Dear Volunteers, Gulf Coast Bird Observatory's Xtreme Hummingbird Xtravaganza is coming up on September 18th and 25th, and we need some help to make it happen! XHX volunteers can man the nature store, help run the activities and booths, sell tickets, and more! We also need help setting up the day before. For all of our Master Naturalist volunteers, this does count toward your MN volunteer hours!

As well, Brew on the Bayou is coming up on November 6 and we would love some help setting up the event, serving drinks, directing visitors, and so on. If you are interested in volunteering or have questions about XHX or Brew, please contact Celeste at csilling@gcbo.org or info@gcbo.org or call us at 979-480-0999. Thanks for all you do!

Each year, our Director of Conservation Research, Sue Heath, finds American Oystercatchers and other birds entangled in fishing line on the Texas City Dike. The TCD is a common fishing spot and is also populated bird habitat (an unfortunate combination). Getting tangled in fishing line can prevent the birds from walking or flying properly, can cut into their flesh, and often leads to loss of limbs or death!

To help solve this problem, we will be cleaning up fishing line at the Texas City Dike on September 9 from 8:00-12:00 and would love some help from volunteers! We will provide gloves, grabbers, and bags, but you are welcome to bring your own supplies. If you would like to sign up, click the link below.

Welcome our new intern Marissa. Originally from Conroe, Marissa graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Biology (with a concentration in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior). During her undergraduate career, her interest was in entomology and she spent much of her time at the university’s insect collection and field lab looking for bugs. After graduating, she worked as an Animal Care Technician at Austin Wildlife Rescue, where she had the opportunity to work up close and personal with birds. This was such an amazing experience and she immediately fell in love with birds. She then went to work as an Environmental Inspector at an environmental consulting company, conducting environmental inspections for large development projects. She was devastated to see bird habitat lost to ever-increasing housing and commercial development, so she decided to return to working with birds. She spent the past few months bird banding in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania and was able to see and hear a Cerulean Warbler! Her passion for birds brought her to GCBO where she is enjoying her time monitoring threatened shorebirds. She plans to attend graduate school and pursue a career in avian conservation.

This year, the Beach Nesting Bird Project was led by GCBO's Coastal Biologist, Taylor Bennett, and assisting her this season was GCBO's intern, Sarah Belles. The program helps monitor and protect three species of beach nesting birds: Wilson’s Plover, Least Tern, and Black Skimmer. These species are considered species of high concern due to loss of habitat, climate change, and human disturbance. This year we monitored three sites: Matagorda Beach, Sargent Beach, and Dow Freeport Plant A. All chicks are monitored until they are able to fly, after which point, they are classified as fledged.

At Matagorda, Wilson’s Plovers nested along Matagorda Peninsula, Colorado River Mouth Flats (CRMF), and Three-mile Cut this season. Matagorda ended up with 10 (6 banded) out of 19 total chicks fledge this season. CRMF was the only area that produced fledged chicks this year. Only seven chicks were observed on Matagorda Peninsula and none of them made it to fledging. We located 23 Wilson’s Plover nests and six additional broods this season. Most of the nests failed due to weather and disturbance. We managed to band five Wilson’s Plover adults and 16 Wilson’s Plover chicks. Only 15 pairs of Least Tern were observed and they decided to nest along Matagorda Peninsula this year; however, they ended up failing due to overwash and disturbance as well. They didn’t produce any fledged chicks this year.

Sargent Beach was divided into two areas: Sargent East and Sargent West. We observed both Wilson’s Plover and Least Tern nesting on both sides. We observed 25 pairs of Wilson’s Plover and 73 pairs of Least Tern. Only two (banded) out of 14 Wilson’s Plover chicks fledged this season. We located 17 Wilson’s Plover nests and eight additional broods. Most of the nests failed due to weather and disturbance. We managed to band six Wilson’s Plover adults and 13 Wilson’s Plover chicks. We located 53 Least Tern nests and three chicks which unfortunately didn’t make it to fledging.

Due to the pandemic, Taylor was once again unable to check on the Dow Black Skimmer colony. Her two volunteers, Keith Wise and Ron Weeks, tried their best to keep track of them; however, their visits were limited. According to their data, the highest adult count was 1,682 and 306 nests. The highest number of fledged chicks observed was 301 chicks.

Thank you to Sarah Belles, Susan Heath, Celeste Silling, Ron Weeks, and Keith Wise for helping out this season. You can help support this project by symbolically adopting a Wilson’s Plover chick or adult by going to our website www.gcbo.org and clicking the nature store link.

Fledged Sargent WIPL chick: The last banded Wilson’s Plover chick to fledge on Sargent Beach. Its band code is 662 if anyone is interested in symbolically adopting it. Picture taken by Taylor Bennett on July 30^th, 2021 at Sargent Beach, TX.

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!

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!! You can get more information on or website or send Martin an email.

For all trips below with availability, please go to our website for trip information and to register.

Your copy should address 3 key questions: Who am I writing for? (Audience) Why should they care? (Benefit) What do I want them to do here? (Call-to-Action)

Create a great offer by adding words like "free" "personalized" "complimentary" or "customized." A sense of urgency often helps readers take an action, so think about inserting phrases like "for a limited time only" or "only 7 remaining!"

February 2-7, 2022 – SOLD OUT!

March 5-13, 2022 with Tikal Extension March 13-16 2022- Only Two Spots Left!

June 18-25, 2022 – SOLD OUT!

November 25 – December 4, 2022 – Spaces open!

October 12-24, 2023 – A Few Spaces Left!

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!

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.

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Get emails that matter to you. At the very bottom of this email there is an "update profile" or "unsubscribe" link that will take you to a page where you can make your selections. We now have specific lists for things like volunteering, events, bird of the month, and more. Please take a moment to update your preferences if you haven't already.

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.

Telephone: 979-480-0999 | Email Us