News on Sundown Island
Sundown Island Work Day Report
Friday, November 14, 2001
Report by Chester Smith, Warden
(Click on the photos to see a larger version)
 We
had a great day Friday at Sundown island Bird Sanctuary in spite
of the choppy bay and persistent light rain. The Devon Energy volunteer
group provided the crew for workday along with other volunteers
from Houston and Baytown. King Fisher Marine allowed us to use their
crew boat to take the volunteers to and from the island and to haul
our supplies–posts, link fence, and tank plastic.
In spite of the rain, and the big rattler killed by Charlie, the
volunteers were able to accomplish the following:
Planting trees
 Nearly
100 trees were planted around ponds number one and two. The trees
planted included Spiney Hackberry, Salt Cedar, Mesquite, Wesatch,
and some Lantana which were purchased by Chester. The drizzling
rain helped with the planting.
While taking a short cut through the Sunflowers, we discovered
a group of salt cedars planted several years ago. They are now
six to eight feet high. The birds love them for nesting. Our thanks
goes to Formosa Plastic who has provided us with many trees over
the years and our volunteers who have spent so much time planting
them.
Plastic liner in ponds
The Bentonite spread in the ponds that were created during the
last workday have not kept the water from leaking from the ponds
as well as we had hoped. We planned to use a plastic liner in
both ponds but were only able to install a liner in pond number
two. Pond number one had too muchwater in it which prevented us
from installing the liner.
The Formosa Tractor
 The
tractor purchased with the grant from Formosa has been a life
saver, allowing us to move materials around the island as needed.
The tractor shed came in handy during when the rain became heavier
than a drizzle. Charlie moved the nesting platform materials (posts
and fence link) into place for another day.
Trash pickup
Part of the crew walked the perimiter of the island, picking
up trash as they went.
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