The Matagorda County Mad Island Marsh CBC was started in 1993 by Jim Bergan and Brent Ortego to showcase the birds of the Mad Island Wildlife Management Area managed by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and the Mad Island Marsh Preserve managed by The Nature Conservancy. The CBC has been highly successful by reporting the most species in the nation for 9 of the 14 years it has been conducted and has also listed 327 species between 1993 and 2006 with 250 species reported during 2005.

We have grown from 37 observers meeting in The Nature Conservancy Visitor Center for chilli during the 1993 count-down to having multi-sponsors with a banquet annually at the Wadsworth Community Center with a peak number of observers at 121 in 2002.

The normal formula for a CBC is that success attracts birders and quality birders find rare birds. This has been part of the formula for Mad Island, but there is so much more with this very special CBC.

A Christmas Bird Count survey area is a 15-mile diameter circle which contains 113,040 acres. More species are found by having the most diverse set of habitats within this space that is accessible to birders. Due to a large local support from Matagorda County residents, the CBC has access to most of the important bird habitats which contains 29% range land, 22% ag, 19% bays, 10% marsh, 6% reservoir, 5% prairie, 3% Gulf, 2% forests, 2% beaches & dunes, 1% rivers & canals, and 1% urban.

Nationally significant results has attracted strong local support which in turn has helped access the private lands which make up 65% of the CBC. Local support has also attracted sponsors which allows us to pay for the banquet, the National Audubon Society activity fees, the custom CBC t-shirt and the fuel for 3 commercial fishing guides who give up a day for our survey. We are proud for the assistance provided by our sponsors: Matagorda County Birding & Nature Center, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Center, Wells Fargo Bank, Lyondell Corp., Lower Colorado River Authority, Celanese, Bay City Abstract and Title, City of Bay City, Bay City Chamber of Commerce & Agriculture Convention & Visitor Bureau, All Star Real Estate, Coldwell Banker/Ward Real Estate, and The Nature Conservancy.

We thank the many landowners who manage the land which supports this abundant and diverse avian community in southern Matagorda County and provides the access to our birders. Lastly, we thank the birders who invest their time and energy in making us Number One to all who work with the Matagorda County – Mad Island Marsh CBC.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 14th, 2007 at 1:34 pm and is filed under Christmas Bird Count, Mad Island Marsh CBC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.