SOUTH PADRE ISLAND — This summer, young campers have been able to experience being a wetland biologist while enjoying the marvels of coastal environments and wildlife in the Laguna Madre area.
The South Padre Island Birding, Nature Center and Alligator Sanctuary is gearing up to host more wildlife camps this summer.
According to personnel, bird activity and diversity starts to pick up greatly in July.
Spaces are available for the center’s Summer Pollinator Camp that will be held on Friday, Aug. 6, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The camp will be led by naturalist educator and Coastal Nature Camp director Javier Gonzalez.
“It’s really fun,” SPI Birding, Nature Center and Alligator Sanctuary manager Cristin Enholm said. “Javi makes it really fun and they learn a lot.”
Children ages 9 through 12 will learn about pollinators and participate in pollinator-friendly projects.
Registration costs $35 per camper. To register for the Summer Pollinator Camp, visit www.spibirding.com/wildlife-camps.
Space is currently full for the center’s Summer Birding Camp that will be held on July 29 and 30.
The center held two coastal summer camps in June where participants learned about wetland ecology and the importance of healthy environments for wildlife.
“It was very successful,” Enholm said. “It was fun to be interactive with the children and be able to teach them and show them all kinds of stuff.”
According to Enholm, June was a really good month for the center.
The center earned a little over $84,000 in door admissions and its busiest day of the week in June was Tuesday.
“We had almost 11,000 visitors and that’s a lot,” Enholm said. “We’re really excited that we’re having such a great year.”
To plan a visit to the center, visit www.spibirding.com.
