Gulf Coast Bird Observatory | 299 Hwy 332 West, Lake Jackson, Texas 77566
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Ready, Set, Bid!
Experiences Auction Starts November 15th!
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We are gathering together another set of unique experiences for you to bid on in November and support GCBO conservation programs. This year the auction will run from November 15 to December 6. The auction is ready to go and bidding will begin on November 15 but in the meantime you can check out all the items on our website
here
.
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If you volunteered at GCBO in 2019, come be our guest at the volunteer dinner! You will enjoy a tasty dinner and desserts prepared by GCBO staff as we thank you for all your hard work! There will be a slideshow with pictures of all that we accomplished this year. Join us Tuesday, the 12th of November at 6:00pm at Gulf Coast Bird Observatory, 299 HWY 332 West, Lake Jackson, TX, 77566.
Please RSVP to info@gcbo.org with your name and number of people attending.
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Celeste Silling is our new Education and Outreach Manager. She was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She attended Lawrence University in Wisconsin and received her Bachelor’s degree in biology in 2016. Focusing on her passions of conservation and education, she has worked in botany research, a husbandry project, as a shorebird crew leader and sage-grouse research technician, and of course in Environmental Education. Working with birds and doing public education and outreach were always her favorite parts of these jobs. Now she is pursuing her talents and interests here at the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory. Celeste loves teaching people about the environment and enjoys nature and birding in her free time!
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We will be planting native trees and shrubs at the Neotropic Migratory Bird Sanctuary this November to extend the tree canopy that migrating birds so desperately needs. The area that is mostly open between the tower and the cane break will be planted with 18 trees and about 80 shrubs, along with an automatic drip irrigation system. Some of the trails will be refurbished with caliche to keep them from being under water during rain, and some new signage will go up as well.
We will need some help on at least one or two days with this project. The proposed dates are November 15, 16, and 17 (and possibly others), but not set yet. Please email
Martin
if interested in helping.
We are able to do this thanks to a grant from Freeport LNG. Thank you!
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On Tuesday, November 22
nd, we spent the day cleaning up monofilament fishing line at the Texas City Dike! Five GCBO staffers and 15 Galveston Bay TX Master Naturalists picked and pulled up miles and so many pounds of line!! Thank you!!
In the past 2-3 weeks at least six American Oystercatchers have been spotted with line entangling their feet and legs. Sue had caught and freed one earlier. After the clean up, we stayed and managed to catch one more and it is now free of fishing line entangling both legs. Another escaped us as we tried to catch it. We don’t know the status of the other three but it’s probably not good. Please spread the word not to toss fishing line on the ground or in the water!! And come out and help us clean up at the next event... stay tuned.
Thank you
LineCutterz.com for donating your awesome line cutter tools for the clean up!
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Upcoming 2020 GCBO Birding Tours
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Come birding with GCBO, and our Executive Director, Martin Hagne! We are having a great time birding, exploring, enjoying some extraordinary scenery, dining on local cuisine, and of course getting great birds! We always hook up with at least one local guide for the best experience. Here are our wonderful destinations for 2020, but hurry, our trips are selling out fast!!
You can get more information on or
website
or send
Martin
an email.
For all trips below with availability, please go to our
website
to register.
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D
uluth, MN - SOLD OUT!
January 16-20, 2020
$895.00 for Single
$795.00 for Double
We will repeat this popular trip for boreal winter species! We will have a great time exploring the snow-covered Sax Zim Bog and northern forests of the Duluth area again this year, with possible views of Great Gray Owl, Snowy Owl, Northern Hawk-Owl, Bohemian Waxwing, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Boreal Chickadee, Evening Grosbeak, and all the other boreal species one expects to see!
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Southeast Arizona
August 16-22, 2020
$2,550.00 for Single
$2,350.00 for Double
Southeast Arizona is legendary in the birding world as one of the must visit places for some very special birds and scenery! Elegant Trogons, Montezuma Quail, Arizona Woodpecker, Red-faced Warbler, Abert’s Towhee, Bridled Titmouse, Buff-breasted Flycatcher, Gilded Flicker, many hummingbirds, not to mention the night birds! Just a very small sampling of the diverse birdlife living in the desert and mountainous canyons. Bird such famous sites as the Chiricahua Mountains, Patagonia, and Madera Canyon.
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Cuba Birding Expedition -- Only one opening left!!
October 15-26, 2020
$5340.00 for Double
$5705.00 for Single
The GCBO has been working with partners in Cuba since 2005 on various avian research projects such as a hawk watch and a neotropic migratory bird research station. Travel with GCBO staff and our Cuban ornithological partners to visits research sites, and bird the fabulous Cuban avian diversity. This trip is designed to be able to get as many endemics as possible.
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Oaxaca, Mexico TBA
We hope to offer this fabulous birding and cultural trip again in 2021. Look for dates and more info coming up!
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Apply to be our new intern!
Although we have very much enjoyed having Heather Hill here as our fall intern, she is leaving us on November 15
th for other adventures. So… we need a new intern for winter/early spring. This position will run from early January (negotiable) to mid-May and pays a $100/week stipend. GCBO interns get to have some excellent field experiences while learning about avian conservation and research first hand. The full announcement is on our website
here. If you know someone who might be interested please send them our way!
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Bird Banding November 16th
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Come join us for bird banding on November 16th from 8:00 to noon. Come see birds in the hand and learn about the science of bird banding. Birds get up early, so the earlier you arrive, the more birds you'll see.
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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Christmas Bird Counts Coming Up!
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Christmas Bird Counts are right around the corner. It’s a wonderful way to get out in the field and seeing some birds, and helping collect avian data. You can find all the counts across the world at the National Audubon website, but the for Texas counts you can go
HERE
There are three local Brazoria County counts we’d love
your
help with. You can find more info and contacts at the above website.
San Bernard CBC – Fri, Dec 20, 2019
Freeport CBC – Sun, Dec 15, 2019
Brazoria Columbia Bottomlands CBC – Sat, Dec 4, 2020
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Have you updated your email preferences yet?
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We're working on fine tuning our email list so that you only get emails that matter to you. At the very bottom of each email there is an "
update profile
" or "
unsubscribe
" link you can click that will take you to a page where you can make your selections. We now have specific lists for things like volunteer news, special announcements, events, bird of the month, and more. Please take a moment to
update your preferences
if you haven't already. Thank you!
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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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Make an in-kind donation to support our sanctuary needs.
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Sheets and Towels
We are in need of Queen sheets, bath towels and kitchen hand towels for our RV which is serving double duty this year for Smith Point and the Rollover Pass project.
Tents
We are in need of several 12’ x 12’ pop up tents/canopies. If you have one or more in good contention, we will put them to good use for kid’s camp, XHX, and Brew on the Bayou!
Rain Gauge
With all the rain from Imelda we realized we need a good quality rain gauge so we can keep track of how much rain we receive at our headquarters.
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.
One Gallon Plastic Pots
We can use your used 1 gallon nursery plant pots for the Growery. We go through a lot of 1 gallon pots when potting up new plants. Let’s recycle them here. We’ll take one or a hundred!
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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 #DN782.
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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. If you have an android cell phone you can now access Amazon smile directly from your phone. Iphone application coming soon!
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