RISING to the CHALLENGE
I am sitting in a large room filled with sharply dressed people laughing and talking animatedly. To my left, education outreach experts conduct photo shoots with a dark-morph Harlan’s Red-tailed Hawk. Encircling the room, tables loaded with auction items ranging from enviable birding gear to dream birding getaways await silent bidders. A steady stream of happy people approaches to introduce themselves and talk about birds, books, and birding, making this Yankee feel welcome and giving the room an enthusiasm that is positively palpable. It’s an energy generated not only by folks who have been pent up by COVID for the past two years but also by the cause that brings them together: raising money for one of the country’s most important bird-conservation organizations, Houston Audubon Society (HAS).
Regional name, national importance
When I was invited to speak at HAS’s annual Avian Affair fund-raising event last fall, I didn’t hesitate to accept. It sounded fun, but it also provided an opportunity to help an organization uniquely situated to protect birds. Although Houston Audubon’s name suggests that it is just one of hundreds of local Audubon chapters across the United States, the moniker is misleading. The society’s activities span an enormous, 11-county area of southeast Texas stretching along the coast from Galveston Bay to the Louisiana border. More important, they encompass an astonishing variety of habitats that are critical for resident and winter birds and for
