Geography/Habitat: Wood Stork (Mycteria americana) is uncommon to locally common post breeding summer visitor to the Texas coast and inland to the eastern third of the state. West of the I-35 corridor, they are very rare due to the lack of wetland areas. A few may stay the winter in the South Texas Brush country. Half a century ago, Wood … Read More
Active Summertime Reptiles
By Amelia Grider As summer has rolled around and temperatures have steadily increased, the activity levels of many organisms have also increased. Mammals, insects, birds, and even plants are enjoying the warmer weather and plentiful resources. However, one group’s increased activity levels can lead to particularly unpleasant encounters. Reptiles, specifically snakes and alligators, are some of the most feared and … Read More
Oystercatcher Diaries 2019: Field Week 19
By Susan Heath Well folks, there’s good news and bad news. I was joined on Wednesday, July 3 by Alan Wilde, Amanda Hackney, and my sister Kay Heath to monitor the skimmers and the remaining oystercatcher activity. Unfortunately the weather did not allow us to get much done. I checked the radar when I woke up at 6:00 and there … Read More
Oystercatcher Diaries 2019: Field Week 18
By Susan Heath I’m beginning to get a complex about the weather. This season has just been awful with wind and now rain. I wasn’t able to go to Drum Bay on Tuesday to check on the chick there because there were heavy thunderstorms all day. I rescheduled that for Friday in combination with East Matagorda Bay which would mean … Read More
Wood Storks
By Susan Heath It’s that time of year again when it takes something pretty cool (pun intended) to get me outside on the weekend. Since I spend a good part of my work days outside, I’m pretty fond of sitting in the air conditioning on summer weekends. But there is one bird that’s worth looking for and I’ve just started … Read More
Oystercatcher Diaries 2019: Field Week 17
By Susan Heath I had some non-negotiable commitments on Tuesday and Wednesday this week which of course were the two days with the best weather. It was a tossup between Thursday and Friday. Neither looked very good from a wind perspective but Alan and I made a go of it on Friday. It was too rough to go check on … Read More
Bird Strikes
It is estimated that window strikes by birds cause over one billion bird deaths per year in the U.S. alone! Although we have not had a huge number of birds striking our windows here at GCBO, we have had several, and any bird strike is one too many.
Nature notes: Summer bird campers share knowledge; ask others to “help save birds”
By Jennifer Horton, with help from Siri Sanketh, Lily Bonser, Ashton Reed, Brandon Weeks, Daniel Faulk, Lauren Faulk, Gage McMillan, Hayden Dietrich, Ainsley McGee, Nikolai Leatherwood, and Ellie Madsen. Summer bird camp at the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory just wrapped up its eighth year of engaging children ages 8 to 11 in fun activities related to birds, nature, and wildlife. … Read More
GCBO June Bird of the Month – Least Bittern
Geography/Habitat: In Texas, Least Bittern (Ixobrychus exilis) is common summer resident along the Coastal Prairies and the eastern portion of the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Inland, they are rare to locally common in the eastern third of the state. In the western portion of the state, it is a very rare and local summer resident due to lack of habitat. … Read More
Oystercatcher Diaries 2019: Field Week 16
By Susan Heath On Tuesday, Alan Wilde and I went out to do a reef survey in Bastrop and Drum Bays both of which border parts of Brazoria NWR. The refuge biologist Jennifer Wilson and I have been talking about building some oystercatcher nesting platforms out there because the habitat is so eroded. The refuge doesn’t encompass the small islands … Read More
Snakes 101
By Amelia Grider There is no group of organisms that elicits more varied reactions than that of snakes. Even the bravest, animal-loving individuals may squeal or jump at the sight of one of these scaly critters. Our fear response to seeing a snake can’t be helped. We are taught from a young age that snakes are dangerous and our brains … Read More
Oystercatcher Diaries 2019: Field Week 15
By Susan Heath Well I thought the wind was over but I was oh so WRONG! We had to change our monitoring day from Wednesday to Tuesday to avoid the high winds and rain from the tropical low that made its way to our area on Tuesday afternoon. Alan was out of town (having a blast in Costa Rica!) so … Read More