The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Virginia Rail. It was posted by Steven Garcia on December 13, 2019. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

As our 50th anniversary winds down, we want to highlight the faces of Houston Audubon that are so vital to our organization. Meet some of the Tuesday Trail Crew at the Edith L. Moore Nature Sanctuary. These hard-working volunteers help us keep the sanctuary beautiful, clear of invasives, and in good shape for the public to enjoy. They put in countless hours of hands-on work every week, and it shows. Thank you!

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Fox Sparrow. It was posted by Will McDaniel on December 6, 2019. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Piping Plover. It was posted by Steven Garcia on November 29, 2019. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

Here is a link to the December 2019 edition of our monthly E-News in case you missed it. You can subscribe by filling in the form at the bottom of any page on our website.

We've been busy at High Island this year. Houston Audubon is developing the Hulsey Coastal Operations Center (or The Coop) to build capacity for visitor services and sanctuary maintenance by providing a place for staff and our many fantastic volunteers. The Coop will include a staff bunkhouse, RV facilities for volunteers, a workshop and a community space. Construction on The Coop is well underway.

Thanks to everyone who came out for this beautiful morning on Wednesday, November 27, 2019, at Fiorenza! The Wood Stork was a special surprise. Pipits and Yellow-rumped Warblers have arrived for the winter. Shovelers, teal and pelicans were prominent.

The next survey is being moved to December 24th at 7:30 AM. Hope to see everyone on Christmas Eve. The link to my photos includes a visit to Bear Creek Park after the survey where I found lots of Black Vultures having a meeting of sorts.

Fiorenza and Bear Creek photo gallery.

Thanks to everyone who joined us on Tuesday, November 19, 2019, for the Kickerillo-Mischer Preserve Bird Survey. The fall colors were spectacular and it was a beautiful morning to count birds. Migrants are starting to show up and the lake should begin to attract wintering waterfowl in the coming months. Our next survey is 8 AM on December 17th.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Winter Wren. It was posted by Will McDaniel on November 22, 2019. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

18 hardworking volunteers picked up 83 bags of trash today at the North Jetty. Thanks for all the help!

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Hooded Merganser. It was posted by Steven Garcia on November 15, 2019. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

When our education team isn't busy delivering excellent programs in Houston, they teach digitally all over the country from the Bayou Barn at Houston Audubon Raptor and Education Center.

On Thursday, November 14, 2019, they broadcasted three hour-long presentations to Mill Run Elementary in Northern Virginia, where the 5th graders are learning about owls. Our ambassador owls were a big hit! Pictured here are Mary Anne Weber, Education Director, and Simon, Great-horned Owl.

Live video from the Speaker Event entitled "Light Right to Bring Back the Night" presented by Deborah Moran.

Read more information about the Speaker Event.

Conservation Director Richard Gibbons is interviewed on Houston Matters. He discusses his fondness for grackles, the recent Bird of Houston competition, and the recent report about significant bird declines. The audio interview is 11.5 minutes long.

Houston Audubon's CBC page inspired Tulsa Audubon to make a similar version for Oklahoma CBC's. A lot of people in North Texas are closer to some CBC's in Oklahoma than to a lot of Texas CBC's. Their listings give Texas birders the info they need to jump the border and meet some new friends.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Savannah Sparrow. It was posted by Will McDaniel on November 8, 2019. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

Did you know that the bird feeders by Edith’s cabin are donated and maintained by the team over at Wild Birds Unlimited? Thanks to their generosity they are cleaned and filled regularly and we just sit back and enjoy the feathered and furry friends who flock to them.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Inca Dove. It was posted by Steven Garcia on November 1, 2019. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

Here is a link to the November 2019 edition of our monthly E-News in case you missed it. You can subscribe by filling in the form at the bottom of any page on our website.

These establishments serve PALEican, the new custom brew developed for Houston Audubon's inaugural Bird Week 2019.

The Houston Audubon Senior Bus Trip on Thursday, October 24. 2019, took the hearty group east to Smith Point Hawk Watch, Anahuac NWR and Turtle Bayou Nature Preserve. We departed Houston early and headed to our first stop at Buc ee’s after quite a bit of traffic issues. From there we headed towards the hawk watch.

Photo gallery.

Tropical Parula (Setophaga pitiayumi) (1)
- Reported Oct 29, 2019 07:37 by Stuart NelsonMagnolia Warbler (Setophaga magnolia) (1)
- Reported Oct 29, 2019 07:37 by Stuart Nelson
- Edith L. Moore Nature San
- Edith L. Moore Nature Sanctuary (UTC 094), Harris, Texas
- Map: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=p&z=13&q=29.7717945,-95.5695572&ll=29.7717945,-95.5695572
- Checklist: https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S61018475
- Comments: "Continuing from yesterday, first seen by Dominic Le Croissette and later refound by Richard Gibbons and Anna Vallery. Thought I had a glimpse yesterday evening, but inconclusive. Found this morning at 8:25 in a tree on the east end of the nursery - same spot as last night. A mixed flock came through with chickadees, titmouse, kinglets, downy wp, etc. Unobstructed views of a parula with bright yellow below and white undertail. Obvious wing bars and no eye arcs."

Houston Audubon Raises over $355,000 at 50th Golden Anniversary Gala!

Houston Audubon celebrated 50 years of bird conservation at their Golden Anniversary Gala held at the beautiful Astorian on October 17, 2019.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Northern Rough-winged Swallow. It was posted by Will McDaniel on October 25, 2019. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

The Houston Audubon Members Field Trip for the month of October was birding at Brazos Bend State Park on Saturday, October 19, 2019. You can never have a bad day at Brazos Bend but the last few attempts to visit with a group had led to cancellations due to flooding. Happily, the October field trip was not at risk for any sudden changes in location.

Photo gallery.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Hairy Woodpecker. It was posted by Jamie Waltenburg on October 18, 2019. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

Thanks to everyone who came out for the October 15, 2019 Kickerillo-Mischer Preserve Bird Survey. Not much diversity but the Red-shouldered Hawk gripping a pigeon for breakfast and a large flock of munias were fun to watch. A recently birthed copperhead had us stopped on the trail for some photos.

Photo gallery.

Thanks to everyone who came out for the bird survey on Thursday, October 3, 2019. The Vermillion Flycatcher and Summer Tanager were certainly a treat along with the Red-tailed Hawks. Please make plans to join us next month for cooler weather and more great birding on the property. The next survey is November 7, 2019.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Green Heron. It was posted by Steven Garcia on October 11, 2019. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

A Wildlife-Friendly, Pet Free Sanctuary at Edith L. Moore

We made the difficult decision to discontinue our dog permitting program. Moving forward, we will no longer allow pets of any kind in the sanctuary. Dog owners with current permits will be allowed to bring their dogs (with permit) only until they expire.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Ring-billed Gull. It was posted by Will McDaniel on October 4, 2019. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

There’s a nice write-up and Houston Audubon mention in the October issue of Buzz Magazines - both in print and online. Anna Vallery is quoted and stories from Betsy Black, Sarah Flournoy, and Claire Caudill are highlighted.

Here at the Edith L. Moore Nature Sanctuary the floodwaters of Imelda caused a great deal of erosion along Rummel Creek. This sadly resulted in a beautiful American sycamore tree falling down, and taking our neighbor’s stand of giant bamboo with it. Because of the slope and the difficulty in accessing the creek, removing the tree and the downed bamboo posed a huge challenge and potential problem for our staff and volunteers.

Thank you to everyone who helped make Bird Week, September 21-28, 2019, a big success. Whether it was coordinating events, helping set-up and breakdown, sharing it with your friends and family, attending to show your support, and talking to people about our mission. We made a big impact in just one week – check out some of the press we’ve received.

Here is a link to the October 2019 edition of our monthly E-News in case you missed it. You can subscribe by filling in the form at the bottom of any page on our website.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Attwater’s Prairie-Chicken. It was posted by Will McDaniel on September 27, 2019. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

Houston Public Media, a service of University of Houston, has a radio show named Houston Matters. In this weeks session, a panel of non-experts weigh in on the selection of the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron as the official Bird of Houston.

The 4-minute audio contains some funny but insightful observations about the competition with the Attwater's Prairie-Chicken. They discuss pros and cons of each bird, and end up with the realization that this event has raised the awareness about the importance of birds to the Houston area.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner alongside Houston Audubon’s Executive Director, Helen Drummond, proclaimed the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron as the official Bird of Houston. In an effort to increase awareness of the birds around us, Houston Audubon coordinated the Bird of Houston contest, where Houstonians voted on their favorite local bird through a series of bracket rounds. Over 60 bird species were originally nominated, leading to the final round which pitted the Attwater’s Prairie-Chicken against the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron.

Studies have found that volunteering can positively impact both your body and your mind. We're here to tell you all about the different ways doing good in your community can do some good for yourself.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Laughing Gull. It was posted by Jamie Waltenburg on September 20, 2019. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. It was posted by Will McDaniel on September 13, 2019. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

Swift Night Out at St. Paul's United Methodist Church was a huge success on Tuesday, August 27, 2019. The first to arrive was a Cooper's Hawk who luckily for the swifts moved on after spotting some doves nearby. The final count was 420 swifts! Thanks to everyone who came out to enjoy the birds, and thanks to Donna at St. Paul's for organizing and the folks from the Nature Discovery Center for partnering with us. Pam Smolen helped to answer lots of swift questions and we wish the swifts good luck on their migration south this fall.

Click to see the photo gallery.

Our last Martin Migration Madness event on Saturday, August 24, 2019, was a huge success! Over a hundred folks came out to Stafford along with some 4-legged friends to watch the hundreds of thousands of martins coming into the roost. We had a couple of Cooper’s Hawks also make a pass. The martins put on an amazing show and the kids who were watching referred to their movements as something like a Birdnado!

Come out to the next watch party on Sunday, September 22, 2019, at 7:30PM.

Click to see the photo gallery.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Black-necked Stilt. It was posted by Will McDaniel on September 6, 2019. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

Paul Gregg, a Houston Audubon member, compiled this video of the Purple Martins at the nightly roost on Monday, August 26, 2019. The amazing 2.5 minute video was shot in front of the Old Navy store in Stafford, TX.

Thanks for sharing Paul.

Click here to see the video.

Here is a link to the September 2019 edition of our monthly E-News in case you missed it. You can subscribe by filling in the form at the bottom of any page on our website.

The Beak of the Week on the Houston Audubon Facebook page featured the Caspian Tern. It was posted by Will McDaniel on August 30, 2019. Click the link to see the profile in our Bird Gallery.

Aimee Friend is our new Development Director. Aimee oversees all development activities for Houston Audubon. These include membership, fundraising, grant writing, and planned giving. In addition, her staff conducts the gala, Birdathon and the annual appeal as well as many other events. She has served Houston nonprofits in a variety of development roles for the past 19 years and has a passion for bringing individuals together for great causes such as Houston Audubon.

We had quite an exciting bird survey this morning, August 28, 2019, at Archbishop Fiorenza Park. In addition to seeing our first fall warblers, we also rescued a Great Blue Heron that was tangled in fishing line along the bank of one of the ponds.

The photo gallery below will show you how the drama played out. At first we just noticed a branch moving back and forth as if by its own power. Then we saw the line and thought a fish was caught but it turned out to be a Great Blue. He or she was tired but luckily had no injuries and will live to fish again.

Monofilament line can be deadly to wildlife when not disposed of properly. Please spread the word.

Click to see the photo gallery.

Article in The Buzz Magazine with photos about the 2019 Chimney Swift Night Out events. Features Mary Anne Weber, Education Director, and Mary Ann Beauchemin, Nature Discovery Center.