Family Friendly

Learn about rescued chimpanzees and other primates; horses and burros; tigers and bobcats; iguanas and African tortoises; antelope; deer; ostriches; llamas; American bison; and dozens of other species now living lives of peace and compassion at the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch sanctuary.

EVENT SITE: Parking, registration, ticket sales, tours and all activities will start and end at the Doris Day Equine Center.

EVERYONE IS WELCOME - But please leave your pets at home!

Roger Sanderson, director of horticulture for Texas Discovery Gardens, will discuss snakes and reptiles of North Texas. This is a very interesting presentation with hands-on opportunities with these critters. Free. 

The Friends of O.S. Gray Natural Area invite you to join us for a Star Party in the Park. Come try out a variety of telescopes, look at visible planets, constellations, stars and chat with our brilliant astronomers from the Fort Worth Astronomical Society about astronomy and their equipment.  

We’ll also be making s’mores and hot chocolate and roasting wieners around the campfire, so bring your lawn chair and flashlight, wear your warm coat and gloves, and come join our Star Party in the Park!

Free. Info: friendsofosgray@gmail.com 

Info: DianaWilks88@yahoo.com

The Recycling and Sustainability Fair is three-fold: drop off for hard-to-recycle items, education and community support. Several organizations will attend that will be taking materials for recycling or reuse. It is also an event to educate the public about what and how to recycle, air quality, stormwater quality and the effects of single-use disposable bags. The event will also support Daggett Montessori #GreenTeam and #PTA in its challenge to win $500 to $5,000 through the RecycleBank #CleanGreenFW Challenge. Attendees can also sign up for RecycleBank at the fair. 

Bring your binoculars and camera to join The Friends of O.S. Gray Natural Area for this year's edition of the Great Backyard Bird Count. We’ll have a guided bird walk led by our most excellent birder and past Audubon Society President, Charley Amos.

Participants are encouraged to bring binoculars and cameras.

O.S. Gray Natural has no restroom facilities, but Kroger is nearby.

The Connemara Conservancy will celebrate Valentine’s Day by welcoming dogs back to the Meadow Nature Preserve with a special “Bring A Dog, Bring A Donation” fundraiser.

Residents are invited to bring up to three dogs to the Nature Preserve on the border of Allen and Plano for a $10 donation per dog. 

Permits good for six months will also be available for dog owners who would like to bring their dogs to the Meadow on a regular basis. Dogs must remain leashed and owners must clean up after their pet. Other rules will also apply.

Launched in 1998 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society, the Great Backyard Bird Count was the first online citizen-science project to collect data on wild birds and to display results in near real-time.

Since then, more than 100,000 people of all ages and walks of life have joined the four-day count each February to create an annual snapshot of the distribution and abundance of birds.

New and experienced bird watchers of all ages are welcome to join us at Dogwood Canyon Audubon Center as we participate with thousands of people across the nation in this great tradition of citizen science. Counting birds is a fun, free, family-friendly way to discover and help the birds in your community. Free.

Info: 469-526-1987 or dcac@audubon.org. 

Program by Gail Manning, an entomologist who leads the education team at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden. Learn about milkweed, and the garden’s involvement in the citizen science programs Monarch Larva Monitoring Project and Monarch Watch (butterfly tagging). Get an update on Fort Worth’s conservation efforts and find out three things you can do to help monarchs and advance our knowledge about their annual migration.