[texbirds] Forwarding California Birder RFI for Houston Area Birding

From: Ron Weeks <ronweeks@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2013 16:32:30 -0700 (PDT)
Texbirders,
 
This gentlemen is looking for birding spots in a precise area of SW Houston and 
is having issues posting to TexBirds.  Please reply directly to him.
 
Ron Weeks
Lake Jackson
 
Hi Folks,
I sent this email to David Sarkozi and Cin-Ty Lee (I haven't heard back from 
Cin-Ty) before I finally succeeded in signing up for Texbirds.  I am now 
receiving emails from Texbirds, but am unable (so far) to email to the list.

My boss is sending me to Houston from August 4th to 9th
for a training class at the Advanced Health Education Center (8502 Tybor
Drive, Houston, TX 77074). and I booked my hotel room down the road, one
mile away at the Crown Plaza near Sugar Land at 9090 Southwest Freeway Houston, 
TX 77074.
I will not have a rental car. They will have a shuttle bus that takes us
to class in the morning, and back to the hotel in the afternoon. It's
only a mile, but I don't know if it's safe (and/or legal) to walk over to
the hotel. I am assuming that it is, but won't know, until I get there.
Regardless, according to Google Maps, there is a creek and a couple of
ponds or lakes near the hotel, and I might get lucky, and see alll kinds
of neat Texas birds, before or after class.

I am trying to get an idea of what birds will be in that neighborhood,
by studying eBird, and it sounds like that area of Houston has a lot of
neat birds, but there are no eBird postings within 2 miles of my hotel. I
don't know if this is because (a) birders don't bird that area, so they
don't post birds in the area, or (b) that whole area where my hotel is
located is all paved over, with no trees or water, despite how it looks on
Google maps.

Ready for a funny joke? I have seen all of the hummingbirds of the U.S.
except for Ruby-throated Hummingbird; which would still be a life bird. I
am bringing my Canon T3i camera with the 400 mm image stabilized telephoto
lens.

If there are any birders near my hotel and class room who have hummingbird
and seed feeders at their house, and I could visit them after class, that
would be wonderful. I can take the bus, or walk. I walk a lot, so
walking 1 or 2 miles one way in the afternoon heat won't kill me. I'll
just take a shower, when I get back to my hotel.

Just for laughs, here is my fantasy list:
American Aligator (I have never seen one)
Armadillo 
Black-bellied Wh Duck
Fulvous Wh Duck
Roseate Spoonbill
Tricolored Heron
Little Blue Heron
Reddish Egret
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
YB Cuckoo
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (I have never seen one)
Common NIghthawk
Chuck Will's Widow
Boat-tailed Grackle (I have never seen one)
Bachman's Sparrow
Henslow's Sparrow
Red-cockaded Woodpecker (the only U.S. woodpecker that I have never seen)
Any eastern warbler will be admired, and photographed
Swallow-tailed Kite
Any "Texas" raptor e.g. Caracara or Harris' Hawk
Chimney Swifts       Seaside Sparrow

Okay, I'll leave it at that, for now. Hope to hear from you.

Tom

PS: Know anything about Jack Windsor? He is/was a birder in Lufkin. He
took me down into Mexico on a great trip 15 years ago. Rose-throated
Becard, Lineated Woodpecker, etc.
 
Thomas Geza Miko, 
http://www.tgmiko.com/
653 S. Indian Hill Blvd., unit C 
Claremont, CA 91711 
U.S.A.
Home: 909.445.1456
Mobile: 909.241.3300
Edit your Freelists account settings for TEXBIRDS at 
//www.freelists.org/list/texbirds

Reposting of traffic from TEXBIRDS is prohibited without seeking permission 
from the List Owner
[texbirds] Forwarding California Birder RFI for Houston Area Birding

Other related posts:
