By: Javier Gonzalez
Special to the PRESS
Our community is so extremely lucky to live in one of the most biodiverse areas of the country. The Lower Laguna Madre is an incredible nursery for all kinds of nature and wildlife flourishes here, especially birds. The birding hotspots in the area are top ranked in the US in regard to the number of bird species recorded in them. As the seasons change throughout the year and migrations flow, species diversity in our area changes and incredible ecological processes also unfold and amaze. There is always something interesting to look forward to around the Laguna Madre if you’re into birding!
Birding has also become one of the fastest growing outdoors activities in the country. Since the pandemic, people have been turning to nature more to relieve stress, spend quality time with their families, and to learn more about the environments and ecosystems around them. Birding is a great way to tune back into nature and expand our awareness about the natural world while having fun, which in turn will help us to become mindful and respectful environmental stewards.
That is precisely the purpose behind the Lower Laguna Madre Young Birders Club. The club just celebrated its first anniversary in July with its first ever field trip away from the SPI Birding Nature Center & Alligator Sanctuary [SPIBNCAS]; a boat tour around an incredible colonial waterbird nesting island with the help of Isla Tours! We had lots of fun learning about the importance of these nesting islands for the successful reproduction of our coastal birds and we hope to create more partnerships and exciting nature experiences like it for the club members this coming year.
We invite local youth to become part of the club and discover the incredible nature of the Lower Laguna Madre. The club meets monthly at the SPIBNCAS unless an offsite field trip is scheduled. Each month brings new birds and new topics to enjoy. We are starting the season celebrating World Shorebirds Day at the SPIBNCAS on Saturday, September 6th with a guided shorebirds tour of the boardwalk for kids at 9:30am followed by a presentation by our local Coastal Bird Conservation Biologist, Justin LeClaire, with the Coastal Bend & Bays Estuaries Program titled “Shorebird Conservation on the Texas Coast” at 11am. This will be an excellent opportunity for young people to meet a conservation biologist doing important work along our coastline to conserve our shorebird species.
To register youth (9-15 years of age) for the shorebirds birding tour and to learn more about the Lower Laguna Madre Young Birders Club and the perks of being an official member, visit spibirding.org/llmybc
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