Category Archive

By Susan Heath I had to cancel my trip to East Matagorda Bay on Tuesday because the wind was too high, but on Wednesday I was able to make it out to Bastrop and Drum Bays with Texas Mid-coast NWR Complex biologist Jennifer Wilson. She wanted to check out the colonial waterbird islands there and I haven’t been out there … Read More

By Susan Heath I was able to get out East Matagorda Bay on Monday for the first time in a month. The last time I’d been out, one pair had two chicks and three pairs had nests, but the tide was really high and I feared the worst. I was joined by Jennifer Wilson, Texas Mid-Coast NWR biologist, and Woody … Read More

By Susan Heath I was unable to monitor any oystercatchers last week due to illness. Fortunately this week John and Alan were on the ball and alerted me that Monday was the only viable boat day for West Galveston Bay so we changed our field day from Wednesday to Monday. Stennie Meadours, one of the steadfast volunteers that monitors birds … Read More

By Susan Heath On Thursday I went out to Tres Palacios Bay with Bob and Ruth Fredrichs to band chicks. There were three pairs there with chicks old enough to band and I wanted to check on the nanotags I put out there as well. We headed out from the Palacios boat ramp about 8:00 and went over to the … Read More

By Susan Heath On Monday I headed out to East Matagorda Bay with Martin Hagne and Oron Atkins. It was really calm for a change and beautiful on the bay. Unfortunately that was not to last but we enjoyed it while it did! We found ER incubating his nest. KN & unbanded, the pair we used the noose carpets on … Read More

By Susan Heath On Monday I headed out to East Matagorda Bay with our new Executive Director, Martin Hagne, and jack of all trades volunteer, Oron Atkins. There wasn’t much wind for a welcome change and we enjoyed relatively calm waters for most of the day. We found that ER & unbanded had a new nest with two eggs. photo … Read More

By Susan Heath On Monday, Amanda and I were joined by Allison Huysman who is working at the Mad Island Marsh Preserve banding station this spring. Things have been a little slow so far this year at the banding station and Allison was up for a day on the water so invited her to come along. It’s always exciting to … Read More

By Susan Heath The wind was too high to go out to East Matagorda Bay on Monday and because I was attending a Loggerhead Shrike Working Group meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday, I didn’t have any available days to switch to so we were only able to get out to West Galveston Bay this week. In addition, our faithful photographer … Read More

By Susan Heath On Monday, GCBO shorebird technician Amanda Anderson, Cradle of Texas Master Naturalist Oron Atkins, and I headed out to East Matagorda Bay to check on the pairs there. The good folks at the Texas Mid-Coast National Wildlife Refuge are letting us use their boat for this monitoring and for that we thank them very much! To monitor … Read More

By Susan Heath Believe it or not, it’s time to start monitoring the American Oystercatchers for nesting activity. This year we’ll be monitoring the birds in West Galveston Bay and East Matagorda Bay once a week. We’ll be putting nanotags on 10 adults and 5 chicks so we can track their movements using our new Motus tower network. This project … Read More