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August Edition
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HOUSTON AUDUBON BIRD COUNTS
Armand Bayou Nature Center Survey Next Survey August 9: Please join us Saturday for the monthly Houston Audubon Bird Count at Armand Bayou Nature Center. We will meet in the front parking of the nature center at 7:00 AM. Proper attire is recommended as you never know how the mosquitoes may be. I hope to see you there! — Andrew Hamlett, Leader Armand Bayou Bird Survey Bolivar Bird Count Bolivar Bird Count Spreadsheets  July 19 Report: There were only 3 of us but we found 74 species, including Least Bittern, Wilson's Phalarope, and Yellow Warbler. Many thanks to Connie Hoke and Joseph Kennedy for participating in the survey.Next Survey August 16: Come join us at the next survey for a search for early migrants. We meet at 8:00 AM at the parking lot on the Bolivar side of the ferry. Lunch and compile the list at 11 at the Mexican restaurant. Afternoon birding optional. All skill levels welcome. — Tom Kihn, Leader Bolivar Bird Count Willow Waterhole Survey July 19 Report: Peggy Boston, Dick Plumb, and I did the July bird survey at Willow Waterhole Park on a VERY hot morning. It was lovely when we started at 6:30 AM at the Clematis overlook, but was soon terribly hot. We finished the usual route by 9:00 AM with 32 bird species. One of those was a new species for our list -- Monk Parakeet. We saw three of the parakeets on the south portion of Clematis as they flew right over us squawking. Other treats of the day were three ducklings swimming close behind mother Black-bellied Whistling Duck, three rather scraggly-looking juvenile Robins, and two Cooper's Hawks. We adjourned to Annie's Hamburgers to do the count review over breakfast. Next Survey August 16: We start at 6:30 AM, so that we can finish by 9:00 AM and go to Annie's Hamburgers for breakfast afterward. The August survey will be hot, too, but we do have fun anyway. Hope to see more of you next time. The park is located just outside the southwest corner of Loop 610. Go south on Chimney Rock past Bellfort; turn left at Westbury High School onto Gasmer. The park begins where Gasmer splits and becomes Willow to the left, Gasmer to the right. For the survey, please park on Ricecrest and meet at at the gazebo on Willow Street. Hope to see you there! We are now up to 92 species. For a list of the species seen to date, see the eBird hotspot. — Joy Hester, Leader Willow Waterhole Survey West 11th Street Park Survey Mark Kulstad is leading a study of breeding birds at the park in conjunction with our survey. He reports that the eBird list in now one of the longest among urban Houston sites. We've posted Mark's first report on our website, which includes a list of birds known to have nested in the park. View report. Mark is asking for help in confirming nesting of other species in the park. An excellent reason to join us! Next Survey August 19: In August we're going to start the survey at 7:00 AM. Please meet me on the Shelterwood side of the park. The park is located at 2600 W. 11th St. — Mary Dodson, Leader West 11th St. Park Bird Survey
SUMMER SWIFT COUNTS
A Swift Night Out We will hold special events in both Dayton and Bellaire. The Dayton event will be hosted by the Lower Trinity Valley Bird Club at the Legends Bank in Dayton starting at 7:45 PM. In addition to counting Chimney Swifts that fly into the old rice dryer, the Bird Club will supply information and refreshments. Barbara Tilton and Stuart Marcus prepared a press release for the event which was carried by the local newspapers and a radio station. Houston Audubon Society, Whole Foods and the Nature Discovery Center are co-sponsoring the Swift Night Out at Whole Foods and Pershing Middle School in Bellaire on August 26. That event will begin at 7 PM. See the Swift Night Out webpage for more information. Pershing/Whole Foods Weekly Swift Count On Tuesday, 7/29, we counted 38 swifts at Pershing Middle School and 27 swifts at Whole Foods. Last year at this time we started seeing larger numbers (over 100) of swifts at the roost sites so this month will be interesting. Please join us at Pershing at 8:15 PM to count swifts and observe the summer birds! — Pam Smolen, Leader Pershing/Whole Foods Swift Count Swifts Over Dayton On July 31 we counted 231 Chimney Swifts as they went to roost in the old rice dryer in Dayton. We had 7 birding folks to help count, and some area Boy Scout and Cub Scout leaders, who had met in the bank community room, came out to watch the show too. We hope to count Chimney Swifts at the old American Rice Growers Association rice dryer in Dayton each Thursday and would welcome anyone who would like to join us. We meet at the northeast corner of Hwy 321 and FM 1960 in the bank parking lot. Bring binoculars, a lawn chair, and be prepared to count over 200 swifts as they dart into the rice dryer. They don't call them "swifts" for nothing. — Barbara Tilton, Leader Dayton Swift Count
NEWS
Vast Canadian Boreal Forest Protected Jeff Wells, Senior Scientist for the Boreal Songbird Initiative, asked us to pass along the exciting news about Ontario's commitment to preserve one-half of its Boreal Forest, more than 55 million acres. The press release states, "Ontario's plan to protect 50 percent of its Boreal Forest is considered a conservation science first and the size of this commitment is unprecedented in North American history." Jeff wrote, "I have done some quick calculations and the area to be protected may support as many as 300 million birds including a million Bay-breasted Warblers, 1.5 million Blackpoll Warblers, over 4 million Dark-eyed Juncos, 1.2 million Yellow-bellied Flycatchers. The area to be protected is larger than 40 of the 50 U.S. states (something like half the size of Texas!) and larger than all the designated wilderness areas combined in the lower 48. This is probably the biggest news in decades for birds of Texas and all of the U.S. but it happened in Ontario!" You can read more the plan on the Boreal Songbird Initiative website. There is also a link to send a thank-you note to Ontario's government. |
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