Bolivar Bird Count Results 2004-present (Excel spreadsheet)

Bolivar Bird Count Archive: 1984 - 2003 (Excel spreadsheet)

Bolivar Bird Count background information

Map

January 17 Survey: This is a rare opportunity to study the effects of a major weather event on birdlife of the area. The monthly survey of the Port Bolivar area from Rettilon Road to the ferry will begin again January 17, 2009. I invite you, from beginners to experts, to come be a part of it. We will meet at 7:00 AM in the parking lot of an empty store & motel at the first traffic light after the ferry. At 11:00 AM we'll meet at the Tiki Bar in Crystal Beach for lunch and to compile results. (Note: the Tiki Bar mainly has a rough-neck crowd comprised mostly of disaster relief contractors, but they serve wonderful burgers and they have bathrooms.)

- Tom Kihn, Leader, Bolivar Bird Count

Bolivar Peninsula after Ike
by Tom Kihn

On January 3, 2009, I visited Bolivar Peninsula for the first time since Ike. I wanted to see for myself the situation and how many of the birding stops were inaccessible.

The I-45 Galveston causeway has been completed (that tells you how long it has been since I went this way). So much for the good news. I noticed much damage as I made my way across the island to the Bolivar Ferry. From the ferry I could see the damage to Sea Wolf Park. The destroyer has a strong list, the submarine looks like it sustained damage to its prow, the building on the point is a broken shell.

Both ferry landings appeared to be in good shape now. Once off the ferry onto Bolivar Peninsula, things are very different. The parking lot was mostly fenced off, little room to meet for the Bolivar Survey. The restrooms are fenced off too, also the service building across the road.

From the ferry landing there are no buildings until the lighthouse. It has weathered another one! The two keepers houses are standing also. I could not tell how much damage any of these buildings sustained. The lighthouse ponds were there but no birds of any kind. I did not check the recently developed small wetland on the gulf side of the road.

At the flashing light (not working) the store and motel were standing, but that is all: empty and abandoned. The road toward Fort Travis is closed, probably the bridge is out. The parking area in front of the store is the best meeting place for the next monthly survey. I continued on to the main entrance to Fort Travis. The woodlands/brushlands along the entrance road and along the inland side of the fort were evidently shielded somewhat by the fort and present the largest section of habitat for land birds in the area of the monthly survey. How much of the vegetation is alive is another matter. Fort Travis itself is closed. This is the only area of the survey that I was unable to access.

From the fort I drove through the housing area to the jetty. Little is left of most houses: just pilings and debris. At the foot of the jetty, the store that was abandoned is gone; the store that was open is a ruin. The jetty is rock and survived. There were fishermen (fewer than usual) a long way out on the jetty. The mud flats had fairly good numbers of birds. Further out where the mud meets the sand there were large flocks of Avocets and White Pelicans. Three Roseate Spoonbills were across the mud flats by the grass. Willets and Marbled Godwits were scattered across the mud. There seemed to be fewer egrets and herons.

Walking back to the car I saw my first land bird: a singing Starling in full breeding plumage. I saw more starlings and heard Yellow-rumped Warblers in Port Bolivar. No other land birds were seen, unless I blocked out some grackles.

From there I drove to the flats. I had no problem getting to where the bollards (the posts blocking vehicle traffic) used to be. A few are still out in water but none on the beach and few posts are left to block driving into the marsh. I did not walk the beach but it appeared that in places it was only ten feet wide. Parts of the viewing platform are now in Horseshoe Marsh. There seemed to be more ponds and pools in the marsh than before. But that may just be an impression. Throughout the afternoon it seemed that everything from ponds to structures stood out more. Maybe less brushy vegetation gave greater visibility to whatever was there.

From the flats I returned to the highway and crossed over to loop back to Port Bolivar. In Port Bolivar there are many fewer buildings and most that survived sustained major damage. The Post Office looked OK and seemed to be open. Of course it was on the highest built up lot in Port Bolivar. Several people were working at making plywood repairs to their homes. Pink "Building Permit" signs were on almost every structure that could to repaired. The Mexican Restaurant building is still there but closed. The store across the street is gone, something I expected from the aerial shots posted after the storm. The grove down the street from the restaurant lost a couple of trees and gained lots of debris. I drove down the bridge that has been out for some time (still out). Across the way there was a fisherman and his truck so it appears that Frenchtown road is accessible. From the highway it looked more like a dirt road than pavement.

So of all the usual birding spots in the survey area, only Fort Travis is not accessible. Possibly John Wayne road may also be closed. Access to the sludge ponds behind the dike has been spotty at best in the last year. Habitat damage? The salt water habitats have gone through storms like this periodically over the last 1000 years, so that habitat should adjust unless we humans decide we can do a better job and mess things up instead. Fresh water habitats largely don't exist now. It will take a lot of rain to wash out the salt and bring a return to fresh water. Land habitat took a beating but I was surprised at the number of trees still standing. Whether these trees can survive the salt water inundation is a question that either time or the experts can answer. Understory has mostly been wiped out except for the area inland from Fort Travis. Some of the bushes had new green leaves. I saw no raptors and didn't expect to: no prey base left.

From my short visit I would say that migrants and winter residents either found what they needed or moved on. Year long residents either fled or died. Most of the birds I saw were winter residents (mergansers, avocets, White Pelicans, godwits, sanderlings, Western Sandpipers, Yellow-rumped Warblers) or salt water species (Brown Pelicans, gulls, terns, cormorants).

The Length of Bolivar Peninsula
by Tom Kihn

After my visit to the Bolivar area I drove on up the Peninsula to High Island. There are no facilities (restrooms, gas, food, water, etc.) between Galveston and High Island. The store at High Island is open and they have gas. Another store along the peninsula had two new gas pumps still wrapped in plastic; but the store was not open, but may be soon.

As bad a Port Bolivar was hit, it still had a number of homes with various degrees of damage that are or will be repaired. The area of Rollover Pass is another story. I saw only 3 houses standing; nothing else. All along the peninsula most of the houses that survived at all were of recent construction, the ones painted in pastel colors. I didn't try any of the side roads past Rettilon Road; most appeared to be more dirt than pavement.

The main road had water on half of the lane heading toward Galveston, but luckily in that area there was a turn lane so no one had to drive in the water. The coast near High Island is very different. The protecting dunes that blocked the view of the gulf are gone. The only dunes left are the piles of sand plowed from the roadway, ten feet high in places. In one spot near High Island the waves crash on a beach 30 yards wide, separated from the road by a 10 foot grassy edging. The next storm will wipe out this section of road between Bolivar and High Island, just as storms have wiped out the road between High Island and Sabine Pass. I wonder what we humans will do about that.

I didn't visit the sanctuaries at High Island as it was almost dark. From what I hear they survived Ike better than the earlier storms. That may just mean there are less trees to come down. At any rate the town was not flooded. You can see the debris line which shows that the town was just high enough to truly be an island during the storm.

For the near term, coastal birding between High Island and Galveston will be a near wilderness adventure. Bring everything you need and carry it back out with you. There should be interesting and different birding along that part of the coast for a long while as local resident birds recolonize the area.

Bolivar Bird Count General Information

If you want to contribute your birding experience and skills for the purchase and preservation of habitat on Bolivar - here's your chance. We are conducting a monthly bird survey of the Bolivar peninsula to document the number of species and individuals that feed, rest and nest on the western end of Bolivar, from Rettilon Rd to the Ferry landing, including all land areas. The survey uses Christmas Bird Count protocol and volunteers, like the CBCs but at no cost (donations for Bolivar will, of course, be accepted).

Monthly surveys are held on the third Saturday of every month. We meet at 8:00 AM at the Bolivar side ferry landing parking lot on the right as you leave the ferry. We will divide into area teams, identify and count birds to cover the peninsula from Rettilon Rd west, so there is the opportunity to get a wide spectrum of species. We will compile the list at 11:00 AM then participants can bird on their own and report any additional species with numbers via e-mail or phone. Results and participants are posted on this web site, Texbirds and eBird.