Young Wings Take Flight

Here at Houston Audubon we are so appreciative of the younger generations; from Elementary School to College, young people are a big part of our volunteer efforts. The initiative they take in finding ways to help out at our sanctuaries is super inspiring!

This was particularly true throughout the pandemic, as youth continued to work to help us, even as their school schedules were in limbo and they weren't able to gather in groups.

Some of the contributions of youth volunteers in 2020 included:

Eagle Scout Projects! Scouts built a shed, helped us clear out invasive plants, designed, built and installed a solar powered compost bin, developed a volunteer project to control invasive plants, and created and mounted new signs on our trails at Edith L. Moore; as well as built owl boxes for our High Island Sanctuaries.

High School clubs were also helpful to us! At Edith L. Moore, student activists from Memorial Teens for Green and Langham Creek Students Protecting Animals of America joined us once a month helping to maintain the trails and clean litter out of Rummel Creek.

Youth from the Formosa Association of Student Cultural Ambassadors raised money to purchase mulch for the trails at Edith L. Moore, and spent a morning with us spreading it out.

LinC - Bonner Scholars traveled from Washburn University in New Jersey on a service trip and spent a day cleaning up garbage at Smith Oaks and spent another day building boardwalks at the Raptor and Education Center.

A group of college students with the UT School of Architecture’s Gulf Design Lab camped out over night at our new Hulsey Coastal Operation Center to build bridges and other infrastructure.

Youth continue to impress us, in fact, more of them reach out to offer to help than we are able to work with. So on behalf of Houston Audubon and the birds we are so thankful for their contributions, and we think honoring them is a great way for us to kick off National Volunteer Appreciation Week.

By Lauren Miheli, Member and Volunteer Manager

Comments

How to DIY a Dripper for birds

Are you running out of home projects to keep busy during the quarantine? Here’s one my hubby made for me that you can try: a DYI Dripper. I’ve long wanted a bird dripper to complement my yard’s wildlife habitat, and with spring migrants on the way, I was keen to provide a drip that will attract new birds that don’t visit feeders. I had a problem though. There is no water line or power source near my feeders. The idea of stringing a hose or wire across the driveway just isn’t practical. Enter the engineer. My husband thought about the location and the limitations for a bit, and came up with the concept of sourcing water for a dripper off the sprinkler system. By using a toilet tank that fills every time the sprinklers run, water can be constantly available for the drip. I nixed the idea of a toilet tank sitting in my yard though, so he made some aesthetic modifications by installing a toilet tank float inside a 5 gallon bucket hidden inside a custom wooden box with a handsome copper p

Beak of the Week - Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron ( Nyctanassa violacea ) Family: Ardeidae Our Beak of the Week is the official Bird of Houston , the Yellow-crowned Night-Heron! This seemingly hunch-backed bird can be a difficult one to spot. Both species of North American night-herons, yellow-crowned and black-crowned, forage mainly at night and spend most of the day hidden among branches near a body of water. These two birds can be differentiated easily by their plumage on and around their head. The most obvious difference is stated in their names: Yellow-crowned Night-Herons have a yellow crown and Black-crowned Night-Herons have a black crown. But that’s not the only difference! Yellow-crowned Night-Herons have a black head and face with a distinct thick white cheek stripe, whereas Black-crowned Night-Herons have a black head with gray on their face that extends down the whole front of the body. Yellow-crowned Night Herons also have a gray front and neck, but it contrasts greatly with their facial patter

Beak of the Week - Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Ruby-throated Hummingbird ( Archilochus colubris ) Family: Trochilidae Did you know that Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are able to fly in all 6 directions with wing beats of 53 times per a second? Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are bright emerald or golden-green on the back and crown with gray-white underparts. Males have a brilliant iridescent red throat while females and immatures have fine, dark throat streaking. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds feed on the nectar of red or orange tubular flowers as well as at hummingbird feeders and sometimes tree sap. Hummingbirds also catch insects in midair or pull them out of spider webs. In preparation for their migration, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds double their weight from 3 grams to over 6 grams prior to departing. In the fall, millions of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds will pass through Texas on their migration to points south of the border with many crossing the Gulf of Mexico in a single flight. They arrive from breeding grounds as far away as Nova Scotia

Houston Audublog

Search This Blog