Gulf Coast Bird Observatory | 299 Hwy 332 West, Lake Jackson, Texas 77566 | | |
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Hurricane Beryl barreled through in early July and did quite a bit of damage at our headquarters in Lake Jackson, our sanctuary in Quintana, and the Smith Point Hawk Watch. Thankfully, it was mostly fallen trees and branches, with minimal damage to our structures. Staff and volunteers worked for days to clear the roads and get our properties back looking better. THANK YOU! To everyone who helped, we truly appreciate you!!!
Most of our headquarter trails still need much work. Volunteers are welcome to come any day and do whatever amount of trail clearing you can, any time in the next week or two! We have tools in the garage. Just let someone in the office know so we know you’re out there, and where you are/were working.
If you are able come help clean up the trails and grounds, thank you! But you can also help by donating funds towards the cleanup effort. We had some repairs, but also paying professional tree crews for some of the more dangerous work, and supplies needed. We truly appreciate your help! Thank you!
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Support Smith Point Hawk Watch! | |
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It may be summer, but we’re starting to feel a chill in the air! It’s just about time for our Smith Point Hawk Watch season to begin. If you're looking forward to it as much as we are, consider making a donation to support our monitoring program. Our yearly hawk watch is held at Smith Point, right on the edge of Galveston Bay. The Smith Point peninsula is located on a major raptor migration route and is a raptor stopover site. One of the largest and longest-running Hawk Watch sites, GCBO’s Smith Point Hawk Watch is critically important in collecting scientific data that helped establish the population trends of 25 species of raptors, both locally and across North and South America. With your support, we hope to continue this important work! To make a donation, use the following link and choose “Smith Point Hawk Watch."
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Trash Cleanup: Sims Bayou MLK Trailhead | | |
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Join us for a bayou cleanup in Houston!
SPLASh will be hosting a cleanup at the Sims Bayou Greenway, MLK Trailhead on August 10 from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM.
We are looking for volunteers to help us remove trash and cleanup the environment for people, birds, and other wildlife! Click the link below for more information or to register!
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Trash Cleanup: Monument Inn, La Porte | |
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Join us for a beach cleanup in La Porte!
SPLASh will be hosting a cleanup at Monument Inn on August 24 from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM.
This site is along the shipping channel and got hit hard by the hurricane, so there's LOTS of trash. We are looking for volunteers to help us remove trash and cleanup the environment for people, birds, and other wildlife! Click the link below for more information or to register. Thanks so much to H-E-B's Our Texas, Our Future for supporting this cleanup!
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Save the Date for Smith Point Hawk Watch Celebration! | |
Bird Banding Canceled for August | |
Unfortunately, due to remaining hurricane damage on our property, we will not be able to host bird banding this month. We hope to have things up and running again soon! | | |
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This month, we are welcoming our newest addition to the GCBO team! Kayla Pringle will be joining us as our Education Assistant. Kayla just recently earned her Master's Degree at the University of Michigan where she studied Ecosystem Science and Management. She grew up in the DFW area, but is excited to get to know the Houston-Galveston area. Kayla loves conservation and education and is eager to get started! | | |
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Additionally, we are sending off Sheryl and Harold Travis, two of our most frequent RV volunteers! They're heading to Virginia and we'll miss them. Harold and Sheryl helped with cleanups, research, office work, site maintenance, and much much more. Thank you Harold and Sheryl! | |
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Join Rice's Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies for the short, non-credit course, “Global Birding” this fall! This course is open to the public and delivered in person.” Learn more here.”
In honor of Community Learning and Engagement’s 50th anniversary, the school is offering at least 50 full scholarships this year for educators, nonprofit professionals and community members for whom course fees present a challenge. The application deadline is Aug. 23, 2024. Learn more here.
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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 2024 trips are all sold out! But take a look at our 2025 lineup! A few trips still need more information before opening to registration, so stay tuned, or if you have serious interest in a trip, please email Martin at mhagne@gcbo to be put on the list for more info on any particular trip. You can also go to our website to check for trip information and to register.
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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.
Sugar
The hummingbirds are coming our way, and we are looking for granulated sugar donations for their sugar water. Please bring it by our headquarters: 299 Hwy 332 W Lake Jackson. Thanks!
Small Freezer
We need a small under-cabinet freezer that reaches -20°C or lower for storage of biological samples for a possible upcoming study. Please reach out to Rebecca at rbracken@gcbo.org if you have one you're willing to donate!
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Corporate Matching Programs | |
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! | |
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 small electronic 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 us 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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When you shop at Kroger, you can support GCBO! | |
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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