GALVESTON -- Susan Knock can normally be found teaching chemistry on Texas A&M University at Galveston campus. But Thursday, as part of FeatherFest 2010, she was leading a new crop of beginning bird watchers along the island’s docks to introduce them to some of the island’s most common birds.
“This group has good bird mojo,” Knock said over the roar of nearby marine and street traffic, as well as that produced by a surging, 25-knot south wind from the Gulf.
“They now know a laughing gull from a herring gull, as well as both the great and snowy egrets.”
Knock could be called a birding evangelist. She has been leading the novice class here for several years. Her working theory involves initially introducing her students to members of the more plentiful species. Once the new birders are able to recognize these, they will be able to more quickly spot a ringer; that is, a rare bird, migrant, or out-of-place fowl will stand out more quickly for them once the ordinary wildlife has become second nature.
Don England, a retired chemistry professor from Searcy, Ark., was in Galveston for FeatherFest with his wife, Lynn. He didn’t start bird watching by buying a pair binoculars, but instead began with a block of wood and a whittling knife.
“I started by carving birds a few years ago,” he said. “One thing led to another so here we are now, watching birds in Texas.”
Galveston’s Harborside birds readily cooperated with the class. A large number of brown pelicans parked themselves in full view on the back of the good ship Katie Marie. Laughing gulls, Neotropic cormorants and other regulars also made themselves available to the enthusiastic group of about 20 learners. Many had arrived here from several states just to experience this birding party.
And, it seems, pelicans have followers. Bob and Betty Fargo are two of them. Traveling from Midland to visit Galveston’s local flocks of brown water birds, they walked the docks with Knock, working at adding to their current collection of more than 8,000 portraits of this homely bird. Brown pelicans are rare in West Texas and in many other parts of the U.S.
“We specialize in brown pelicans,” she said. “We’ve been photographing them for the last year or so.”
The large birds not only filled the aft end of Katie Marie, one sat contentedly just 2 yards outside the side door of a small, local shop.
Another bird, apparently off script, was outside its usual habitat and quickly spotted by a class member as something out of the ordinary.
This chicken-like, clapper rail was discovered poking its long, curved bill through the marine debris beneath the dock in hopes of his own luncheon. This orange-beaked, mottled brown bird was a spectacular and unexpected, though not rare find, which concluded the class outing.
FeatherFest concludes today.
