Friends of the Port O’Connor Library Wreath-making class.
The Magic of Chester Island
The Friends of Port O’Connor Library, Inc. present THE MAGIC OF CHESTER ISLAND, an evening with Audubon Texas Wardens, Tim and Peggy Wilkinson, on Monday, JANUARY 11, 2021 at 6:00 PM at the Port O Connor Library meeting room. The presentation is free to the public but due to Covid regulations please register if attending at libraryfriendspoc@gmail.com or sign the register at the library.
Just three miles from the Port O Connor front beach, thousands of beautiful water birds are returning to nest on a small dredge spoil island. Chester Island (commonly known as Bird Island) is one of only three islands in Texas consistently supporting more than 10,000 breeding pairs of colonial water birds.
Texas has one of the most biodiverse, yet threatened coastlines in the nation. Stretching over 600 miles, much of the Texas coast is suffering from severe erosion, lack of freshwater inflows, and pollution. This rich ecoregion is the wintering grounds and stop over sites for over 98% of the long-distance migratory bird species in North America. The coast is also a stopping ground for the litter pollution carried through Texas’s river system, meaning many of the conservation issues on the coast are at the mercy of the choices made by those across the Lone Star State.
For more than 80 years Audubon Texas’s coastal wardens have been safeguarding the magnificent birds that live, breed, and nest on 80 islands on the Texas coast.
Audubon wardens and TERN manage these islands, patrolling and censusing bird populations by boat during nesting season, controlling fire ants, planting shrubs and trees, and monitoring predator activity and erosion. In addition to managing the islands, wardens communicate with local media, organize volunteers, educate citizens, and work with recreational and commercial anglers. For decades this model of community-based stewardship has sustained one of the most effective bird conservation programs in the country. Audubon‘s coastal management program has been recognized through the Governors’ Blue Ribbon Committee on Environmental Excellence.
