Woodland Park

I've been looking for a good local birding park since I've moved to Houston. In College Station I had Lick Creek Park and in Dallas I had White Rock Lake. I had seen some stuff on an Upper Texas Coast Facebook group the last few days about Woodland Park, which is located in The Heights area of Houston. That's less than 3 miles from my apartment, and it seems like an underbirded park that has made some waves like Golden-winged Warbler and Great Kiskadee over the last few days. While it may be no High Island or Sabine Woods I figured it was worth a shot on a Friday afternoon. It's not like I was going to the coast anyways.

It's a small park with a network of trails that is cut in half by a stormwater drain. This is critical for a good migrant spot, and it probably helps make Brison Park the amazing migrant spot that it is, as a smaller storm drain passes through it as well.

For a park in the middle of the city you definitely get the feel that you're away from it all

I descended the hill into the trees, greeted by tons of Great-tailed Grackles. It was a warm afternoon so I had really low expectations, but when I saw the storm drain I got pumped. There are some portions that are too deep for birds, that I actually saw bass and gar swimming in, but there are some places that are very shallow and flow enough for birds to bathe in, which is great for some of these tired migrants. I immediately saw male and female Indigo Buntings bathing, and a bird with a yellow crown, almost golden. I thought it could have been Chestnut-sided or Golden-winged Warbler, but by the time I got to a vantage point it was gone. I found the perfect spot to camp out for about 30 minutes while I watched various migrants come in.

There were a bunch of Indigo Buntings throughout the park

Indigo Bunting was the bird of the day, but Summer Tanager was also pretty common. The only positive ID on a warbler that I got was Common Yellowthroat, but I cleaned up on tanagers. A Swainson's Thrush was bathing in the creek, but a flash of red got me on one of my favorite migrants, Rose-breasted Grosbeak. I would see a few throughout the afternoon.

The male Rose-breasted Grosbeak is a stunning bird, seeing one is a highlight of migration

The star of the show was a gorgeous Scarlet Tanager. This was a bird I looked at in my field guide as a kid and thought I would never see. I noticed it through the trees because this is an almost neon red bird. All I could do at that point was stare in awe at such a beautiful bird.

Scarlet Tanager. Look. At. That.

By that point I was sweating and I wanted to get back and relax before the draft started. Overall this looks to be a great migration park I look forward to coming back!

Still can't get over this bird