The urbanization of Houston doesn't leave much room for nature, but in south Houston, this fledgling area of greenspace, near the Willow Waterhold Bayou is serving several purposes. This retention pond, designed by the Harris County Flood District, controls floodwaters along the bayou. A closer look reveals something special.
Joy Hester, a memeber of the Houston Audubon Society, has had her eye on this park for some time now. The reason: rare birds are showing up here, right in middle of urban Houston.
"Actually its really interesting, because the natural habitat here probably at one time was coastal prairie and these big basins of water would not have been here, so its attracting birds of tremendous surpise," said Hester.
"We didn't want to just come out and just dig these big holes and hold stormwater, and that's it. We wanted them to look very natural and we wanted them to be environmentally friendly," added Heather Saucier of the Harris County Flood District.
So after planting thousands of trees and wetland plants, an astounding 120 species of birds, so far, call this home. Hester says the variety of birds, can be attributed to the the varied habitat of the new greenspace.
"We have these grassy slopes which are home to American Pippets, which I have never heard of anyone seeing this close in before. And in the deep water we get things like Hooded Mergansers, which are these knock your socks off birds that come in for the winter," said Hester.
"We only need these basins a few times a year to fill up with water when we have flooding conditions, but the rest of the time this area can serve as almost 300 acres of valuable habitat," said Saucier.
So it's a win,win...win situation. Flooding is prevented in Houston, birdwatchers have a new hotspot, and these birds can call this new place home.
Joy Hester, a memeber of the Houston Audubon Society, has had her eye on this park for some time now. The reason: rare birds are showing up here, right in middle of urban Houston.
"Actually its really interesting, because the natural habitat here probably at one time was coastal prairie and these big basins of water would not have been here, so its attracting birds of tremendous surpise," said Hester.
"We didn't want to just come out and just dig these big holes and hold stormwater, and that's it. We wanted them to look very natural and we wanted them to be environmentally friendly," added Heather Saucier of the Harris County Flood District.
So after planting thousands of trees and wetland plants, an astounding 120 species of birds, so far, call this home. Hester says the variety of birds, can be attributed to the the varied habitat of the new greenspace.
"We have these grassy slopes which are home to American Pippets, which I have never heard of anyone seeing this close in before. And in the deep water we get things like Hooded Mergansers, which are these knock your socks off birds that come in for the winter," said Hester.
"We only need these basins a few times a year to fill up with water when we have flooding conditions, but the rest of the time this area can serve as almost 300 acres of valuable habitat," said Saucier.
So it's a win,win...win situation. Flooding is prevented in Houston, birdwatchers have a new hotspot, and these birds can call this new place home.
