By Susan Heath This week Taylor, Kenlynn and I headed out to check the birds in the Brazoria Bays on Wednesday. It was cold and windy again. Isn’t it supposed to be warm by now? Over the weekend, the storms that came through brought a very high tide and I was fearful of what we’d find. The trip across the … Read More

Oystercatcher Diaries 2022: Week of March 14, 2022

By Susan Heath On Tuesday, Taylor, Kenlynn and I made our first foray out to East Matagorda Bay. The number of pairs out there has dwindled from ten in 2011 to just four last year so I wasn’t sure what we would find. There was an unbanded pair on a reef by Chinquapin but that isn’t a nesting spot so … Read More

Oystercatcher Diaries 2022: Week of March 7, 2022

By Susan Heath Another exciting week with the oystercatchers! I had planned to go out to the Brazoria Bays on Tuesday with Taylor Bennett (GCBO Coastal Biologist) and our excellent intern Kenlynn Volz but the weather was too bad so we delayed until Wednesday afternoon. We had to wait out a thunderstorm complete with small hail at the boat ramp … Read More

Oystercatcher Diaries 2022: Week of February 28, 2022

By Susan Heath The weather was wonderful this week. When people think about what its like for us out there on the boat, the weather this week is what they imagine. Sunny, little wind, not too cold and not too hot. We seldom get days like people imagine but this week we did! Because there wasn’t much wind and we … Read More

Oystercatcher Diaries 2022: Week of February 21, 2022

By Susan Heath Alan and I were joined by one of GCBO’s RV volunteers, Bill Rose, this week. We needed some extra muscle to handle reinstalling a sign on Struve Luci. The truck thermometer read 49 when I backed the boat trailer into the water. For me that is a big BRRRRR! It wasn’t too windy though so not too … Read More

Oystercatcher Diaries 2022: Week of February 14, 2022

By Susan Heath Alan and I went back out to check on the oystercatchers on Tuesday this week. We had planned to go Wednesday but the weather had other ideas so Tuesday it was. It’s still pretty slow out there but all the pairs are on territory and many are scraping so things should pick up soon. Amazingly all the … Read More

Oystercatcher Diaries 2022: Week of January 31, 2022

By Susan Heath It’s time! They oystercatchers have begun to nest and we’ve checked on them a couple of times. We went out the West Galveston Bay on January 13 to see if any pairs had changed. Amazingly they were all the same for the ones that were present. Then on January 27, we went back and found the first … Read More

Smith Point Hawk Watch 11/30/21 (33 raptors)

Bob reports 33 migrating raptors today. Turkey Vulture 20 Osprey 1 Northern Harrier 5 Cooper’s Hawk 1 Broad-winged Hawk 3 Red-tailed Hawk 2 Merlin 1 It was a great last day at the hawk watch today. Blue skies with lots of clouds made looking for birds easy. Amid the scores of Turkey Vultures we found a few raptors still making … Read More