Calendar

Mar
27
Wed
E.P.I.C Program @ Eddie V. Grey Wetlands Education Center
Mar 27 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Environment Protectors Initiating Change (E.P.I.C)

E.P.I.C. is a free service learning club for high school teens that is aimed at learning about, and solving coastal environmental problems through hands-on projects.

If you would like to:

  • Make a difference
  • Help your community
  • Make new friends
  • Gain volunteer hours
  • Have fun

Join them for a meeting at the Eddie V. Gray Wetlands Center on Wednesdays 4 pm – 5 pm!

Mar
29
Fri
Limited Kiosk Opening @ Boy Scout Woods Sanctuary
Mar 29 – May 20 all-day

The kiosk at Boy Scout Woods opens on Friday, March 29 and closes on Sunday, May 5. Many activities are planned, including:

  • Birding walks – 3 times/day (Apr. 4 – 29)
  • Photography walks (Apr. 4-29)
  • Bird-friendly plant sale (Apr. 1 until sold out)
  • Land Sea & Sky binoculars – weekends in April
  • Flight in Focus – 2-day photography event (Apr. 6-7)

For more information, visit houstonaudubon.org.

Prairie Friday @ Armand Bayou Nature Center
Mar 29 @ 8:30 am – 12:00 pm

An opportunity to participate in stewardship work for registered volunteers–if you are not already a volunteer, please check out Armand Bayou Nature Centers’ website for more information.

Help restore the prairie by potting and planting native plants and forbs every Friday, rain or shine. You do not need to attend every Friday.

Children’s Nature Classes @ Armand Bayou Nature Center
Mar 29 @ 9:30 am – 11:30 am

Looking for a place to get your children outdoors? ABNC’s EcoClasses will allow your child to explore, discover and observe (STEM). Join them for some great nature experiences! Check out their website at abnc.org for details or call 713-274-2668 to reserve your spot.

EcoTots are for children 18-36 months with an adult every Friday.
EcoKids are for children ages 3-6 every Wednesday and Friday.
EcoSchoolers are for homeschool children ages 7-10 every Wednesday and Friday.    EcoAdventurers are for children ages 11-14 every Wednesday.

Please bring a Snack, Refillable Water Bottle, mask, closed toe shoes and dress for the weather.

Mar
30
Sat
Mercer Botanic Gardens’ Strawberry Patch Kids @ Mercer Botanic Gardens
Mar 30 @ 9:00 am – 11:00 am
Mercer Botanic Garden is announcing a Spring Planting Event!  Help the staff at Mercer Botanic Gardens plant a new strawberry patch this spring! Following the strawberry planting, visit our volunteer face painter for a cheerful design and check out strawberry-themed books from the Little Blue Library. Strawberry lemonade will be provided to participants. To reserve a strawberry plant for planting, call 713-274-4160. Planting is scheduled in two one-hour time blocks. When calling to reserve a plant for your child, indicate your time preference: 9 a.m. or 10 a.m. Limit one strawberry plant per child.

Hourly Schedule

  • 9:00 am – 10:00 am : First Session
  • 10:00 am – 11:00 am : Second Session

Natural History Demonstration @ Armand Bayou Nature Center
Mar 30 @ 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Learn about the animals of Armand Bayou and the habitats they live in. Demonstrations vary from week to week: mammals, birds and reptiles.

Mar
31
Sun
Jones Park Bicycling @ Jesse H. Jones Park & Nature Center
Mar 31 @ 8:00 am

The Jones-Bender, Judy Overby Bell and Spring Creek Greenway trails are open for bicycling. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

All Jesse H. Jones Park & Nature Center programs and events are free of charge unless otherwise noted and open to the public regardless of socioeconomic level, race, color, sex, physical ability, national origin, or religion. Anyone requiring special assistance to participate in these programs should contact the nature center. Programs meet at the Nature Center unless otherwise noted. Solid shoes are recommended. Call 281-446-8588 for more information.

Natural History Demonstration @ Armand Bayou Nature Center
Mar 31 @ 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Learn about the animals of Armand Bayou and the habitats they live in. Demonstrations vary from week to week: mammals, birds and reptiles.

Apr
1
Mon
Birding: Hogg Bird Survey @ Hogg Bird Sanctuary
Apr 1 @ 7:30 am
Birding: Hogg Bird Survey @ Hogg Bird Sanctuary | Houston | Texas | United States

We are conducting a monthly survey at Hogg Bird Sanctuary. Beginning in March 2019, the surveys will be held on the first Monday of the month. Skip Almoney is our leader. The Hogg Bird Sanctuary is adjacent to Bayou Bend and shares its parking facility at 1 Westcott Street. Meet at the parking lot at the dead end on the south end of Westcott Street. We meet at 7:30 AM in the parking lot. If the gate is locked, we can park in the upper parking lot and then walk down to the lower parking lot to meet. Everyone is welcome. Beginners, experts, or even if you’re just curious.

Leader: Skip Almoney

 

Mindful Mondays in the Forest @ Edith L Moore Sanctuary
Apr 1 @ 9:30 am – 10:30 am
Mindful Mondays in the Forest @ Edith L Moore Sanctuary | Houston | Texas | United States

Join us for weekly mindfulness classes here at the Edith L. Moore Nature Sanctuary!  We’ll begin each class in the cabin with a guided 15-minute lesson. Then we’ll each go to a quiet spot in the forest to practice simply being mindful not mind-full. We’ll meet back at the cabin with wild-collected tea and sharing. Participants are welcome to extend their mindful time in the forest as well.

Inspired by the “Forest Bathing” movements in South Korea and Japan, more and more nature centers like ours are offering programs that provide restorative time in nature, helping us to reground and find respite from our modern, hectic lives.

Mindfulness is a powerful but simple tool – focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations. This powerful therapeutic technique is even more powerful when practiced in nature, lowering blood pressure, stress hormone levels and heart rate.  “Nature is always here and now. Your breath, your senses, anything around you. When you are being aware of the life within you and around you, you are being mindful of this present moment, and it will always calm you down. You cannot do nature, you can just be there. Being is calming.” – Dr. Bjarte Stubhaug is a Norwegian psychiatrist and mindfulness-expert.