Twenty-eight HAS members joined guides Bob & Maggie Honig for an evening tour of the Katy Prairie Conservancy properties on July 5, 2008. We met at the KPC field office where Bob gave us an introduction to the KPC’s activities and status in protecting prairie habitat in the face of encroaching development sprawl on the west side of Houston. Bob & Maggie then led us to several KPC properties and shared their knowledge of plants, butterflies, insects and birds with the group. Thunderstorms seemed to encircle the area but the KPC sites we visited missed most of the rain and continue their dry conditions of the past few months.

Bob posed several trivia questions to the group about facets of the natural world around us, including the reason why Goldenrod doesn’t deserve its bad reputation as a major allergy irritant. A trip highlight was watching Maggie prevent damage to a Harvester Ant mound in the road by directing our cars around it. We all enjoyed and appreciate the knowledge and insights that Bob & Maggie passed on about nature.

Bob Honig shares another nature fact with the group.
Photo courtesy of Bill Saulmon