Well, it's getting close now. Next Thursday, January 17, we will start the festivities of the Winter, 2013 Meeting of the Texas Ornithological Society. Our Photo Silent Auction now has over 40 submissions, featuring some stunning work by some very talented folks. Members are honing their five-minute presentations for our Insight Session Thursday night. Field trip leaders are scouting their locations, drumming up great birds for you. The birds are cooperating, too. Bear Creek Park, one of our field trip destinations, continues to play host to the wintering Greater Pewee. Red-breasted Nuthatches and Pine Siskins have been found in recent days, too. This winter, the number of LeConte's Sparrows at Attwater Prairie Chicken NWR is staggering, and a few Henslow's Sparrows showed up on CBC's within 10 miles of the host hotel. Short-eared Owls are visiting locations in the field trips areas where they've never been seen before. Wow! It's going to be a great meeting. The TOS Bird Quiz on Friday, and keynote speaker Ted Floyd's talk field trips and talk at the Saturday banquet promise to be provocative and enlightening. For those continuing on to Chambers County for our Bird Blitz on Sunday, the 20th, several swans (likely Tundras) have set up camp at Anahuac NWR . That doesn't happen every day! It's not too late to join us. Download the registration materials at texasbirds .org and send an email to let us know you'll be coming. We're closing out our banquet order this Sunday night (I've extended the date), so act fast. You won't want to miss a thing. A few housekeeping details: Several field trips will take place on land owned or managed by the Katy Prairie Conservancy (see details below). Anyone going to these properties must first complete and sign a release form. We will have forms available at the hotel, but you can also print yours from home and bring them: http :// www . katyprairie .org/events. html If you have any questions about these exciting events, please feel free to contact me. Winter birding in the Houston area can be phenomenal, and this year is shaping up to be no different. See you in Houston! Steve Gross President, TOS Cell: 281-787-3888 ⢠The Katy Prairie Conservancy ( KPC ) has protected over 18,000 acres of open space on the Katy Prairie west of Houston. You can find links to 2 different formats of the Katy Prairie bird checklist on KPC's web site at http :// www . katyprairie .org/Birding. html . Several of the species recorded on the Katy Prairie since that checklist was last updated are Say's Phoebe (Jan-2012), Greater Pewee (currently at Bear Creek Park in west Houston), Sage Thrasher (Jan-2012), MacGillivray's Warbler (reported 2-Jan-2013), and Cassin's Sparrow (many on territory in spring/summer 2011). Edit your Freelists account settings for TEXBIRDS at //www.freelists.org/list/texbirds Reposting of traffic from TEXBIRDS is prohibited without seeking permission from the List Owner