The Adult Owl Prowl is the perfect way to spend a Saturday night in nature. Learn about the wise and wonderful owls you can find in Houston, and get up close and personal with live owls from the Wildlife Center of Texas. After the presentation, participants will head out into the woods to look for owls (and other nocturnal animals) along the Arboretum trails. Enjoy light snacks, wine, beer, and hot drinks to warm you up after the night’s walk.

The third annual super birding competition on the day before the Super Bowl. There will be two teams, the Superb Owls vs. the Gridiron Goatsuckers. The contest will run for two hours up until one team identifies 53 bird species. Everyone is welcome to participate.

Eligible applicants include:

• Local Governments
• Businesses & Industry
• Non-Profit Organizations
• Universities and Educational Institutions
• Utility Districts

The Water Innovation Strategies of Excellence (WISE) Awards recognize innovative strategies and projects in the Houston-Galveston region that serve as models for improving water quality. Joint applications for larger, collaborative projects are encouraged. Winning projects must exhibit efficiency, effectiveness, and innovation and serve as models to improve surface water quality. Applications must be completed online by Feb. 6, 2019, at noon. For more information, visit h-gac.com.

Save the date for H-GAC’s first Parks and Natural Areas Summit and Awards Ceremony from 9 a.m. to noon Friday, February 8, 2019, at H-GAC Conference Room B, Second Floor. The Summit will include presentations about various H-GAC programs that can provide goods, services, technical assistance, and funding for parks and natural areas projects.

The event will also include the annual Parks and Natural Areas awards recognition ceremony. These projects serve as models for planning and project implementation for parks and natural areas in the region. Projects will be honored in three categories: Planning Process, On-the-Ground Projects Over $500,000, and On-the-Ground Projects Under $500,000.

A light breakfast will be served. Registration will open in late December or early January. Registration and breakfast begin at 8:30 a.m., followed by the H-GAC program showcase at 9 a.m. The awards program will be followed by networking with H-GAC staff and other parks professionals.

The Summit will include presentations about various H-GAC programs that can provide goods, services, technical assistance, and funding for parks and natural areas projects. These projects serve as models for planning and project implementation for parks and natural areas in the region. Projects will be honored in three categories. The event will also include the annual Parks and Natural Areas Awards recognition ceremony. The awards program will be followed by networking with H-GAC staff and other parks professionals.

Owl Prowls begin with a lively program on owls including a rare opportunity to meet live, rehabilitated owls at the Edith Moore log cabin. Then, you’ll go out on the Sanctuary’s wooded trails in search of wild owls. For more information, visit houstonaudubon.org/programs.

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.

• November 10
• December 8
• January 12
• February 9
• March 9

The Spotlight Award considers architects from around the world within the first 15 years of their professional practice who have demonstrated design excellence and curiosity through their body of work. Rice Design Alliance has selected DUST as the recipient of the Spotlight Award 2019.

DUST Principals, Cade Hayes and Jesús E. Robles, Jr., will be delivering the Spotlight Lecture 2019 at The Museum of Fine Arts Brown Auditorium designed by Mies van der Rohe.

On Wednesday, February 20, 2019, Houston Wilderness will have the honor of presenting its annual Wild Life Award to Joe B. Allen at the Annual Luncheon at River Oaks Country Club. The award will honor his legacy of environmental-based laws that are providing new parks, trails, and open space in subdivisions all over the state.