 In 2009 , $ 1 million of federal stimulus money was delegated to the restoration of the marshland near the Nueces Bay Causeway to increase the population of birds and fish . The Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service collaborated to place soil and plant marsh near the causeway to allow a larger nursing location for fish and provide greater quantities of food for water birds . Over 490 species of birds have been found in the area including the brown pelican , black @-@ billed whistling duck , reddish egret , white @-@ faced ibis , pauraque , buff @-@ bellied hummingbird , golden @-@ fronted woodpecker , long @-@ billed thrasher , olive sparrow , Neotropic cormorant , laughing gull , Franklin 's gull , ring @-@ billed gull , herring gull , gull @-@ billed tern , common loon , brown @-@ crested flycatcher , hooded oriole , peregrine falcon and piping plover . Bird populations are protected and can be viewed at the Hans and Pat Suter Wildlife Refuge on Oso Bay . 
