By Rebecca Bracken It was a busy week!  We had two oystercatcher chicks and a bunch of skimmer chicks to band, and needed to check on several chicks to check to see if they had fledged yet. On Tuesday, Sue, Taylor, Ben, Elena, and I (whew, full boat!) went out to East Matagorda Bay to band 25’s two chicks as … Read More

By Rebecca Bracken On Wednesday, Sue, Elena Duran, and I went out to East Matagorda Bay to band skimmer chicks and check on 25’s chicks.  I was initially concerned because we didn’t see 25 or his mate when we approached the island, but thankfully they both popped up as we circled around the backside of the island.  We ended up … Read More

By Rebecca Bracken On Wednesday, Sue, Ashley Van Wieren (our new education intern!) and I went out to East Matagorda Bay to count skimmers and check on 25’s chicks.  It was a bit choppy out there, but thankfully we didn’t have to go too far.  The skimmers are doing great – many chicks of varying ages scattered between the three … Read More

By Rebecca Bracken Happy belated 4th of July to everyone! With the holiday falling on Tuesday, Sue and I waited until Wednesday to get back out to East Matagorda Bay to check on the skimmers and 25’s chicks.  The water was definitely a bit choppy, but we had babies to check on!  We headed straight to 25 and unbanded’s island … Read More

By Rebecca Bracken This week, I got a chance to fledge, so to speak – time to check on the oystercatchers without Sue as she enjoys Mexico!  Time to sink or swim, fly the coop, spread my wings, be free as a bird…how many more bird or boat puns can I work in? On Tuesday, Taylor Bennett, our coastal biologist, … Read More

By Susan Heath On Wednesday, Rebecca and I headed out to East Matagorda Bay with GCBO’s research intern Ben Torres and David Newstead from CBBEP. David came up to set up some game cameras on the skimmer colony at Old Gulf Cut. It’s a short run out there and David got the cameras set up pretty quickly. So quickly I … Read More

By Susan Heath On Tuesday, Rebecca and I headed out to East Matagorda Bay with David Newstead (CBBEP), Diego Newstead (David’s son) and Trey Barron (TPWD) to put transmitters on the skimmers at the colony at Old Gulf Cut. While we were there, we checked on the only oystercatcher nest left in that bay, 25 & unbanded. They still had … Read More

By Susan Heath On Tuesday, Rebecca and I headed out to East Matagorda Bay. The Black Skimmers have started nesting there so we need to keep track of them but I also wanted to give the oystercatchers one more check. Rebecca had her first go at driving the boat. She did great! The wind was out of the north (weird … Read More

By Susan Heath On Wednesday I headed out to the Brazoria Bays for what I hoped would be my last check of the season. While crossing West Galveston Bay to get to the mooring facility, I spotted a strange silhouette on one of the channel markers. As I got closer I saw there was more than one strange silhouette. Brown … Read More

By Susan Heath On Tuesday I headed out to East Matagorda Bay with Heather Lewis, one of our new volunteers. Heather is an instructor at Alvin Community College but back in the day, she did her masters degree on Black Skimmers! Very nice to have another Black Skimmer enthusiast among us! We haven’t seen any skimmers in East Matagorda Bay … Read More

By Susan Heath On Tuesday I headed out to the Brazoria Bays to check on the pairs there. My volunteers fell through again so I went by myself. It’s kind of fun to be out there alone! It reminds me of the scene in On Golden Pond when the kid takes the boat out by himself for the first time. … Read More

By Susan Heath I had to move my Tuesday trip to East Matagorda Bay to Friday because of all the rain. On Thursday, I headed out to West Galveston Bay with Alan Wilde and Trey Barron (TPWD Wildlife Diversity Biologist). The wind was supposed to die down as the day went on so I decided to save Swan Lake for … Read More