[TV static]
- NARRATOR: It was 30 years ago that the
"Texas Parks & Wildlife" television series,
originally known as "Made in Texas" got its start.
Abe Moore is one of more than 30 producers, photographers,
writers, and editors who have contributed to the show since
its first broadcast in 1985.
- Hi, my name is Abe Moore.
I'm a producer for Texas Parks and Wildlife television.
I've been doing it for about 12 years now.
My favorite story is called "Chester's Island".
- WOMAN: What are we doing?
- Waiting on the TV man.
- They're ready.
- ABE: And it's a story about Chester Smith.
He's an island warden for an island off the coast of
Port O'Conner, Texas.
And it's a rookery island, where 13 to 15 species of
birds nest there every year.
[bird squawks]
There's brown pelicans, there's reddish egrets,
roseate spoonbills.
There's like 15 species of birds that are there
and he does everything from work parties,
well I don't want to give it away.
Here, take a look.
[waves crashing on shore]
[birds calling]
- NARRATOR: These are the birds of Sundown Island.
[roseate spoonbill call]
And this is Chester Smith.
A watcher of sorts for the birds that nest here.
- CHESTER: See that spoonbill on his nest,
he's still giving that other bird a dirty look.
[brown pelican calls]
- NARRATOR: This man-made island in Matagorda Bay
is managed by the National Audubon Society.
And it's Chester's job to keep an eye on the
18 species of birds that nest here.
- CHESTER: I have a lot of birds that are beautiful
when they are in their mating colors, so one of my favorite
is the reddish egret, the reddish egret is
on the threatened list.
[great egret call]
Look at the plumes on that great egret,
isn't that beautiful.
Those two there, lookie there.
And they're the most beautiful bird on the island I think.
[angry great blue heron chic]
- NARRATOR: It's March, spring is here and the nesting season
is underway.
[crying brown pelican chicks]
- We refer to these birds as colonial water birds
because they nest in colonies,
and they nest in colonies for protection from predators.
I always liked birds.
I've learned quite a lot.
It's fun to come out here see what's going on.
Here's some beautiful great egret chicks,
you can tell they're great egrets because
they have a yellow beak and green eye shadow.
- NARRATOR: For 20 years Chester has worked for Audubon
as an Island Warden.
- He is a great ambassador for the birds, and he really puts in
the extra time and energy and does whatever it takes
to get people to understand how important it is
that his birds stay healthy.
[seagulls overhead]
[wire and metal rattling]
- Today we have a list of honey do's.
[laughter]
[hammering]
Most of you people have been coming out to the work day
for many years.
- NARRATOR: It's now fall the birds are gone,
but volunteers are here.
- He's so motivated you kinda gain that same passion
for the cause that he's working so hard for.
- CHESTER: We've got a mile of beaches here to clean
the trash off.
- LINDA OLSON: It's fun coming out here and helping Chester
out with his project.
This is something he cares about very much.
- NARRATOR: Chester's helpers plants some drought tolerant
shrubs.
- When I first started coming out to this island,
the idea was to plant as many little seedlings as you could
and hope that a few lived.
Fertilizer, ok, yeah put a little more just a
little bit more.
So we tried a new strategy of taking our money
and buying plants, that's pretty well established
and has a really nice root system, and we're finding out
that they do a lot better out here.
[water splashing]
[numerous bird calls]
It's amazing you come out here six months from now
you won't believe it, their huge.
The birds will actually rest on top of them.
[fence creaks]
- CHESTER: They've really become great friends
and they are willing to do all those things that I ask them
to do to help the birds so it makes good friendship.
[splashing water]
- ANDREW: Come on Chester, let's look at this pipe.
- NARRATOR: It's now winter and Andrew Smith from the
U.S. Army Corp of Engineers is out with Chester
to see some sand.
[splashing water]
Tons and tons of sand are being pumped out of the
intracoastal canal and onto Sundown Island.
- CHESTER: The higher we get this island the better it is
for the birds nesting.
[sand pouring out of pipe]
- There's two sandbars along this area that naturally occur
in the bay that tend to build in into the intracoastal.
What that creates is a shallower channel than what's
required for safe navigation.
- CHESTER: That is stacking up like I like it!
- ANDREW: Every year we have it set up so that we can get
a dredge here and basically move the material over here,
and use it beneficially on the island.
- CHESTER: Andrew I think they are doing a real good job,
I like to see the sand piled up high because these birds
that nest, they all have a better chance of not being
destroyed in a high tide.
It's going to be great for them.
[royal tern call]
- NARRATOR: For the brown pelican, Sundown is a sanctuary.
Listed as an endangered species, a pesticide known as
DDT almost wiped them out.
- CHESTER: That's a pelican nest with only two eggs.
- SHARI: When he first came to Audubon, at Sundown Island
there were fewer than 10 breeding pairs
of brown pelicans on the island and Chester thought that
maybe he could help do something about that.
- NARRATOR: Using donated fence material Chester built
these Pelican Platforms.
And it worked.
- CHESTER: So we watched them, and we was very careful to ask
people to not get close to em.
[screaming brown pelican chicks]
So year after year they grew in number.
- SHARI: Now we have approaching some years up to
2,000 nesting pairs on that island and it's been fantastic.
This is a federally endangered species that Chester has we
think almost single handedly help bring back to strength
on the Texas Coast.
[chopping and pounding on platform]
- There's been a major comeback in the pelican population
and I believe it's got a lot to do with my grandfather
and his passion that he's had for birds.
- SHARI: Had Chester not come to Audubon and come
to Sundown Island when he had I'm not sure there would be
brown pelicans on that part of the coast to talk about.
[chirping brown pelican chicks]
- CHESTER: It makes me feel good it feels like all the
work that me and the volunteers have done
we've been successful.
The pelicans when they hatch they're gray, they gradually
turn white in a few weeks, then they gradually turn brown.
[music]
- NARRATOR: Spring is here once again, and as the birds
arrive at Sundown for another nesting season,
Audubon volunteers and Chester are back as well.
- CHESTER: I really like to be there in the spring time
when the birds first come in and keep track of em.
- HANNAH OLSON: His motives are pure, he's not doing it
for popularity or anything he just wants to help the birds.
- He's like a grandfather to the island.
- NARRATOR: Chester thinks about retirement,
but like the birds that return to Sundown,
he too has a calling.
- CHESTER: My plans were to retire when I was 85.
I've already passed that date and now I'm trying to make 90.
- NARRATOR: And his calling continues.
- CHESTER: I've been encouraged to make 100.