On Saturday after the bird walk, Houston Audubon president and CEO Jed Aplaca announced, with about 100 guests cheering him on, that the group was standing on a site that would be protected \u201cforever.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a win for the birds, but it\u2019s also a win for our legacy of conservation in Texas,\u201d Aplaca said. \u201cThis acquisition was made possible by the unwavering support by our donors \u2014 many of you \u2014 and a community that understands that a healthy coast is a vibrant coast.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Among the guests at Saturday\u2019s event were David and Winnie Burkett. Winnie is a former Houston Audubon executive director and now a volunteer and fundraiser. The couple hosts other birders at a beach house in High Island called \u201cThe Roost.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe beauty of nature is wonderful,\u201d said David Burkett, 82, a retired geologist, as he shared maps with guests showing them plans for Bolivar\u2019s future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Birders rejoiced at the news that the Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary won\u2019t be developed into beach houses. Credit: April Towery<\/p>\n
Black grew up next to a forest reserve in Illinois and started birding with her father when she was 10 years old. Now 68, she\u2019s lived in Bellaire for more than four decades and retired from the oil and gas industry. She loves to count the birds and feel the north wind coming in with the warblers, so she makes trips to Bolivar Flats or High Island whenever she can. In the fall, she attends a birding festival in Michigan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you live in a city, you want to be out in the middle of nowhere,\u201d she said. \u201cI love that I can do it by myself. I do it for mindfulness.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Houston Audubon president and CEO Jed Aplaca announced that the shorebird sanctuary is now protected \u201cforever.\u201d Credit: April Towery<\/p>\n
Pete Deichmann, land conservation director for Houston Audubon, said the nonprofit is planning a nature trail with a short boardwalk to an observation platform at the end of Rettilon Road, scheduled to open in late 2027. Now that Houston Audubon owns all 1,300 acres in the area, they\u2019re connecting 12 sites across the peninsula from the ferry landing to High Island, but they are mostly focused on preservation, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A gate and cement poles called \u201cbollards\u201d have been installed to encourage a pedestrian experience, so even though visitors can drive and camp on the beach, the birding area is protected, Deichmann explained. \u201cIt\u2019s an area of the sanctuary that no one has had good access to before,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aplaca added: \u201cBy protecting the birds, you\u2019re protecting everything else that belongs in that ecosystem. We want to make sure they have shelter, food and water. That\u2019s an important part of our sanctuary.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Deichmann said he\u2019d been working for over a decade to protect the shorebird sanctuary and was thrilled that the community\u2019s dedicated birders got to be part of Saturday\u2019s celebration.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat mosquito that took a little bite out of you, maybe it goes and lays its eggs in the marsh,\u201d he said. \u201cSoon enough, you\u2019re part of a cliff swallow nesting or you\u2019re part of a hatching American avocet in the Rolling Plains. Or a red knot migrating all the way north of the Arctic Circle to the southern tip of Argentina. That\u2019s what\u2019s really cool about Bolivar Flats. It\u2019s literally connecting us to other parts of the world.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A Galveston hurricane in 1900 destroyed almost every structure on Bolivar, but the community rebuilt. Then Hurricane Ike in 2008 wiped out about 3,500 homes. Bolivar isn\u2019t so much about the homes, residents say, it\u2019s about the people. As spring break kicked off over the weekend, RVs were already making their way into town despite the threat of gloomy weather.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/David-and-Betsy.jpeg\")
David Burkett and Betsy Black were among 100 guests at a bird walk Saturday, excited about future plans for the Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary. Credit: April Towery<\/p>\n