Bolivar Bird Count Results: 2004 - present (Excel spreadsheet)
Bolivar Bird Count Archive: 1984 - 2003 (Excel spreadsheet)
Bolivar Census: 1992 - 1998: compiled by Winnie Burkett and others (Excel spreadsheet)
Shorebirds of the Upper Texas Coast: observation and survey data for 2003-2006 by Cin-Ty Lee

Checklist

Parking Permits: As of January 1, 2007, the State of Texas has started the parking permit program on the Bolivar Peninsula. Anyone can drive on the beach for free. But if you park on the beach you must have a parking permit on your windshield. The fee for the permit is $10.00 a year. To get the permit you can mail a check to Galveston County Parks Department. Or you can find a merchant on Bolivar that sells them and purchase it there. The address is:

Galveston County Parks Department
4102 Main
(Fm 519)
La Marque Texas 77568
Attn Michelle in Parking Permits

If you want to contribute your birding experience and skills for the purchase and preservation of habitat on Bolivar - here's your chance. The last year-long survey of the flats was conducted in 1982. Dollars plus current bird data are needed by us to complete our campaign to preserve Bolivar habitat. Many eyes are needed to spot, identify and count the many birds using Bolivar habitat. We are conducting a monthly bird survey of the Bolivar pennisula to document the number of species and individuals that feed, rest and nest on the western end of Bolivar, from Retillion 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 Retillion 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 will be posted on this website and on Texbirds on an on-going basis. Map

Since a monthly survey could easily miss the great waves of shorebirds and passerines that use the flats and forest during migration, based upon Dr. Robert McFarlane's recommendations, we are expanding the survey and data gathering to fill in the blanks. This depends on your participation! Here's how it works:

Birders report via e-mail either or both a total list of species seen in the count area, or a species count of one or more species seen in the count area. So if you don't have enough time or energy to count Royal Terns, but you do have time to count Red Knots, and/or Parulas, you report those numbers.

Results will be updated on a spreadsheet with the participants and sightings/counts on a weekly, or as needed basis and posted on this website. The result of both efforts will be a much better documentation of avian dependence on the Bolivar Peninsula as a migratory rest and feeding location, in the likely event this data is needed for future conservation efforts.

Tom Kihn is the count compiler. If you need further information about the count, please e-mail Tom.

Quoting Bob McFarlane, "Think you can identify birds? Good. Go to Bolivar and identify as many species as possible. Want a tougher challenge? Fine. Try counting them. Want to be a citizen scientist? Great. Record your numbers and turn them in. Want competition? Fantastic. See who can count the most. Did someone beat you out? All right go back and do it again. Want recognition from your peers? See your name posted on the website. Do your part. Go to Bolivar, count birds and turn the number in. Think its a great place? Want to preserve it? Send a little money."

Birding groups are encouraged and challenged to combine a Bolivar field trip with volunteering to participate in the Bolivar surveys.