Gulf Coast Bird Observatory | 299 Hwy 332 West, Lake Jackson, Texas 77566 |
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Help us meet our $10,000 match challenge!
Donate to conserve birds and their habitats
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Get Ready for the Smith Point Hawk Watch! |
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Join us at the Smith Point Hawk Watch from August 15 through November 30. The watch is held from 8:00am to 4:00pm daily at the Candy Abshier Wildlife Management Area where TPWD has a 30 foot observation tower. Smith Point, on the eastern shore of Galveston Bay, is a natural concentration point for raptors migrating south in the fall and we typically record at least 20 species of raptor. At the peak of fall migration, it’s not unusual to see thousands of Broad-winged Hawks, the most numerous species that migrates through Smith Point, on a single day. Plan your visit on the day of or the day after a cold front and you just may be amazed at all the raptors you will see!”
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For the past year and a half, GCBO and the Texas MidCoast National Wildlife Refuge Complex have been slowly working through upgrading all our Motus towers (15 of them) with new technology. With the help of many volunteers, we finally managed to finish this project in late June. We removed the old SensorGnomes and replaced them with Cellular Tracking Technologies SensorStation boxes. This allows the Motus towers to not only detect birds carrying a traditional Lotek nanotag but now they can also detect birds with a CTT LifeTag or PowerTag. They also upload their data automatically once a day using cell service so we don’t have to go and download all the data anymore. It’s a win, win, win! During the upgrade we fixed some other issues too like putting solar panels on two stations that had unreliable power and moving two of them that weren’t performing well or had hurricane issues. Our Motus network is now newly ready to tell us when and where birds are traveling across the Texas coast. |
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Volunteers David Heinicke and Brian Kolthammer upgrading a tower. |
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Smith Point Hawk Watch Celebration |
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GCBO’s Smith Point Hawk Watch is celebrating its 26th year of raptor monitoring this fall. On October 1, 2022, from 10:00am -1:00pm, we will be hosting our free Smith Point Hawk Watch Celebration at the hawk watch.
There will be food, drinks, a raptor presentation, and some live raptors on display. And, as always plenty of raptors soaring through the sky! Our staff and volunteers will be manning the tower, monitoring the birds and pointing them out to guests. Visitors will be able to look through scopes and binoculars and see the migration up close. Come celebrate 26 years of research and conservation with us!
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Join us once again for Bird Banding on August 20th from 8 am - noon at our headquarters in Lake Jackson. Come see birds in the hand and learn about the science of bird banding. The earlier you arrive the more birds you'll see. This event is free of charge!
And while you're here, why not check out our native plant nursery and wander our trails too? We even have picnic tables set up for an outdoor lunch -- It's the perfect nature outing for the family!
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Nursery Volunteers Needed! |
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Between our RV Hosts and Interns, we normally have this covered but we are finding ourselves in a place with neither for a short bit. Our nursery, still in a bit of disarray from freezes, hurricanes, and covid’s lack of care, is slowly undergoing work to bring it back to an organized state. But it still needs watering every few days.
We have a system of hoses and sprinklers that we use to water for about 2 hours in a section, and then moved to another section. We can normally run 2 to 3 hoses at once so it takes only a few section changes. And a few sections could be watered one day and the other(s) the next, etc. But it’s still a bit of time commitment.
We need some help from Aug 15 through Sept 30. Maybe there is a group of folks that could commit to help out on certain days to cover it. We’d hate to lose the plants we do have! Much of its shaded under the huge oaks, so that helps both plants and people a bit. If you’re interested in helping, please contact mhagne@gcbo.org or csilling@gcbo.org or 979-480-0999. Thank you!
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Come birding with GCBO and our Executive Director, Martin Hagne! Have a great time birding, exploring, enjoying some extraordinary scenery, dining on local cuisine, and of course seeing great birds! We always hook up with at least one local guide for the best experience. Here are our wonderful upcoming trips, but hurry, our trips are selling out fast!!
Our 2022 trips are all sold out! But we have just released our 2023 lineup! A few trips still need more information posted, so stay tune on those, or email Martin mhagne@gcbo.org to be put on list for more info! You can also go to our website to check for trip information and to register.
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November 25 – December 4, 2022- SOLD OUT!
January 31- February 6, 2023- SOLD OUT!
June 24 - July 1, 2023- SOLD OUT
October 12-24, 2023 – SOLD OUT
Stay tuned for our 2024 lineup!!
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Make an in-kind donation to support our sanctuary needs. |
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Black Oil Sunflower Seed and Chicken Scratch
We feed year-round here at GCBO, and during migration at Quintana. We stock our GCBO feeders to help augment natural foods, and this also helps our monthly banding research project.
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Corporate Matching Programs |
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Did you know that many corporations have a donation matching program? Corporations can match their employees' volunteer hours and/or donations to nonprofit organizations like GCBO! These types of programs are great because they double your contributions to the causes that you care about! If you work (or are retired from) a corporation, ask them about their matching program today! |
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Recycle Your Old Technology and Help Birds |
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The Wireless Alliance is a company that recovers and recycles cell phones, smart phones, tablets, and other consumer recyclables.
We will be collecting these items for Wireless Alliance to keep them out of landfills as well as raise money for our conservation efforts. If you have old technology such as a phone, charger, tablet, or other accessories, consider bringing it to GCBO!
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You can help support GCBO's mission in several important ways!
Save a Tree and some $!
We are trying to go as paperless as we can to save some trees and quite a bit on printing and mailing costs. We would love if you would let us email you instead of snail mailing a hard copy of any correspondence, including your future copies of the Gulf Crossings. Please email or call Tricia to say: “Hey, GCBO, please start emailing me things! Here is my email…” Thanks!
DONATE NOW on our website to support our conservation programs.
BECOME A MEMBER and receive our twice a year newsletter and a 10% discount in our nature store.
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Support GCBO When You Shop on Amazon! |
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Do you shop on Amazon? Did you know you can do that same shopping on Amazon Smile and support GCBO with every purchase?
Just go to the Amazon Smile website and select GCBO as your charity of choice and then shop, shop, shop!
GCBO will receive a donation for every purchase you make. Thanks so much!
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When you shop at Kroger, you can support GCBO! |
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GCBO is a registered charity through Kroger's Community Rewards Program. This means that you can register your Kroger Plus Card online and select GCBO as the organization of your choice. Every time you use your Kroger Plus Card, Kroger will donate a portion back to GCBO! This is an easy way to support GCBO while you shop - your donations help us continue to protect birds and birding habitat around the Gulf Coast and beyond. To register your Plus Card, click here. Our charity number is #DN782.
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