Warbler Walk

We decided to spend Sunday morning looking for warblers at the Edith L Moore Sanctuary. At most times of the year this isn't a great birding site but in the spring it's a good place to see warblers on their northern migration.

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As it turned out, our warbler walk started even earlier than expected. When we walked out of the house, we noticed movement in the tree next to our garage. It was a Tennessee Warbler, a new yard bird for us.

After admiring the Tennessee Warbler - and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet that was buzzing it - we drove down to Edith Moore. There we got out of the car, looked up and immediately saw a Northern Parula.

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The gardens at the cabin and the area around the pond were almost startlingly green as a result of recent rains.

The garden had butterflies ...


while the pond had a group of Red-eared Sliders.



We really enjoyed walking the creekside trails for the next 90 minutes, although we weren't very successful at finding warblers. The most common birds were White-eyed Vireos, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers and Ruby-crowned Kinglets. However, we did see another Northern Parula and a Nashville Warbler. Then came the sighting of the day: A very helpful birder called Charmaine showed us a Worm-eating Warbler, US life bird #426 for me.

Back at the cabin, the feeders were attracting a succession of Blue Jays, Northern Cardinals, Tufted Titmice, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Mourning Doves and American Goldfinch.

American Goldfinch

Our final bird of the day was this White-eyed Vireo.

Edith L Moore
The sanctuary entrance is at 440 Wilchester Boulevard, just south of Memorial a few hundred yards west of the West Sam Houston Parkway. It is open 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. every day of the year and entry is free.

Each Wednesday in the spring there is an 8:30 a.m. birdwalk, led by a great local birder, Jim Hinson.