Best birding location around Dallas in winter (1 Viewer)

I have a full day free for birding aroun Dallas in a couple of weeks time. I am an old world birder that has been on the East coast a couple of times, so some birds are already well known to me, although I would like to see as many birds as posible.

Any recomendation? Should be not more than 1-2 hours drive from central Dallas in order not to loose to much time on the road. Up to know I have noted Lewisville lake, Clear creek and Trinity river. I read some news about these areas being flooded lately...

I don´t look for any specific birds. Maybe roadrunner will be a nice one.

Alos a recommendation to where to spend one night close to the place will be welcome.

Thanks in advance

Village creek drying beds in between Fort Worth and Dallas is one of the more productive areas. It's good for ducks, sparrows and blackbirds. 40 species in a couple hours is pretty doable. Colleyville Nature Center is a good-sized neighborhood park for forest species.
I'm not too familiar with birding inside Dallas itself as I spent a year living and birding closer to Fort Worth.
Roadrunner is a tough target, although definitely present. I've seen one on county roads north of Fort Worth and at the FW nature refuge, which is another good winter spot, albeit a bit farther from Dallas than the other two I mentioned.

Also, there were a couple barred owl families at the Colleyville Nature Center last winter, and I'm pretty sure at least one bird is still there. They were generally pretty easy to get good looks at.

I agree that Village Creek Drying Beds is a good option.

Another choice would be to combo LLELA (Lake Lewisville Environmental Learning Area) and Lake Lewisville since they're right next to each other. That would give you a good 3-4 hours of birding with good woodland habitat at LLELA and open water at the lake.
I've written birding guides for both of these spots on my website. They include photos so you can get a feel for the place and see if they look interesting to you:
LLELA
Lewisville Lake Park

If you're feeling a bit adventurous and are willing to drive 1.5 hours, I would highly recommend Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge to the north.
In my opinion it's the most fun and exciting place to bird in the greater Dallas area. Good mix of habitat, good numbers of birds. It's famous in Texas for the large flocks of Snow Geese (3000+), which seem to be appearing late morning based on a quick glance at recent eBird reports. Also good for ducks, Bald Eagle, woodpeckers, and other woodland species.
Here is my birding guide for Hagerman if it interests you.

Hope that helps, happy birding!

Colton, thanks for posting this. I am originally from Dallas, didn’t take up birding until long after I left. I go home each December for Christmas and just sent an email to my sister that we need to visit Hagerman.

Thank you very much for your recommendations. I just came back from Dallas although the weather has been very wet. Lots of rain with Trinity river flooding last week. That limited the options like Lewisville, as the dam was opened discharging water.

I chose Village creek drying beds for one morning and I managed to reach 65 species in the morning with the help of some local birders that help me identify some of the damm sparrows. I happen to see 6 snow geese.

At the end it was something like 30 lifers so it was great, although the weather was not so nice. I really recommend the drying beds. It is a nice place right next to both cities.

My ebird list is here:
https://ebird.org/checklist/S64495791


No chance to go the Hagerman reserve as I had no car.

Thanks for all your tips.