Birds in the Park – February 2017

From the Houston Audubon Society's Jason Bonilla:

We had our February bird survey in Woodland Park yesterday with 28 species recorded. The highlight for me was the Great Horned Owl. Thanks to Mary for spotting the owl so that we could get the scope on him/her to see the owl staring back at us. The full list is pasted below and the spreadsheet for all years is attached. Our next bird walk will be on March 11th.

Neotropic Cormorant - 1
Double-crested Cormorant - 1
Great Blue Heron - 1
Snowy Egret - 1
Osprey - 1
Cooper's Hawk - 1
Red-shouldered Hawk - 2
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
White-winged Dove - 25
Mourning Dove - 1
Great Horned Owl - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 3
Downy Woodpecker - 2
Eastern Phoebe - 1
Blue-headed Vireo - 1
Blue Jay - 6
Carolina Wren - 3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 2
American Robin - 12
Northern Mockingbird - 1
European Starling - 5
Cedar Waxwing - 35
Orange-crowned Warbler - 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 3
Northern Cardinal - 4
Great-tailed Grackle - 5 American Goldfinch - 4

Monthly Bird Count – December 2016

A note from Jason Bonilla:

We had our December bird walk this morning with 17 species recorded. No owls today. The highlight species for me were the Blue-headed Vireo and Loggerhead Shrike (the butcher bird). After we wrapped up, Tim, Mary, and I watched a Cooper's Hawk that perched for us from the parking lot. The full list is below and the chart for all years is attached. Our next Woodland Park survey will be held on January 14.

Also, the Central Houston Christmas Bird Count will be taking place on Monday, December 19th starting at 7:00am (unless you want to do some owling earlier) and lasting as long as there are birds to be found, with a countdown dinner in the evening.

I am participating in the count, along with at least 4 others from our Woodland Park group and 5 other experienced birders who are coordinating Area 5 section of the count. The Area 5 group will be birding Woodland Park and then splitting up into a few other groups to bird other locations within the assigned area.

If you are interested in participating in the count, let me know. Please click here to register and select your preferred area - Woodland Park is part of Area 5. If you register, also be sure to email kelli.ondracek@houstontx.gov to let her know so that Kelli can make sure you are signed up. Some additional info about the count is in the bullet below.

If I do not see you before our January walk, have a great holiday season and Happy New Year!

Woodland Park December 10, 2016 Survey List:

Great Egret - 1 Snowy Egret - 1 Cooper's Hawk - 1 White-winged Dove - 130 Mourning Dove - 15 Red-bellied Woodpecker - 3 Downy Woodpecker - 1 Loggerhead Shrike - 1 Blue-headed Vireo - 1 Blue Jay - 7 Carolina Wren - 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1 American Robin - 1 Northern Mockingbird - 1 European Starling - 12 Northern Cardinal - 7 Great-tailed Grackle - 2 Geese (probably Snow geese flying over, aprox. 50 - too high and distant to count to get a positive ID) A Buteo species (probably Red-tailed Hawk that flew off before we could get a good look)

Monthly Bird Count – October 2016

Every month Jason Bonilla, from the Houston Audubon Society, leads a group through Woodland Park and records the species and number of the birds they observe. If you'd like to join us for our hikes through the park please visit our calendar to find the next date and time.

Here's Jason's wrap-up (slightly edited) followed by the monthly bird count. Our next birding adventure is November 5th. Hope to see you there!

“A Summer Tanager was glowing from across the bayou. That's the first Summer Tanager for the park that we have recorded. We also saw a few female Indigo Buntings, a Common Yellowthroat, and a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. The Great Horned Owl was in clear view today as well.”

cormorant sp. - 1 (flyover)
Great Blue Heron - 1
Cooper's Hawk - 1
Red-Shouldered Hawk - 1
White-winged Dove - 70
Great Horned Owl - 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 2
Downy Woodpecker - 2
Blue Jay - 8
Carolina Wren - 5
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 1
American Robin - 2
Northern Mockingbird - 2
European Starling - 6
Common Yellowthroat - 1
Summer Tanager - 1
Northern Cardinal - 4
Indigo Bunting - 3
grackle sp. - 2 (flyover)

Monthly Bird Count – September 2016

Every month Jason Bonilla, from the Houston Audubon Society, leads a group through Woodland Park and records the species and number of the birds they observe. If you'd like to join us for our hikes through the park please visit our calendar to find the next date and time.

Here's Jason's wrap-up (slightly edited) followed by the monthly bird count. Our next birding adventure is September 10th. Hope to see you there!

We had our September bird walk today with 17 species listed below. The highlight was the Great Horned Owl that Les flushed from across the bayou. Looking back at our spreadsheet, January and August are the only months that we have never seen a Great Horned Owl at the park. Our next walk will be on October 8th.

• Great Blue Heron - 1
• Great Egret - 1
• Green Heron - 1
• Yellow-crowned Night-Heron - 1
• White-winged Dove - 55
• Mourning Dove - 5
• Great Horned Owl - 1
• Chimney Swift - 7
• Red-bellied Woodpecker - 2
• Blue Jay - 13
• Tufted Titmouse - 1
• Carolina Wren - 3
• American Robin - 5
• Northern Mockingbird - 2
• European Starling - 14
• Northern Cardinal - 3
• Great-tailed Grackle - 7

View the official record of birds at Woodland Park as kept by the Houston Audubon Society.

Monthly Bird Count – August 2016

Every month Jason Bonilla, from the Houston Audubon Society, leads a group through Woodland Park and records the species and number of the birds they observe. If you'd like to join us for our hikes through the park please visit our calendar to find the next date and time.

Here's Jason's wrap-up (slightly edited) followed by the monthly bird count. Our next birding adventure is September 10th. Hope to see you there!

It was a slow bird day this morning with only 14 confirmed species. We did get really good looks at Black-crowned Night-Herons and Great Blue Herons.

Great Blue Heron - 3
Black-crowned Night-Heron - 2
Red-shouldered Hawk - 1
White-winged Dove - 25
Mourning Dove - 1
Chimney Swift - 5
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 1
Downy Woodpecker - 1
Blue Jay - 6
Carolina Wren - 3
American Robin - 1
Northern Mockingbird - 1
Northern Cardinal - 3
Great-tailed Grackle - 2
(possibly 2 immature yellow-crowned night-heron)

Monthly Bird Count – June 2016

Every month Jason Bonilla, from the Houston Audubon Society, leads a group through Woodland Park and records the species and number of the birds they observe. If you'd like to join us for our hikes through the park please visit our calendar to find the next date and time.

Here's Jason's wrap-up (slightly edited) followed by the monthly bird count.

We had our July bird survey this morning with some fantastic views of a male Orchard Oriole and Great Horned Owl! This was also the first time we have seen Cattle Egrets fly over from the park. eBird now lists 103 species seen at Woodland Park.

Listed below is the species list from today. I only listed 1 Great Horned Owl, though it is very possible that we saw two separate owls. I also removed the Red-shouldered Hawk that I thought I was hearing because it could have been a Blue Jay imitation. My best guess on the two birds that I was stumped on at the start is that they were female red-winged blackbirds.

Great Blue Heron - 2
Cattle Egret - 5
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron - 2
White-winged Dove - 9
Mourning Dove - 1
Great Horned Owl - 1 (maybe 2)
Chimney Swift - 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker - 2
Downy Woodpecker - 2
Great Crested Flycatcher - 1
Blue Jay - 14
Purple Martin - 7
Carolina Chickadee - 5
Carolina Wren - 8
American Robin - 37
Northern Mockingbird - 10
European Starling - 11
Northern Cardinal - 9
Common Grackle - 5
Great-tailed Grackle - 6
Orchard Oriole - 2
blackbird sp. - 2 (maybe female red-winged blackbirds)
House Sparrow - 2

Photograph by Conor Best.

Photograph by Conor Best.