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Adam, who wishes not to use his last name, listens to birds communicating while bird watching Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021, at Glenwood Cemetery in Houston. Adam came to the cemetery to look for a red-naped sapsucker. The bird was rare to see in Harris County but was spotted by birder Cin-Ty Lee a week before. Many birders have came to the cemetery to find it since.
Birders Letha Slagle, from left, JR Ridgeway and Mark Kulsad go out for bird watching before the end of the year Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021, at Bishop Fiorenza Park in Houston. The group saw 31 species on the day.
Birders Letha Slagle, Mark Kulsad and JR Ridgeway go out for bird watching before the end of the year Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021, at Bishop Fiorenza Park in Houston. The group saw 31 species on the day.
JR Ridgeway looks for birds with binoculars before the end of the year Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021, at Bishop Fiorenza Park in Houston. The group saw 31 species on the day.
JR Ridgeway looks for birds with binoculars before the end of the year Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021, at Bishop Fiorenza Park in Houston. The group saw 31 species on the day.
Letha Slagle talks to Mark Kulsad while bird watching before the end of the year Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021, at Bishop Fiorenza Park in Houston. The group saw 31 species on the day.
Mark Kulsad watches birds with a spotting cope while bird watching before the end of the year Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021, at Bishop Fiorenza Park in Houston. The group saw 31 species on the day.
Birder Letha Slagle spots birds with binoculars while bird watching before the end of the year Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021, at Bishop Fiorenza Park in Houston. The group saw 31 species on the day.
Birder Letha Slagle spots birds with a spotting scope while bird watching before the end of the year Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021, at Bishop Fiorenza Park in Houston. The group saw 31 species on the day.
Birders Letha Slagle and Mark Kulsad spot birds with binoculars while bird watching before the end of the year Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021, at Bishop Fiorenza Park in Houston. The group saw 31 species on the day.
Water birds rest on an island Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021, at Bishop Fiorenza Park in Houston. The group saw 31 species on the day.
American White Pelican flying over Bishop Fiorenza Park Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021, in Houston. The group saw 31 species on the day.
American White Pelican flying over Bishop Fiorenza Park Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021, in Houston. The group saw 31 species on the day.
A Little Blue Heron flying over Bishop Fiorenza Park Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021, in Houston. The group saw 31 species on the day.
Birder Mark Kulsad tries to take photographs of a red-shouldered hawk while bird watching before the end of the year Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021, at Bishop Fiorenza Park in Houston. The group saw 31 species on the day.
Birder Letha Slagle spots birds with a spotting scope while bird watching before the end of the year Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021, at Bishop Fiorenza Park in Houston. The group saw 31 species on the day.
A Tricolored Heron is fishing at Bishop Fiorenza Park Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021, in Houston. The group saw 31 species on the day.
A Little Blue Heron flying over Bishop Fiorenza Park Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021, in Houston. The group saw 31 species on the day.
American White Pelican flying over Bishop Fiorenza Park Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021, in Houston. The group saw 31 species on the day.
Birder Letha Slagle spots birds with a spotting scope while bird watching before the end of the year Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021, at Bishop Fiorenza Park in Houston. The group saw 31 species on the day.
Letha Slagle takes photographs of birds while Mark Kulsad looks for birds with binoculars while bird watching before the end of the year Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021, at Bishop Fiorenza Park in Houston. The group saw 31 species on the day.
Birder Letha Slagle wears a pair of bird earrings to bird watching before the end of the year Thursday, Dec. 30, 2021, at Bishop Fiorenza Park in Houston. Slagle and her friends saw 31 species on the day.
Letha Slagle really wanted to end the year by spotting a Couch’s kingbird.
She and a friend spent two hours on a golf cart Wednesday, at first failing to find the yellow-breasted creature where it had been seen near Bear Creek. After several hours of birding the next morning at another park on Eldridge, she took a shot and returned to the golf course for the kingbird - finally locating a breeding pair. With that, she upped her count for 2021: a whopping 303 different bird species she located in Harris County.
Slagle is one of hundreds of local birders who annually list their finds on a Cornell University site called eBird, the almost definitive catalogue for enthusiasts. Her “big year” mirrored an active one for Harris County as a whole, where Slagle and her co-birders said they noticed more people participating and listing higher numbers of species in the avian-rich urban landscape.
“A really good birder can maybe find 280 if they’re not doing it every day,” said Slagle, a retired geologist. “But if you’re driving yourself really crazy…” She trailed off, laughing.
She and a friend, Mark Kulstad, spent Thursday morning at the Archbishop Joseph A. Fiorenza Park on Eldridge, not intending to find anything in particular but knowing they could be surprised by something . They were taking part in the Christmas Bird Count, a national effort each year to take census of bird species around the holidays. Coinciding with the end of the yearly eBird competition, Slagle was also slated to be the number two finisher in the county, although placing didn’t matter to her or Kulstad.
They bird for the love of nature, they said, and the thrill of serendipity.
“Birds certainly are random when they show up, especially rare ones,” said Kulstad, a professor emeritus of philosophy at Rice University. “It’s the best kind of psychological effect.”
The birders set up two telescopes at the west Harris County park, a flood detention area that doubles as a hotspot for birdwatchers. Along with another friend, J.R. Ridgeway, they stood with their binoculars and cameras and pointed out various species dipping in and out of Brays Bayou.
Slagle saw two gadwalls, causing Kulstad to rush to his telescope in excitement. The humidity fogged his glasses, making him miss the duck, a bird on his list.
eBird has become a place for “citizen science” — birders there have tagged locations for 753 species in the United States, according to the site. They sometimes attach photos or sounds, a near-requirement for rarer species to be considered a valid listing, Slagle and Kulstad said.
Cin-Ty Lee, a geology professor at Rice University, is set to take the top county spot this year with 317 different species sighted. Along with quicker technology and social media, eBird has almost revolutionized the hobby in creating faster collaboration between birders, he said.
Lee compared it to a real-life Pokémon GO, a popular game where people search for specific Pokémon and share their progress online. The birding community is close-knit, and posting on eBird or social media allows people to chase each others big finds: Just the other day, Kulstad got an alert about a rare Flame-colored tanager in San Antonio, so he high-tailed it there to see for himself.
“Twenty or 30 years ago, it was harder to do a ‘big year’ because you really had to work,” Lee said. “Today with the information coming much more quickly, it’s easier.”
Lee teaches a class about birds at Rice, where students can also find him nearly every dawn watching and listening for the fliers. Harris County is a special spot for birds because of its location between the east and west, its subtropical climate and its tendency to get northern birds during cold fronts, he said.
Rice, bordering the Houston Museum District and Texas Medical Center, is its own hotspot for birding because of its more lush setting in a big city, according to Lee.
On Thursday, before Slagle found her Couch’s kingbird, she walked more than two miles for more sightings at Fiorenza Park. She played birding calls from her phone, drawing out a White-throated sparrow, and a walking passerby helped her and Kulstad locate a bald eagle perched atop a tower across the lake.
By the end of a two-hour walk, they found 29 species — just over one-third of what they expected to find, possibly affected by the 77 degree day, they said.
For Slagle, the goal is to compete against herself and draw others to birding, she said. In chairing the education committee for the Houston Audubon Society, she said she aims to get younger populations more involved through new programs.
The Houston birding community is already diverse — with members spanning from CEOs to retirees to plumbers, Slagle said — and includes a growing contingent of younger people.
Slagle and Kulstad’s joy for birding is palpable. The geologist created a list Wednesday night of seven reasons she loves birding, with advocacy securing a major spot.
“We’re all about sharing this love of nature to other people,” Slagle said. “If people don’t love it, they’re not going to protect it.”
Samantha Ketterer is a Houston Chronicle reporter covering higher education.
She joined the staff as a breaking news reporter in 2018. She later covered criminal justice and the Harris County courthouse.
Samantha, who is from Houston's suburbs, graduated from the University of Texas at Austin and is a proud alumna of The Daily Texan. She is a former reporting fellow for the Dallas Morning News' state bureau and a former city hall reporter for The Galveston County Daily News.
Larhonda Biggles is still seeking justice for her son years after his death at the Harris County jail, which led to the firing of nearly a dozen guards.