Bolivar Flats was full of birds this morning as terns and gulls park their chicks there while they feed in the gulf and shorebirds return. Many pelicans are have finished nesting and chicks and adults are everywhere.

During the late summer and fall Bolivar Flats is a fun place to be at sunset. You can watch thousands of birds come in to roost as the sun goes down. Not a bad way to end the day.

The tallows are reacting well to the hack-and-squirt treatment that Peterson ForestLand Management has been applying. After nearly 14 days, 70% of the tallows are showing signs of stress which radiates a very beautiful spectrum of color throughout the marsh. The herbicide mixture is 80% water and it is believed that during this dry time, the trees are so thirsty that the mixture is absorbed very quickly, making the effects of the treatment almost instantaneous.

Friday, Logan and I continued the prairie reclamation project by continuing to remove the tallow trees in the field. We now have two chainsaws in High Island, and when they are both humming in unison, you know there is ample work being accomplished. The tallow pile is growing, while the prairie is opening up more and more.

Later in the afternoon, I assited Logan as we removed the last of an old fence that once kept cattle in the prairie and out of the oak woods. Logan has been working hard at removing the wire and coiling it in neat spools. Friday afternoon, all that was left was for us to figure out how to get the trusty John Deere in some areas and use a chain and the tractor bucket to pull up the old obsolete T-posts.

As the photograph shows, we are always finding more and more useful ways to employ this great machine, and the summer projects on the coast are going well because of it.

Getting into dragonflies has been challenging. They are small, most fly fast and I don't understand their field marks. I made an attempt to get started this spring but was so confused that I knew I needed help. Houston Audubon volunteer Julia Garrett and I decided to go to the Dragonfly Days in Weslaco in May and it really gave us the jump start we needed to try to figure out sanctuary dragonflies. One of the best ways to identify dragonflies is to take a picture of them, even if the picture isn't perfect it helps a lot as we can look at the picture and the several books we keep with us and sometimes figure out what we saw.

One of the most common dragon flies around High Island lately has been Seaside Dragonlet. A small dark dragonfly Seaside Dragonlet is the only dragonfly that can breed in salt water so they are common in salt marshes. No wonder there are so many around High Island. These dragonflies stay low in the grass and are very approachably. I wonder if they eat mosquitos.

Smith Oaks is undergoing a habitat recovery project. The area to the left of the main entrance has been mowed down and tallow trees are being removed. The burn pile is getting larger and larger and will be a site to see as it goes up in flames this winter. Many Cattle Egrets, grackles, and vultures love this fresh mowed field for insects and crustaceans. A resident coyote has been spotted roaming the prairie looking for small field mammals.

The Huey Memorial Grove is close to the prairie area. It is also undergoing restoration. Honeysuckle and dewberry have taken hold and been a threat, choking the desired oaks and yaupons. The area was mowed and the tallows are being removed. The oaks are being trimmed to raise their limbs out of reach from the vines.

On your next visit to Smith Oaks check these areas out!

Lots of chicks are still in the Rookery. I think there were a lot of Spoonbills that started late. It was fun to watch the gators watch the chicks.