A Bexar Audubon Society Project
Funded by Audubon Foundation of Texas
This grant funded additional surveying and monitoring of the Southern Edwards Plateau (SEP) Important Bird Area(IBA).
The golden-cheeked warbler (Setophaga chrysoparia) is an endangered species of bird that breeds in Central Texas, from Palo Pinto County southwestward along the eastern and southern edge of the Edwards Plateau to Kinney County. The golden-cheeked warbler is the only bird species with a breeding range confined to Texas. Golden-cheeked warblers are dependent on Ashe Juniper (blueberry juniper or cedar) for their fine bark stripes for nesting reasons. Nesting habitats are being cleared in the limited breeding grounds for land development, ranching and agriculture.
Beginning in April 2011, Bexar Audubon and Audubon Texas collaborated to employ biologists to perform surveys on sites in northern Bexar County for Golden Cheeked Warblers (GCWA) in Northwest Bexar County. These biologists coordinated access and fieldwork with the land managers and submitted data to the San Antonio Urban Wildlife Program of Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, who then coordinated the analysis and report preparation. These lands have been approved as the Southernmost Edwards Plateau Important Bird Area (SEP-IBA).
Additionally, a new acquisition to the State’s Natural Areas – the 3,700 acre ABK Ranch—is nearby and has been brought into the SEP IBA. Also within the SEP, Bat Conservation International owns property that has been surveyed, found to provide habitat for the Golden-cheeked Warbler, and has been incorporated into the SEPIBA.
2016 surveys focused on lands in ABK Ranch (TPWD), Bat Conservation International Bracken Bat Cave lands, and un-surveyed lands recently added to Government Canyon State Natural Area and Friedrich Wilderness Park. Solid evidence of nesting (or not) in these areas is needed before projects for trails or camping move into the areas. GCSNA has grown from 4,700 acres to over 11,500 acres, with large portions still un-surveyed.
This effort included
- hiring biologists to survey Golden-cheeked Warbler populations on designated portions of new or un-surveyed habitat at ABK Ranch (TPWD) and Bracken Bat Cave (Bat Conservation International) for the 2016 Breeding Season
- recruiting and coordinating Volunteer Citizen Scientists to continue ongoing monitoring for GCW in previously designated IBA areas: Maverick Ranch (private owners), Friedrich Wilderness Park and Eisenhower Park (City of San Antonio), and Government Canyon State Natural Area (TPWD).
- survey data collected by volunteers and paid biologists were compiled and stored with TPWD Urban Biolotist and are to be analyzed; maps will be prepared and evaluated for inclusion in the Five Year Report for publication, Fall, 2016. The publication will be available for all interested parties on the Bexar Audubon Society Website.
Number of acres impacted was approximately 3000 includes Maverick Ranch, Eisenhower Park, Friedrich Wilderness Park, and a portion of Government Canyon State Natural Area (11,576 acres) . 35 volunteers participated in the program.