A Banner Year for Birding at Cullinan

The word is out that Cullinan Park is a must-visit birding destination, and the eBird statistics confirm it. Birding was great in 2020 as people flocked to the outdoors during the pandemic lockdown with a total of 222 species observed and a total park bird list of 264 species. We thought that would be hard to beat, but 2022 ended with stellar numbers including 287 total species and 250 bird species observed this year, earning Cullinan the ranking of 18^th top eBird hotspot in Texas out of 6,253 – truly incredible for an inland location. Most of the top hotspots are located near the coast where shorebirds add to their numbers. Fort Bend’s Brazos Bend State Park ranked 28^th with 233 species. The full list of top birding hotspots can be seen here:

Tinyhttps://ebird.org/tx/region/US-TX/hotspots?yr=cur

 

What made 2022 such a great year? Here are a few reasons:

• A whopping 1,625 eBird checklists were submitted. The park is birded almost every single day, typically by multiple birders with a large number of dedicated local birders, birders who travel from around the state to bird at Cullinan, and birders who make it a point to visit the park when in the Houston area. More birders = more birds observed.
• Two bridges over Oyster Creek were completed this summer, opening up a new trail on the airport side of the creek which has been very productive and yielded new species.
• The Bird Viewing Area created in Nov/Dec of 2021 began attracting birds, and our photographers captured some great photos at the drips – especially during Spring and Fall migration.
• Our 2022 Photography Contest entries and winning photos were incredible and drew even more interest in the park.
• The summer drought caused White Lake to dry up, creating mud flats that attracted migrating shorebirds never seen before at the park.
• A total of 20 new species was recorded in eBird in 2022, far surpassing the 6 added in 2021, 13 in 2020, and 5 in 2019. Of those, 14 had photographs submitted.

 

20 New Species in 2022

1. Rusty Blackbird	1 Dec	Henry Jerng	11. Semipalmated Sandpiper	23 Jul	Ricko Wardhana
2. Western Tanager	28 Oct	Robbin Mallett	12. Stilt Sandpiper	18 Jul	Jorge Pérez Reyes
3.  Band-tailed Pigeon	26 Oct	David Dovalina	13. Willet	1 Jul	Ute Welk
4. Broad-tailed Hummingbird	17 Oct	Robbin Mallett	14. Limpkin	23 May	Kerry Padilla
5. Barn Owl	23 Sep	Bill Scott	15. Bobolink	2 May	Steve Welborn
6. Rufous Hummingbird	19 Aug	James Barnes	16. Grasshopper Sparrow	17 Apr	Robert Opperman
7. Reddish Egret	19 Aug	Robert Opperman	17. Pacific-slope Flycatcher	12 Mar	David Lewis
8. Buff-breasted Sandpiper	28 Jul	Albert Ribes	18. Buff-bellied Hummingbird	29 Jan	James Barnes
9. Semipalmated Plover	27 Jul	Albert Ribes	19. Brown Pelican	10 Jan	Albert Ribes
10. Baird's Sandpiper	24 Jul	James Barnes	20. Brewer’s Blackbird	6 Jan	David Goff

 

Cullinan Park 2022 Top eBirders

RANK	EBIRDER	TOTAL SPECIES
1	Albert Ribes	202
2	Henry Jerng	187
3	Robert Opperman	176
4	Robbin Mallett	169
5	David Goff	147
6	Mark Scheuerman	137
7	Suzanne Mottin	135
8	James Barnes	134
9	Lisa Purnell	133
10	Nigel Purnell	123

 

Cullinan Park All-Time Top eBirders 

RANK	EBIRDER	TOTAL SPECIES
1	Albert Ribes	259
2	Henry Jerng	244
3	Robbin Mallett	223
4	Ryan Shaw	209
5	James Barnes	206
6	Robert Opperman	201
7	Bill Schneider	198
8	Janey Woodley	197
9	Bernd Gravenstein	192
9	Mark Scheuerman	192

 

Thanks to all the new birders, avid bird chasers, nature photographers and nature enthusiasts who enjoy our birds and other wildlife. We greatly appreciate your sightings, incredible images and love for Cullinan!

 

Sidebar Article

eBird is the world’s largest biodiversity-related science projects, with more than 100 million bird sightings contributed annually by eBirders around the world and an average participation growth rate of approximately 20% year over year. It tracks bird sightings and makes it easy to compile statistics. A collaborative enterprise with hundreds of partner organizations, thousands of regional experts, and hundreds of thousands of users, eBird is managed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The eBird app can be downloaded for free and used to track bird sightings and contribute to citizen science. For details, visit https://ebird.org/about

 

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