Calendar
Are you over 50 and eager for birding and natural history adventures? Are you tired of driving through Houston traffic to reach a birding destination? We have the solution! Our monthly senior bus trips with buses provided free of charge by Harris County Precinct 3 as a senior service by Harris County Precinct 3 Commissioner Steve Radack can easily satisfy your “natural” side. Houston Audubon books a bus every month for our Houston Audubon members who are 50 and over. We provide snacks, refreshments and an experienced tour guide at our destination.
Reservations are required and attendance will be limited to the bus capacity. The buses are provided by Precinct 3 free of charge. A small fee is charged by Houston Audubon to cover snacks, water, and any entry fee at destination. Participants will be required to sign Precinct 3 and HA liability release forms for the trip. Precinct 3 regulations require that all participants must be 50 years or older. Remember to bring your binoculars, insect protection, sturdy shoes, and raingear if necessary. For more information and trip updates, contact Mary Anne Weber at maweber@houstonaudubon.org.
Monday, January 8, 2018
100 Acre Wood Preserve & Kickerillo-Mischer Preserve
Register online for the January bus trip.
Monday, February 5, 2018
Rio Villa Nature Trails & Sheldon Lake State Park
Monday, March 5, 2018
Cullinan Park, Sugar Land Memorial Park, Brazos River Corridor
Register online for the March bus trip.
For more information, please visit houstonaudubon.org/birding/field-trips-travel.
Christ the King Evangelical Lutheran Church invites you to join them for a Creation Hymn Fest, a musical celebration of renewal during the season of Easter (and Earth month). The church will celebrate and give thanks for God’s good creation in hymns and songs from various lands and traditions and hear anew the call to care for the creation. Attendees will sing well known and loved hymns as well as be introduced to some new musical friends! Light refreshments served afterward.
Christ the King is located at 2353 Rice Blvd. in Houston. Metro bus lines 41 and 27 stop nearby. Bike parking is available in the church lot on Rice Blvd.
Contact Lisa Brenskelle at gcs.lrc@gmail.com with any questions.
ADVOCATE:Â Tell the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to retain the 2017-2022Â Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program and minimize the expansion of leases.
WHEN: Comments due by March 9, 2018
WHY: In April 2017, President Trump signed an executive order that directed the Department of the Interior to expand offshore oil and gas drilling. In response, the department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management prepared the DPP for the 2019-2024 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program. It maximizes the potential expansion by making more than 98 percent of the outer continental shelf resources available for lease. The DPP and the scope of its Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) are currently open for public comment.  A virtual public meeting is available at boem.gov.
As people of faith, we believe the ocean and all life in it are part of God’s sacred creation. We are called to be stewards of creation. We also are called to care for the well-being of our brothers and sisters who rely on the ocean and its coastal areas for their livelihood. The short-term gain of expanded drilling is not worth the long-term, irreparable harm to the environment, marine animals, coastal economies, and people. The BP Deepwater Horizon catastrophe in 2010 is a reminder of this risk. Our planet is in a period of global warming that threatens the same coastal communities. Now is not the time for expanding oil and gas extraction, which emits greenhouse gases into our atmosphere and increases global warming. Â
HOW: Submit comments on the DPP and EIS to the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) at https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=BOEM-2017-0074-0001
- In comments on the DPP, tell the BOEM to retain the 2017-2022 lease program and minimize the expansion of leases. Include a statement about why this action is important to you.
- In comments on the Progammatic EIS, tell the BOEM to address the cumulative adverse effects of offshore drilling, and its spills and releases, on marine life, coastal communities, and the climate. Add any specific environmental or socio-economic concerns about off-shore drilling that you would like to be addressed in the EIS.
Then, join Interfaith Power & Light’s campaign to rescind the DPP: salsa4.salsalabs.com.
For more information, contact katrina@texasinterfaith.org.
Free to attend, donations appreciated. Work on your bird watching skills while helping the Arboretum monitor bird populations on a fun, relaxed morning walk. Join the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center on the second Saturday of each month at the front door of the building for a two-hour bird walk led by Kelsey Low and Theo Ostler, a resident bird enthusiast. We welcome all levels of bird watching skill and all ages (as long as you’re quiet) – but no dogs, please! If you have binoculars of your own, please bring them. We do have some binoculars available to borrow. For more events with the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center, visit their Events Calendar!
Workdays are held once a month, October through March on the second Saturday of the month. We start work around 8:30 AM and work until about noon, when we break for lunch, provided by Houston Audubon and prepared by the lunch crew. Lunch at the picnic area of Boy Scout Woods is a good chance to visit with other volunteers and recharge from a morning of exercise and work. After lunch, we take about an hour to tie up any loose ends and clean up.
Come be a part of sanctuary maintenance, habitat restoration, and Houston Audubon’s amazing volunteer workforce. Email Pete Deichmann at pdeichmann@houstonaudubon.org for more information or to be put on the email list.
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November 10
- December 8
- January 12
- February 9
- March 9
Mayor Landrieu will discuss lessons learned from a natural disaster.
Join the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center for their Spring Plant Sale! They will be offering native grasses, flowers, shrubs, and trees – perfect for attracting butterflies, bees, and other pollinators to your yard or garden. Proceeds benefit the Arboretum’s conservation and education efforts. Plants are priced as follows:
- $4.50 – 4 inch
- $9 – 1 gallon
- $30 – 3-5 gallon
Members receive a 10-25% discount (depending on Membership level) on all plant sale purchases!
This year’s Spring Plant Sale will be located just inside the new 610 Entrance gate on the south side of the entrance road (the yellow star on the map). Shoppers are asked to park along the 610 Parking Loop and then walk over to the sale. There will be a small pull in area at the Plant Sale for people to load their plant purchases.
Join the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center for their Spring Plant Sale! They will be offering native grasses, flowers, shrubs, and trees – perfect for attracting butterflies, bees, and other pollinators to your yard or garden. Proceeds benefit the Arboretum’s conservation and education efforts. Plants are priced as follows:
- $4.50 – 4 inch
- $9 – 1 gallon
- $30 – 3-5 gallon
Members receive a 10-25% discount (depending on Membership level) on all plant sale purchases!
This year’s Spring Plant Sale will be located just inside the new 610 Entrance gate on the south side of the entrance road (the yellow star on the map). Shoppers are asked to park along the 610 Parking Loop and then walk over to the sale. There will be a small pull in area at the Plant Sale for people to load their plant purchases.
The Bitter Herbs of Passover presented by Jean Fefer, PhD.
You can contribute to the educational value of Wednesday’s program by bringing a food item to the pot-luck dinner that contains at least one bitter ingredient. This is easier than it sounds – there are all the endives, chicories, and cruciferous vegetables to choose from; quinoa, millet or amaranth; artichokes, eggplant or white asparagus; anything with citrus (especially the peel); and anything flavored with chocolate, beer, or coffee. If that’s not enough inspiration, here is a list of herbs classified as bitter – peppermint, dandelion, arugula, cilantro, oregano, sorrel, chamomile, lovage, chervil, thyme, marjoram, sage, rosemary, tarragon, and bay leaves. And bitter spices to consider include turmeric, fenugreek, cardamom, pepper, and ginger.
If you have any of these herbs growing in your garden, please bring a few stalks to share. This will help make a Bitter program a Sweet experience for all!