Cullinan Park Again

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As Dee had never been to Cullinan Park in Sugarland, I drove her down there yesterday. The weather was very different from how it had been a week earlier. This time it was horribly cold, cloudy and windy.

The lake had much the same water birds as last week, except that this time some Ruddy Ducks were in evidence. The only birds in the trees around the lake were dozens of White Ibis.
  

 

 

 

 
We spent a couple of hours birding the undergrowth and trees along the road. All we managed were glimpses of common birds: Northern Cardinals, Blue Jays, Carolina Chickadees, American Crows, Red-bellied and Downy Woodpeckers, Orange-crowned Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, American Goldfinch and Eastern Phoebes - lots of Eastern Phoebes.

As we left the park, we stopped so I could grab a photo of a pair of Red-tailed Hawks perched on utility wires opposite the park entrance. Not a great photo but it shows pretty clearly the difference in size between the female and (smaller) male and the difference between front and back plumage.

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Cullinan Park

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At 7:45 on Sunday morning I headed over to Cullinan Park to see if I could move my Fort Bend county list to 100 species. (I want to do this as part of the Century Club program organized by the Texas Ornithological Society. If you are interested in the program, see the P.S. to this post.)

When I stepped out of my car at Cullinan, I couldn't believe how birdy the parking lot was and I spent the next 30 minutes checking out the birds in the trees bordering the lot. Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Tufted Titmice and Carolina Chickadees accounted for most of the activity but the trees also had Downy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Eastern Phoebes, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Blue Jays and Orange-crowned Warblers. I got good views of a Western Kingbird, too.

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Eastern Phoebe

Next I birded the lake from the boardwalk and the observation tower. 

Large waders were few: just a Great Blue Heron, a Great Egret and half-a-dozen Snowy Egrets. There were scores of American Coots and a sprinkling of Common Moorhens, as well as good numbers pf Pied-billed Grebes.

Common Moorhen and American Coot

American Coots

Snowy Egret

Further out in the lake there was a nice variety of ducks: lots of Gadwalls and Blue-winged Teal but also several Wood Ducks, Green-winged Teal and Ring-necked Ducks, as well as a couple of Northern Shovelers.

Blue-winged Teal

After that I spent a pleasant hour birding the trees and bushes on the north side of the entrance road. There were many of the same birds that I'd seen earlier, plus lots of Northern Cardinals, Mourning Doves and White-winged Doves. However, there were also White-crowned Sparrows and White-throated Sparrows.

Mourning Dove

Northern Cardinal

Orange-crowned Warbler

I really enjoyed the two hours I spent in the park - and I moved my Ft. Bend county list from 97 to 102 species.    

P.S.

The aim of the Century Club program (www.texascenturyclub.org) is to encourage people to bird more frequently and to bird in a range of different areas, which will increase the available data on bird populations in those areas. The aim of the participants is to see 100 (or more) species in each of as many Texas counties as possible. 

I know I'm not a dedicated enough birder to reach 100 species in anything like 100 counties! I've now hit 100 in just 5 counties. If I try really hard, I should be able to reach the 100 mark in another 5 counties over the next couple of years. That's the target I'm setting myself anyway: 100 species in 10 counties by the end of 2012. If nothing else, this will get me out birding on some of those days when I'd really rather veg out on the couch. 
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Another New Birding Site

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On Thursday morning I was lucky enough to have time to make a brief visit to Joseph S. and Lucie H. Cullinan Park in Ft. Bend County. This park is located in Sugarland, on SH6 just south of Voss Road and north of US90.

The park is much bigger than I expected and has a large lake, currently ringed with lily pads and bull-rushes, reminiscent of the lakes at Brazos Bend State Park. An observation tower and boardwalks make it easy to watch birds on and around the water.


The lake area was quiet this morning but I did spot a Little Blue Heron, an Anhinga, a Great Blue Heron, a Western Kingbird, a Chimney Swift (Texas year bird #215), Wood Ducks and families of Common Moorhens.

Anhinga

I followed a rather overgrown path from the parking area through the woods in the hope of accessing the far side of the lake. I never managed to reach the water but my walk turned up lots of common birds: Blue Jays, Tufted Titmice, Carolina Wrens, Northern Mockingbird, Morning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Different species of wildflowers were drawing in Gulf Fritillary butterflies, while dragonflies were also abundant.




The only mammal I saw was an armadillo which, unfortunately, had come off worse in an encounter with a vehicle.


My visit was all too brief but I liked the park and so will certainly drive over there again before too long.

P.S.
This trip boosted my Ft. Bend County list to 95 by adding Wood Duck, Chimney Swift, Eastern Wood-Pewee and Western Kingbird. Perhaps a second visit later in the year will take the list to the 100 mark.
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