The Birding Classic Auction is ready for bids!  This year we have some fantastic items to bid on including the original Birding Classic art "Orioles of the Valley" by John O'Neill, birding trips, a photography workshop, bird houses, books, and much more. We will be adding new items daily through April so be sure to check back frequently. All proceeds go to help conservation on the Texas coast.  The auction will remain open until midnight, Sunday, May 2nd for bidding.  Winning bidders will be notified on May 3rd and all items will be shipped as soon as we receive payment.  

The first Chimney Swifts of the season have been sighted on the Gulf Coast returning from their wintering grounds in South America. As in past years, the Driftwood Wildlife Association will be plotting the swifts' movement northward over the next few months. Please let them know when you see the first ones in your area.  The results will be posted on their website.

Hurricane Ike took out a lot of vegetation at the Quintana Neotropic Sanctuary and subsequent clean up efforts took out even more.  The resulting bare areas were just too tempting to birders and photographers hoping for a better view. In order to give the vegetation a chance to grow back and provide more habitat for the birds, we needed a way to keep everyone on the trails. Enter Matt Beckett and his need for an Eagle Scout project. Matt, shown above (third from the right) with his work crew, put in some fantastic bollards with rope barriers that will hopefully encourage folks to stay on the trail. Thanks Matt!

New State of the Birds Report

The first State of the Birds Report in 2009 revealed troubling declines of bird populations in the United States during the last 40 years—a warning signal of the failing health of our ecosystems. It also highlighted heartening evidence that concerted conservation efforts can make a positive difference in restoring habitats and reversing declines. This 2010 State of the Birds Report considers one of the greatest environmental challenges of our time, climate change. How will the impacts of climate change influence our bird populations and their habitats? Accelerated climate change is altering the natural world as we know it, diminishing the quality of our environment. This report calls attention to the collective efforts needed to protect nature’s resources for the benefit of people and wildlife.

Monthly Bird Banding at GCBO

Join us from 8:00 until noon on Saturday, April 10th for our monthly bird banding session.  Watch as GCBO Research Associates Robert & Kay Lookingbill band the birds and explain how to determine the species, age, and sex of birds in the hand.  We'll be trying to catch migrants in April.  Come out and see what surprises are in store for us. This is a great way to get kids excited about wildlife, but all ages are welcome.  See the map on our webpage for directions.  Note that mapquest and googlemaps will not guide you to the right place using our address.