The Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group will hold its annual public meeting via an interactive webinar on November 14, 2018. During this meeting, NOAA’s Gulf Spill Restoration will present updates on the Open Ocean Restoration Area’s early restoration projects, first and second restoration plans, and monitoring and adaptive management activities. They will also provide an opportunity for questions and answers after the updates are presented.

This is the third webinar in ASWM and NRCS’s jointly-developed nine-part wetland training webinar series. The first half of the webinar will focus on explaining general wetland ecology concepts, including succession, thresholds, disturbance, sensitivity and resilience. The second half of the webinar will identify how source waters (surface and groundwater) and soils define the character of a wetland, including an introduction to the Hydrogeomorphic Wetland Classification System (HGM). Participants will come away from the webinar with an increased understanding of how to consider these key concepts as they plan conservation and management activities that include wetlands.

Presenters: Stacey Clark, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, and
Kendra Moseley, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

Keep Pearland Beautiful’s Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner, including the annual report, is a great chance for members of KPB and residents to join in a celebration of all that KPB has accomplished throughout the year. Guest speaker, Shanna Lopez, from Waste Management will speak on the State of Recycling during this uncertain time in the recycling industry and what you can do as residents to improve recycling at home and the workplace.

2018 Update on Nesting Shorebirds in Galveston County presented by Kristen Vale of American Bird Conservancy

The Galveston County Audubon Group (GCAG) of the Houston Audubon Society hold monthly meetings jointly with the Galveston Island Nature Tourism Council (GINTC). The meetings are held in the Wortham Auditorium on the first floor at the Rosenberg Library, 7 – 8 p.m. They welcome guests to come early at 6:30 p.m. to visit with other birders about their recent outings and sightings before the meeting. Membership is free and meetings and field trips are open to the public. Membership in Houston Audubon Society is encouraged but is not required.

Texas City Dike Field Trip: Saturday, November 17: 8:30 a.m. – Noon

Meet at the Texas City Dike Pavilion parking lot.

Register online at www.houstonaudubon.org or contact Juanita Perkins at jperkins@houstonaudubon.org

Secretive and challenging to identify are what make this group of birds fun. The Upper Texas Coast is a great place to see wintering sparrows. Learn the key principles of identification that will enable you to separate the 17 different species that are possible. After this class you will no longer call sparrows little brown birds, you will recognize them as sparrows.

Comes with a field trip for Saturday, December 1, 7:30am-4:00pm

Member cost: $75

Non-member cost:$90

The Houston Zoo has extremely generously donated the use of the Brown Education Center for the annual HNPAT & CPP (Coastal Prairie Partnership) Prairie Stampede – the Awards Potluck. More information, including a signup sheet for the potluck, will be coming about this event. Some of the awards to be presented are:

Dick Benoit Upper Texas Coast Prairie Award – This award recognizes someone from the Upper Texas Coast area, oftentimes Greater Houston, who is contributing to coastal prairie conservation, education, etc. This award is for recent work not a career of achievement. This award is voted on by the general public. Send nominations to prairiepartner@gmail.com.

Prairie Excellence Award – This award recognizes career achievement in coastal prairie conservation. This award is selected by the CPP Board. The CPP board will gladly take suggestions for this award. Send suggestions to prairiepartner@gmail.com.

Please plan to arrive at 6 p.m. to avoid full parking.

Register online at www.houstonaudubon.org or contact Juanita Perkins at jperkins@houstonaudubon.org

In this class we will focus on the many species who winter in our region, including raptors, waterbirds, sparrows, and other land birds.

Comes with a field trip for Saturday, December 15, 7:30am-4:00pm

Member cost: $75

Non-member cost:$90