This story originally appeared on Grist and is part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

Jon Dale, a passionate ornithologist, first fell in love with the world of birds at the tender age of 10. In a childhood decision that would shape his future, he traded his BB gun for a pair of binoculars, marking the beginning of a lifelong fascination. Within just a year of this pivotal exchange, he had already counted an impressive 150 species of birds flitting through the trees surrounding his familys home in Harlingen, Texas. Nestled in the picturesque Rio Grande Valley, Harlingen is strategically situated at the meeting point of the Central and Mississippi flyways, making it a veritable paradise for birdwatchers. The region boasts a diverse array of native birds, and Dale was particularly thrilled to spot vibrant green jays, swift merlins, and the striking Altamira orioles. Yet, as he matured and deepened his understanding of the region's rich biodiversity, he began to realize that he was only encountering a fraction of the avian species that should be present in this unique ecosystem.

To satiate his growing curiosity, Dale frequently ventured to the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, an expansive sanctuary that encompasses 2,088 acres right near the U.S.-Mexico border. The refuge revealed an astonishing diversity of birdlife, with a symphony of songs echoing through the dense understory. Among the myriad sounds, the wo-woo-ooo call of the white-tipped dove and the distinctive CHA-CHA-LAC-A vocalization of the tropical chicken captivated Dale. This preserve represents one of the last remaining fragments of the Tamaulipan thorn forest, a once-thriving habitat characterized by a dense tapestry of over 1,200 plant species, including thorny shrubs and robust trees like mesquite, acacia, hackberry, ebony, and brasil. Historically, this lush landscape covered over 1 million acres on both sides of the Rio Grande, serving as a habitat for majestic wildlife such as ocelots, jaguars, and jaguarundis. Moreover, it was home to an astonishing 519 species of birds and 316 varieties of butterflies. However, the fertile alluvial soil that supported such abundant biodiversity attracted human developments, beginning with the arrival of a railroad in 1904. Consequently, developers cleared vast tracts of land, built canals, and partitioned the land into plots in what became known as the "Magic Valley." Dale's own family history is entwined with this transformation; his great-great-grandfather was among the first farmers to claim a plot, while his father operated a bulldozer that cleared some of the last coastal tracts during the 1950s.

Regrettably, today less than 10 percent of the original forest remains intact, a stark reminder of what has been lost over the decades. This realization spurred Dale into action, igniting a passion for restoration that began when he was just 15 years old. In a determined effort to revive some of the region's lost biodiversity, he embarked on an ambitious project to create a 2-acre thorn forest adjacent to his home. Rather than using the more common term thornscrub, which he believes has unappealing connotations, Dale prefers thorn forest. He collected seeds from local plants and sought guidance from experts at the state wildlife agency, which had been actively replanting thorn forest tracts since the 1950s to foster habitats for game birds. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also joined the restoration efforts after designating ocelots as an endangered species in 1982, with the agency successfully restoring 16,000 acres of habitat since then. Dale devoted nearly a decade to his project, often working late into the night under the glow of artificial lights. When Im into something, thats pretty much it, he remarked, reflecting on the depth of his commitment to the cause.