HOUSTON AUDUBON URBAN BIRD SURVEY
Sylvan Rodriguez Park
Next Surveys: August 3 and 17, 2024
Survey Leader: Catherine Bacon
Co-Leader: Schyler Brown
We currently meet at 7 AM at the standing stones in front of the parking lot on the first and third Saturday of the month. We usually finish around 8:30 AM. Birders of all skill levels are welcome - email us if you need to borrow a pair of binoculars.
Contacts
About the Park
Sylvan Rodriguez Park is a Houston Parks and Recreation urban park under active restoration. The park is composed of remnant prairie fragments and forest edge. In the winter, expect to find raptors including American Kestrels, Osprey, Red-shouldered hawk, and the occasional Red-tailed Hawk. Sparrows can be found flitting about the prairie grasses, and Yellow-rumped warblers and Kinglets call from the forest periphery. In the Spring, we can find Herons and Egrets as they wade through the ephemeral wetland that forms along the prairie from spring showers. The wildflowers are abundant in the spring, and attract hummingbirds and insect pollinators. Through the summer and fall we see lots of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers zipping through the air, feasting on flies. Sometimes we find tanagers singing in the trees, and Blue-grey Gnatcatchers buzzing as they scrounge the branches for their next meal.
This park truly is a hidden gem, with prescribed burns bringing in meadowlarks and dense pockets of wildflower blooms. The colors are tremendous through the spring and summer. Year round, field mice and swamp rabbits forage quietly, while turtles bask leisurely in the pond. Anoles, Leopard Frogs, and a variety of snakes can be spotted with a careful eye. Perhaps most unusual is the herd of White-tailed Deer that congregate in the forest edge, occasionally making their way to the prairie for some easy forage. Almost 200 species of bird have been sighted at Sylvan Rodriguez Park!
