In November 2013, a Bald Eagle flew just overhead as Megan Freemantle and I walked our dogs Freckles and Hope along the hike/bike trail in White Oak Park. I became a birder that day, watching the eagle eat a fish it snatched from the bank of the bayou and remembering how eagles had almost gone extinct in the 1960s.
It may surprise folks to know that the Woodland Heights is a very birdy place, with 192 species reported in the neighborhood, White Oak Park, and Woodland Park during the past ten years. Bald Eagles are spotted periodically, with one having hung out along the bayou for two weeks in March 2018 to the delight of hundreds of people who watched for it.
The first photo shows an eagle who was working White Oak Park on February 9, 2020. The second photo shows the similar but much more common Osprey, which will continue to fish the bayou through April.
What to learn more about the birds of the ‘hood? Join Jason Bonilla and neighbors for the monthly Houston Audubon bird survey of Woodland Park. The surveys are free, with the next one scheduled for Saturday, March 14 at 7:30AM.
You can also go to the website of the White Oak Bayou Association and download the kid-friendly Bayou City Birding guides that feature birds of the Inner Loop. Now who wants to go find species #193?
- Wendy Wright