Houston Birding! (1 Viewer)

Hi, going to Houston in January, more specifically Richmond, Sugar Land area.

I'd like to check out some local birding areas. Do you have any recommendations? Looks like Anahuac NWR and Brazos State Park are promising. Aransas will probably be too far. Would like to keep within 50 mi of the area due to very impacted schedule.

Any chance for Whooping Cranes in the area?

Thanks for recommendations.

Matt

Houston Area Bird Sites

Hi.

I don't think you'll see Whooping Cranes in our immediate area.

Anahuac is always good, as are Brazoria and San Bernard. Sheldon Lake / Carpenter's Bayou is also great in the winter and is very near, off 8 just north of I-10.

Longenbaugh Road is reliably good, too; it's on the west side of Houston, north of Katy. You can see some recent reports and pictures of this and other sites on my blog: www.jeffincypress.blogspot.com.

A lot depends on what you want to see. For example, you won't see many woodland birds at the above sites. However, you would get a good range of these (including woodpeckers/sapsuckers) on Golbow Road in Bear Creek Park, just off Highway 6 on the west side of Houston.

If you need directions to any of these sites, please let me know.

Jeff

About the same distance as Anahuac NWR, you'll find Brazoria NWR, another great birding spot. If you have time, I'd recommend the Quintana/Freeport area on the same day trip as Brazoria.

Jeff's suggestions are all good ones. Driving the Katy Prairie can be very productive (it's the area that surrounds the Longenbaugh Rd. stop Jeff mentions.

Also, a lot of Sugar Land-area birders spend time at George Bush park. I've never been there, but I think you should be able to generate a bird list via ebird (use Houston- Barker Res./Geo. Bush Pk (UTC 096) as the hot spot).

Enjoy your trip. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Steve in Houston