Participants, please check here for any last minute changes. Sign-up instructions found in guidelines below.

Guide: John Biesmann and Michele Wilkins
Date: Saturday, January 24, 2009
Time: 8:00 AM

Description: The Greens Bayou Wetlands Mitigation Bank is a 1400-acre wetlands project located in northeast Harris County, adjacent to Beltway 8. The project is operated by the Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD). The Mitigation Bank combines wetlands creation, mitigation and stormwater runoff treatment in a unique and environmentally beneficial manner. The project consists of several phases, and we will tour the 220-acre Phase 1 Subdivision B site. Houston Audubon volunteers conducted a multiyear bird survey and several Christmas Bird Counts at this site, recording over 100 bird species. Habitats at the site include ponds, marshes, and forests. These habitats support a variety of wildlife including waterfowl, waders, water birds, raptors, sparrows, and songbirds. For more information about the wetlands project, please visit the Greens Bayou Wetlands webpage.

Guides: John Biesmann and Michele Wilkins. John is a former HAS President and led the multiyear bird survey conducted at this site. Michele is with the HCFCD and is involved with the Greens Bayou project.

Directions: Meet at 8:00 AM at the Greens Bayou site, which is adjacent to the intersection of Beltway 8 and Lockwood Road. Take Beltway 8 to Lockwood Road and turn south on Lockwood for a few hundred yards to the site.

Registration: Reservations are required. Sign up at the HAS meeting or contact Bill Saulmon, telephone 281-537-6924. Remember to bring your binoculars, scope, camera, sunscreen, insect protection, sturdy shoes, hat, raingear, water, and snacks or a lunch if you want to bird into the afternoon.

Houston Audubon Field Trip Guidelines

Our goal is to ensure that every field trip is enjoyable, safe, educational and beneficial to HAS members. To meet our goal, we have developed the following guidelines:

• Monthly field trips will normally be held the fourth Saturday of the month from September through May. Exceptions will be published in The Naturalist and on the HAS website.
• Participants need to sign up for the trip either 1) at the monthly membership meeting during the same month as the field trip or 2) via e-mail/phone at least two days before the field trip.
• • Each trip will have a limited number of participants, normally 25, and participation will be on a first-come, first-served basis. The registration sign-up will be opened after the field trip is first announced in the The Naturalist or on the HAS website. There may be some field trips in which the number of participants will vary from the 25 stated above, depending on the logistics of the trip. Variations will be noted in the field trip descriptions in The Naturalist and on the HAS website.
• Each participant must be a local member of the Houston Audubon Society or be a guest of a local member of the Houston Audubon Society. An individual may be a guest on no more than two field trips during the birding season (September - May).
• Each field trip will have at least one expert leader whose responsibilities are the birding aspects of the trip. A liaison also will be present to handle the logistics of the trip, such as checking in, keeping track of participants, answering questions and following up on any logistical problems.
• A field trip report including a list of birds seen will be posted on the HAS web site after each field trip. The liaison will help the leader with such information.
• Each liaison will have packets of Houston Audubon Society information to hand out to guests and other interested parties encountered during the field trip. The goal is to make the field trips more visible as a Houston Audubon Society event.
• Transportation to and from the field trip is the responsibility of each participant. The Houston Audubon Society, however, encourages car pooling.