At 7:45 a.m. on a Thursday, David Hanson and Chuck Davis were standing shuffling their feet in the parking lot of the Baytown Nature Center, discussing about brown boobies while dressed up against the November chill, spotting scopes ready and ballcaps on to protect against the rising light.
That is, birds.
You see, Baytown isn’t supposed to be home to the massive pelagic birds with five-foot wingspans, gorgeous black heads, blue eye patches, and yellow beaks. They typically inhabit areas beneath our boundaries. However, they have been observed flying, fishing, and sleeping on the power lines that traverse Burnet Bay in recent years.
“When the boobies are showing up, we get a lot of traffic here,” Hanson remarked.
The Baytown native Hanson and Davis, who have been leading a team of volunteers on monthly surveys for around ten years, have discovered a number of things, including the seafaring birds.
They invite any group of volunteers who are available to respond to the 8 a.m. call time to follow the same path through the park every third Thursday of the month: on foot along Wooster Point, which can stretch to over three miles, and by car to three halting points along Bayshore Drive.
Before retiring in 2008, Hanson, a wildlife biology student, hunted ducks and geese. He discovered a common passion when he and his wife installed birdfeeders in their yard. They were finally asked if they wanted to begin counting the birds in Baytown for Houston Audubon when their curiosity evolved into an addiction. Since then, Hanson has contributed to the documentation of numerous bird species.
By the time the clock struck eight, the other three volunteers had already started their five-hour trek and were shouting names and numbers from the parking lot.
Over there are three house sparrows! called out League City resident Lisa Hardcastle, 63. At least one or two housewrens are present.
Ibis! Jason Miles, 60, the group’s self-described young un, interrupted.
“28 feral pigeons,” Hardcastle went on.
For the next five hours, the counting would continue.
Volunteer Army
The enthusiastic Baytown team is a part of an expanding, nationwide army of volunteers who, on any given day, go throughout the Houston area to count birds and submit their data to Houston Audubon and ornithologists nationwide who study them.
As some of the most significant bird habitats in America disappear, the goal is to discover the best ways to support the growth of birds.
And the people of Houston are capable. According to Houston Audubon, the number of open sites where volunteer groups are willing to conduct a monthly bird count has increased from 17 to over 25 in the past two years. In the meantime, the surveyors have standardized their procedures and standardized the way that birds are counted at every station. This indicates that scientists are receiving more valuable and abundant data than ever before.
Every day, at least one poll is conducted in the Houston area, inviting residents to participate in the hunt.
Regarding these citizen scientists, Richard Gibbons, director of conservation at Audubon Texas, stated that birds have always had a strong cheering section. Thus, that is what has been triggered to assist us all in comprehending how our surroundings, regardless of their size, are reacting to our actions.
Scientists and environmentalists have used various sorts of volunteer-led surveys to measure changes in bird abundance in other locations across the United States. Houston Audubon’s surveys include locations where millions of birds stop during their global journey, but the standardized data coming in from Houston’s stations is still too new to yield any significant conclusions just yet.
According to Gibbons, the upper Texas coast is the Buc-ees of bird migration. We have the stopover and the petrol. The significance of the bird habitat is enormous, much like Texas.
Creating Advocates for Nature
There are 23 surveys throughout the Houston area, from Galveston to Humble and beyond. The guidelines are to stay on the same path and avoid splitting up into other groups as much as possible. Determine how many birds you can recognize by sight and sound. Send your counts to Houston Audubon after recording them on Cornell University’s eBird smartphone app.
Use this map to view all of HAS s urban bird survey sites:
According to Houston Audubon officials, “the science isn’t exact; it’s hard to get curious and excited volunteers to adhere to a strict set of rules.” Additionally, their abilities range from novices to expert naturalists. However, Davis told the Landing that they had tallied more than 75 species in a single day at the Baytown Nature Center alone.
However, the importance of the surveys lies not only in the data but also in the chance for volunteers to develop a deep appreciation for their surroundings and a desire to preserve the remaining green areas for birds to land, rest, and live on.
According to Gibbons, it turns into this routine. It turns into an excuse to venture out into the outdoors, make connections with other surveyors, and observe how [the terrain] evolves. And more often than not, you end up becoming an advocate to ensure that it remains a haven for the plants and creatures that rely on it as well as for individuals who are looking for a place to call home.
Baytown
Duck whistles swung from leather lanyards on Hanson’s review mirror as his silver Chevy truck led the convoy of vehicles on Thursday, plodding along at a slow four miles per hour. In order to recognize and honor the numerous birds that shuffle off the road or stand and observe the automobile from the grass, marsh, and shore, he stopped and began the car at seemingly instantaneous intervals.
There were numerous birds among them. Hanson talked about the changes he had witnessed while growing up in Baytown, when the park was a neighborhood. He would also go into the ruins at night after Hurricane Alicia put the finishing touches to the area’s human habitation.
At last, the gang reached their initial destination.
Over there, we have an eastern meadowlark! As everyone went outside and retrieved their binoculars and scopes, Hardcastle yelled. She checked off the tricolor, the great blue, and the kingfisher.
The birders eagerly hurried to the shore at stop number two, where they stared at the power wires, which could be a booby’s resting place. Seemingly unaware of the group’s excitement, a fisherman seated close to his line stared out to sea.
There was a moment of disappointment because that day there were no boobies to be found.
However, the group continued, protecting their eyes as they counted herons in the lake and doves on the ground, yelling numbers as massive flocks of birds, resembling swallows, zipped by in the sky.
The volunteers supported one another. In an attempt to entice tiny brown wrens, thrushes, and other birds off the grass, Hanson played a variety of bird calls. When they heard or spotted birds that he didn’t, the other birders would let him know. In contrast, his hearing aids were able to detect higher tones than others.
At 9:29 a.m., the party had already recognized 37 kinds of birds as they set off on a foottrail through vegetation, butterflies, and plenty of mosquitoes. Hanson eventually reached 65 species.
The birders were already excited about the approaching Christmas Bird Count on January 4, 2025, as they neared the end of their third hour of listening.
What I specifically recall is that we had what is known as a winter wren back home, which will be heading out that way shortly! Hanson stated.
The clamor of birders and bird sounds faded into the underbrush as they walked.
If you are interested in Houston Audubon s surveys, or upcoming Christmas Bird Count, read about them here:https://houstonaudubon.org/programs/birding/bird-surveys/
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