< PreviousImages, descriptions, and information provided are representational and conceptual based upon preliminary development plans, for illustrative purposes, may not be shown to scale, may contain non-standard optional features, and are subject to change. The Developer reserves the right to make modifications and changes to the project in whole or part including amenities and features and to the information contained herein without notice. Please refer to the Condominium Information Statement and the proposed condominium documents included with same for further information and disclosures. @TIARAONTHEBEACH/TIARAONTHEBEACH SALES GALLERY OPEN DAILY 4918 Seawall Blvd. Ste C · Galveston TX, 77551 Fill your day with more. Ownership at Tiara will offer you the finest in beachfront condominium living with an abundance of five-star resort-inspired amenities that include Pickleball, Climate Controlled Wine Lockers, a Pet Wash, and Private Beach Access with chair and umbrella valet. With so many choices, what will you do first? One, Two & Three Bedroom Condominiums from $1M | TiaraOnTheBeach.com · Call 409.974.4537Shrimp Street Tacos with Pinapple Pico SPECIAL EVENT VENUE EATcetera offers an elegant space for up to 32 seated guests for private events. This is the perfect island spot for your private dinner, party or event. The restaurant and sidewalk café are totally private and reserved just for your celebration. Call 409-762-0803 or 409-939-9403 Join us for LUNCH EATcetera is a Local Family Eatery serving a variety of salads, sandwiches, paninis, burgers, and desserts. Dine inside or enjoy the dog-friendly sidewalk cafe under our signature red umbrellas. At EATcetera we like to say, Everyone Eats Together. A multitide of vegan and gluten-free offerings available. Dessert too! Call 409-762-0803 See us on DoorDash.com Open Monday-Saturday, 11 am - 4 pm Art Walk Evenings, 6 - 9 pm 408 25th Street32 COASTMONTHLY.COM | MArCH 2023 FEATURE CALL OF THE WILD Island prepares for hundreds of birders to flock to festival story by KATHRYN EASTBURN M ore than 600 visitors will descend on Galves- ton Island April 20-23, conspicuous for carrying binoculars and cameras with big lenses. It’s the 21st anniversary this year of FeatherFest, Galveston’s annual birding and nature photography festival, drawing visitors from across the country and around the world. And this year will be the biggest ever, said organizer Julie Ann Brown, executive director of Galveston Island Nature Tourism Council, host of the event. With more than 1,500 slots to fill among 88 field trips on and off the island, five workshop/field trip combination events and a dozen workshops, as of Feb. 1, half those slots already were filled. “Many people return again and again, but about half generally are first-time attendees,” Brown said. This year, registration and vendor booths will be set up downtown at the Galveston Railroad Museum, 2602 Santa Fe Place, just off 25th Street in the island’s downtown. Headquarters will be a beehive of activity with vendors selling birding equipment, nature-related crafts and all manner of pho- tography paraphernalia. It also will be the departure site for many activities, including birding and nature photo trips by bus. Trips by boat and meet-at-site trips by car are scheduled throughout the week. Many trips will cover Galveston Island birding spots like Lafitte’s Cove Nature Preserve, Moody Gardens, East Beach and San Luis Pass, and the number of off-island COASTMONTHLY.COM | MArCH 2023 33 Birders get an up-close look at some of Galveston Island’s feathered residents during one of the many field trips offered during FeatherFest. PHOTO: COU r TESY NIECO PAYTON34 COASTMONTHLY.COM | MArCH 2023 FEATURE excursions to Bolivar peninsula and the mainland has increased this year. “Here in Galveston, you can only put so many people in Lafitte’s Cove at a time,” Brown said. “We don’t want to disturb the wildlife.” FeatherFest takes full advantage of its proximity to Bolivar Peninsula via a quick ferry ride where world-class bird- ing occurs regularly at sites like Bolivar Flats; Smith Oaks, Boy Scout Woods PHOTO: COU r TESY JOSEPH SMITH PHOTO: COU r TESY NIECO PAYTON (Above) Raptors Revealed is a FeatherFest favorite. Presented by Kevin Gaines of Sky Kings Falconry, the show features live birds of prey as they demonstrate their hunting styles and unique traits and abilities. (Left) North Deer Island in Galveston Bay is home to one of the best water bird nesting rooker- ies in Texas. Viewing this Global Important Bird Area is by boat only. Seventeen bird species nest on the 144-acre island, includ- ing the once-endangered brown pelican.and The Rookery at High Island; and Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge. Across the causeway, trips extend as far as northeast Harris County where birders will visit the San Jacinto River bottomlands and as near as Hall’s Bay- ou Ranch, just across the bay, a private ranch with 25,000 acres of land nor- mally open to members for hunting. “They have allowed bird counts and conservation work from the ranch as well as opening it to FeatherFest events,” Brown said. The lineup of instructors includes locals and luminaries alike. Lead- ing several trips will be renowned ornithologist Jon Dunn, co-author of “National Geographic Society’s Field Guide to Birds of North America” and a well-known guide on birding tours around the world. Christina Baal, an artist and envi- ronmental educator headquartered in California, will be selling her work as a vendor and leading field COASTMONTHLY.COM | MArCH 2023 35 trips and workshops mixing art and birding. Baal’s workshop, “A Splash of Color,” will explore using water- colors to paint birds and she’s offer- ing a birding and nature journaling workshop as well as a birding trip on Pelican Island marsh trails. Professional nature photographer Ruth Hoyt will be new to FeatherFest this year, teaching attendees how to set up an outdoor bird photo studio and how to capture photos of birds in flight. A popular workshop from last year, “Creating a Pollinator Paradise at Home,” will be repeated and offered twice at this year’s festival, featuring a local garden as classroom. The festival is scheduled to coincide as closely as possible with the spring migration when thousands of birds cross over the Gulf of Mexico from South and Central America, heading northward to nest for the summer, stopping briefly on Galveston Island. “It’s all about spring migration,” said Brown, pointing to the second or third weekend in April generally, though no one can accurately predict when migrating birds will hit the coast in high numbers. “There’s no way to know what’s going to be the best weekend, but birders understand we can’t control the birds and weath- er. If I could control the birds and the weather, I’d be golden.” Some evening social events are on the schedule, including a free movie night at Moody Gardens featuring a Texas nature documentary, and a pop- ular wine and dinner event at Ashton Villa, complete with live raptors. To see a complete list of FeatherFest offerings, bios of all the instructors, infor- mation on recommended skill levels and frequently asked questions for first-timers, or to register, visit the website at www. galvestonfeatherfest.com. PHOTO: COU r TESY CH r ISTINE SNITKIN PHOTO: COU r TESY NIECO PAYTON (Above) Kayakers explore the open lagoons and marshes of Galveston Island State Park, which offers a multitude of habitats that sup- port a wide variety of birds. (Right) FeatherFest isn’t just for adults. Children ages 6 and older can get in on the birding action with Fledgl- ingFest, featuring a variety of family activities.TICKETS ON SALE NOW! TheGrand.com | 409.765.1894 2020 Postoffice Street, Galveston THE GRAND 1894 OPERA HOUSE 2022–23 PERFORMING ARTS SEASON In the heart of Galveston's Downtown Cultural Arts District Fri, Mar 24, 2023 | 8 PM An unbelievable new show that's a spell-binding tour de force featuring three exhilarating dance forms – Ottawa Valley stepdance, Irish stepdance, and Tap. Sat, Mar 18, 2023 | 8 PM YAMATO returns to North America in 2023 celebrating their 30th Anniversary with a new production The Wings of Phoenix. Fri, Mar 10, 2023 | 8 PM Sat, Mar 11, 2023 | 8 PM Hear your favorite R&B hits like “Just to Be Close to You,” “Easy,” and “Brickhouse,” to name but a few!Exquisite Homes Laffite’s Cove, Galveston TX 4227 Fiddler Crab Lane | $1,099,000 13615 Moyenne | $1,099,000 3515 Foremast | $985,000 21 Cedar Lawn | $760,000 Sold Sold Sold Sold 281.773.3477 bjennings@greenwoodking.com BET JENNINGS 2022 Real Trends America’s Best Real Estate Pros in Galveston & Texas Specializing in the Pirates communities: Laffite’s Cove, Pirates Cove, Pirates Beach & Pirates Beach West A long-time resident of Laffite’s Cove Director of Laffite’s Cove Board Pirates POA & UTMB Development Board GREENWOOD KING PROPERTIES a place to find your home38 COASTMONTHLY.COM | MArCH 2023 FEATURE TRASH TALKERS Groups seek volunteers to clean up beaches before nesting seasons begin story by BARBARA CANETTI A group of trash-talking Texas environmental- ists want to rid local beaches of unwanted debris before bird and turtle nesting seasons begin. A coalition of the American Bird Conservancy, the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory, the Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research, Galveston Bay Area chapter of the Texas Master Naturalists and a group called Stopping Plas- tics and Litter Along Shorelines have formed NestFest, a daylong cleanup of 12 sites in Galveston, Bolivar Peninsu- la and Follett’s Island near Surfside. And members are looking for volunteers for NestFest, scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon March 14. Stopping Plastics and Litter Along Shorelines was formed in 2020 to address trash pollution and advocate for wildlife conservation along Texas beaches, said Chloe Dannenfelser, who oversees outreach efforts of the program. She also is Texas Coastal Outreach coordinator for American Bird Conservancy. Trash on shorelines is a serious problem. Beaches along the Texas Coast accumulate trash 10 times faster than the rest of the Gulf states — the heaviest amount of beach trash per mile, according to Marine Pollution Bulletin. Trash pollution poses threats to the habitats of more than 600 species of birds and five types of sea turtles who breed and migrate along the coast. Chloe Dannenfelser, the Texas coastal outreach coordinator for the American Bird Conservancy, is gearing up for NestFest, a large-scale cleanup event on March 14 aimed at removing debris from important coastal habitats that are used by beach-nesting birds and sea turtles. PHOTO: JENNIFE r r EYNOLDS COASTMONTHLY.COM | MArCH 2023 39 Kristen Vale, the Texas Coastal Program coordinator for the American Bird Conservancy, hopes the clean- up will promote awareness of the dangers trash poses to feathered and flippered animals. “The nesting season is such a critical time of their life cycle and helping provide a clean beach for the beach-nesting birds and sea turtles with vulnerable populations can make a lasting impact,” Vale said. “We want everyone to be stewards of our beaches, learn about the challenges these species face, and help make the beach a safer place for all animals that call it home.” As of December 2022, more than 1,500 volunteers have removed 23,774 pounds of trash since 2020 from the 275 acres of habitat in the Houston-Galveston region. Stopping Plastics and Litter Along Shorelines also collects data developed from trash collections to characterize the effect the trash has on the Galveston Bay watershed. The cleanup will be just in time for the start of turtle nesting season, said Theresa Morris, with the Gulf Center for Sea Turtle Research. Beach patrols looking for nesting turtles begin April 1 and covers 87 miles of the upper Texas coast. “The sea turtle that most frequent- ly nests here is the Kemp’s ridley — the most critically endangered sea turtle in the world,” Morris said. “The goal of this event is to not only prep the beaches for our nesting sea turtles and birds, but also bring awareness to the public that we share the beach.” register at www.splashtx.org/nestfest to volunteer to participate in NestFest. (Above) A nest created by a Wilson’s plover among a discarded fish net. (Right) Since 2020, more than 1,500 volunteers have removed 23,774 pounds of trash from 275 acres of habitat in the Houston-Galveston region. PHOTO: COU r TESY STOPPING PLASTICS AND LITTE r ALONG SHO r ELINES PHOTO: COU r TESY K r ISTEN VALENext >