Gulf Coast Bird Observatory | 299 Hwy 332 West, Lake Jackson, Texas 77566
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Our Experiences Auction is in full swing but you still have until December 7th at 8:00 PM to shop!
As a reminder, these experiences make fantastic gifts for the holidays and include Central American Lodge stays, up-close raptor encounters, the chance to band Oystercatchers with our field team, and photography and illustration sessions with renowned teachers (to name just a few).
In the wake of Harvey cancelling our Xtreme Hummingbird Xtravaganza and postponing Brew on the Bayou, we have high hopes that the Experiences Auction can help us make up for some lost fundraising. All proceeds go directly to our work so you can help support bird conservation and research with each bid!
Check out the auction
HERE
to see what experiences we are offering!
And a great big THANK YOU for your continued support!
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Project Soar Takes Off Thanks to DOW
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Starting next spring GCBO will be visiting elementary schools in Brazoria County to teach students about birds and science. This outreach program called Project Soar was funded by DOW as part of their DOW Gives Community Grants. Thanks to their aid we can purchase materials to engage students in the curriculum, including model bird skulls, feathers and eggs, kid-friendly binoculars and field guides, and more!
Award recipients were honored at a DOW luncheon. We are very grateful and humbled to be one of the participants and look forward to growing, expanding and bettering our outreach efforts in the community.
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GCBO Executive Director, Martin Hagne, thanks DOW for their generosity at the Recipient's Luncheon. (Photo by The Facts)
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A New Staff Member Joins GCBO
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We are pleased to welcome our new Avian Conservation Biologist, Robin Bjork, to GCBO!
Robin’s career has focused on ecology of colonial waterbirds in the southeastern US and tropical frugivorous birds in Central America. Her work has focused on documenting birds spatial- and habitat-use patterns to identify sites important in their annual cycle and guide regional conservation planning. She holds a Master of Science degree in Coastal Ecology from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington after which she worked for National Audubon Society’s Research Lab in the Florida Keys studying wading bird ecology and water management in the Florida Bay estuary for 8 years. Robin received a Ph. D. in Wildlife Science from Oregon State University in 2004 and conducted her doctoral research on parrot migration and the design of protected area networks in lowland tropical forests. Regional migrant species including Resplendent Quetzals, Three-wattled Bellbirds, and Great Green Macaws were also part of her tropical conservation research. Robin comes to us from Boise, Idaho where she worked for a non-profit NGO, Trout Unlimited, as a Data and GIS (Geographic Information System) specialist on a NASA-funded project to develop broad-scale models of population viability for coldwater fishes. She is very excited to get back to her coastal bird roots as Avian Conservation Biologist with GCBO.
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With the holidays right around the corner remember that you can designate GCBO as your charity of choice when you shop with Amazon Smile. This is a great way to spread a little bit of the holiday cheer towards the birds!
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Visit, Band and Holiday Shop!
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Last month we had a bit of wind and a slow banding day because of it but we're hoping for better luck this month!
Join us Saturday December 16th from 8-12 at GCBO for our next banding session. And, if there's a nature lover in your life you still need to shop for, stop by our native plant nursery or our giftshop! Both will be open for some holiday shopping!
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Christmas Bird Counts begun on Christmas Day 1900, when ornithologist Frank M. Chapman, an early officer in the then-nascent Audubon Society, proposed a new holiday tradition—a "Christmas Bird Census" that would count birds during the holidays rather than hunt them. At the time, the “gentlemen” had Christmas Side Hunts, where they shot as much game or birds in one day as possible, and the largest pile of dead things won. Christmas Bird Count was introduced to replace the mass killing.
From December 14 through January 5, counts are completed, mostly by volunteers, within a 17 mile circle, and you can count inside that circle for 24 hours. It is meant to establish wintering populations of birds. Today there are total of 2,505 circles covered, with 76,669 observers in the field and at feeders. In total, 58,878,071 birds were tallied, while 2,607 species were reported - roughly one-quarter of the world’s known avifauna.
Christmas is the time to bird count! The 61st annual Christmas Bird Count for the Freeport/Lake Jackson area is scheduled for December 17th, 2017. The area censused includes Surfside, Freeport, Clute, Jones Creek, Richwood, and Lake Jackson. If you are interested in participating in this, the 61st annual count, please contact Tad Finnell at [email protected]. You have to register for each count. Here in Brazoria County, GCBO staff
helps out with the San Bernard CBC, Freeport CBC, and Brazoria Bottomlands CBC. It’s a great way to help collect avian data!
Christmas Bird Counts are a nation-wide event organized by Audubon. If you are in other parts of Texas or other states around the US, you too can participate! Just visit Audubon's Join the Christmas Bird Counts site
HERE
and read through the instructions. Don't forget to sign up with/contact the person in charge of the section you wish to join and happy counting!
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A huge THANK YOU to everyone who donated items to our Hurricane Recovery Fund. We are still looking for:
-2 dresser drawers
-Steak knives and a set of silverware for our staff break room (used or new)
-A full sized kitchen oven and range top
-Large throw/area rugs
We are also looking for these general, non-hurricane related items:
- Bags of black oil sunflower seed
- Bags of chicken scratch
- One gallon black plastic pots, used or new
- Flammable storage cabinet for our gas cans
- Sugar for hummingbird feeders
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Now 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 #80345.
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All photographs are courtesy of GCBO staff unless otherwise noted.
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