An Audubon Bird Sanctuary
Port O'Connor, Texas

© 2000-08 Sundown Island

Sundown Island 2005 Fall Workday

Workday sponsored by: Devon Energy Corp.
Article written by: Lynn Travis
Workday Photos: Gallery

Chester Smith is interviewed by Abe Moore (Texas Parks and Wildlife TV section) about Sundown Island while volunteers listen and participate.

It was a beautiful day for the Fall Workday on Sundown Island, an Audubon bird sanctuary. The twenty minute boat ride to the island was a bit choppy. The 22 volunteers waded in but warmed up quickly as they headed out to work. Devon Energy sponsors the fall workday by providing the trees, funds for expenses and preparing the volunteer lunch.

Texas Parks & Wildlife TV Documentary

—The fall workday included the making of a new documentary. Abe Moore with the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV section is making a documentary about Sundown Island to capture the activities and enthusiasm of Workday. Almost everyone had a chance at their 15 minutes of fame! Abe was able to capture in close detail how the tree plots are planted. Linda Olson, Jennifer White, and Barbara Van Horn stepped up to record their thoughts about Sundown Island. After lunch Pop (Warden Chester Smith) talked about the birds and predators of Sundown Island. Everyone enjoyed being part of the action. The documentary is scheduled to be completed next year.

Building/Maintaining Habitat

—Volunteers planted 50 native trees in 2 existing plots. Trees planted last year are doing well. The water absorbing gel used when planting new trees has made a significant contribution to tree growth. Trees planted with the gel are notably larger than trees in older plots planted without the gel. Birds are already nesting in some of trees planted with the gel.

—Three tree plots were cleared and weeded and watered. The cistern that collects water from the roof of the shed is doing a wonderful job collecting fresh water. It is exciting to see how a workday project completed in 2002 is making such a difference now. It is so easy to get fresh water for the trees now—just load up 5 gallon buckets with water from the cistern and transport it by tractor to the tree plots. The trees are thriving, and some are providing seeds and doing their part to expand the plots that provide nesting habitat and shelter for the birds.

—The Corps of Engineers has generously pumped sand along the windmill side of the island where erosion was threatening both the natural ponds and the windmill. The dock is presently landlocked but the dredging brought up some very large shells, so walking the beach to remove trash was more interesting than ever. The beach cleanup volunteers quickly circled the entire 70 acre island - completing their task, removing materials that could be dangerous to birds. Stray fishing line can be particularly serious.

—Fire ant pesticide supplied by U.S. Fish & Wildlife was spread on the island with the tractor donated by Formsa Plastics. Fire ants and rattlesnakes are the principal predators of the nesting birds. The island was full of mosquitoes and they were looking for juicy volunteers in full force. Fortunately, the super deep woods version of repellant worked like an invisibility cloak.

—Cabinets were completed in the shed to keep out pests, and changes to the nesting platforms were made in hopes of increasing the variety of nesting birds at Sundown.

—The large "No Landing" signs that the pelicans enjoy sitting on got a needed cleanup.

—Even though the island has been somewhat dry this year, the paths were overgrown, making it hard to navigate your way around the island or even see the pond markers. Volunteers were treated to a wide array of spectacular wildflowers including Lantana, Indian Paintbrush, large patches of yellow blooms, and areas of blue and purple blooming vines, along with the ever present Silver leaf Sunflower. Monarch butterflies were everywhere feeding on the flowers at Sundown during their migration to Mexico.

Birds on the Island

—This time of year there aren't as many birds on the island. Great Blue Herons were staking out territory along the large natural pond, migrating American White Pelicans flew by and lots of juvenile and adult Brown Pelicans were present. When pelicans take flight, it was just like confetti filling the sky. There were migrating shore birds along the perimeter and American Avocets in the ponds on the south end.

How to Help

Contact Warden Chester Smith for information on how to contribute or volunteer at popsbirds@aol.com. Be sure to visit the Audubon Texas Web site for information about other bird sanctuaries at: Audubon Texas Web site.