The habitat is a gradient. Nearest the building are native gardens with drips and a water feature ("Songbird Alley" in the naturalist's usage) where grounded migrants feed in spring. The boardwalk then crosses fresh-to-brackish marsh, where least bitterns nest in summer and rails winter, and ends over the open shallows of the Laguna Madre, where the wading birds and shorebirds that make the Center famous feed in view: reddish egrets, roseate spoonbills, tricolored herons, American oystercatchers, and black-bellied whistling-ducks are all named in the Center's summer program notes. The alligator sanctuary, established with Gator Rescue of Beaumont, holds rescued nuisance alligators (the press describes "dozens"; two large residents are named Big Padre and Lady Laguna) and offers keeper talks three times daily. These are captive animals in enclosures; whether wild alligators occur on the island is a separate question handled in chapter 03. The Center is a day-use, admission-charging site; check spibirding.org for current hours, fees, guided boardwalk walks, and the daily talks rather than relying on any figure printed here.
Bird gently
Stay on public paths, give resting and nesting birds room, keep voices low around blinds, and avoid crowding a bird for a photograph. Sightings are never guaranteed.