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

Guide: Steve Gross
Date: Saturday, November 22, 2008
Time: 8:00 AM

Description: The Spring Creek Greenway Project is a joint effort by Harris and Montgomery counties to preserve 12,000 acres of forest along both sides of Spring Creek, north of Houston. Larger gateway parks will eventually be connected by 33 miles of forested trails stretching from Highway 59 to the Woodlands. We will visit three of these gateway parks: Jesse H. Jones Park, Peckinpaugh Preserve and (time permitting) the Montgomery County Preserve. Jesse H. Jones Park in Harris County includes about 300 acres of forest with one-half mile frontage on Spring Creek and several cypress swamps. The park has a nature center, restrooms, picnic pavilions, many miles of paved trails, and a historic settlers and Indian village. The Peckinpaugh Preserve in Montgomery County consists of 25 acres along Spring Creek with nature trails and a canoe launch. Houston Audubon donated 15 acres to this preserve, which opened in 2007. The 71-acre Montgomery County Preserve in the Woodlands has nature trails, interpretive signs and pond overlooks. Find out more about the preserves on the Spring Creek Greenway Project website.

Guide: Steve Gross – Steve is an educator in the Klein School district and leads field trips for groups across Texas. He has done Breeding Bird Survey routes in the Houston area and in other Texas locations for several years and has co-led a birding tour to Arizona for Victor Emanuel Nature Tours.

Directions: We will meet at 8:00 AM at Jesse H. Jones Park (20634 Kenswick Drive). To reach the park from Houston take U.S. Highway 59 north to FM 1960. Turn west on FM 1960 for 1.5 miles to the stop light at Kenswick Drive. Turn right on Kenswick Drive and continue straight ahead to the park at the end of Kenswick Drive.

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.