Directions
The construction site is on the NE corner of Hwy 59 and Beltway 8 on the north side of Houston, not far south of the Bush Intercontinental Airport. The site consists of a huge area of open dirt (to be a parking lot) with a couple of water pits on the east side. To view this area, you need to be on the ground-level access road heading north, immediately north of Beltway 8. the birds move around a lot, sometimes being fairly close to the road, and sometimes very far away. This is a place that Cin-Ty Lee found. There are almost always good gull flocks there. The best place to park is on the frontage road of Beltway 8. Traffic is heavy - be sure to pull your car completely off the road on the east side of the feeder and be very careful in birding this site. PLEASE ask permission to enter the grounds by signing in at white foreman's trailer on Hwy 59 access road and following owner's instructions.
Guidelines
Posted by John O'Brien, 3/10/2008
1. Birders must sign in AND OUT at the headquarters trailer at the merge point of the 59 frontage road and the 8 frontage road.
2. Birders must remain inside their vehicles.
3. Once the workers leave, THE SITE IS CLOSED. There are sensors up on the site and people driving in sets off alarms that they must investigate.
4. When the site is closed, we are welcomed to view from the side (there is good viewing along the 8 frontage road next to the pond; lost of gulls cycle through there to bathe).
Both gentlemen were very friendly and very much want to accomodate us, but they said they will have to close the site to birders if they continue to have problems. So I urge everyone to do so. I was up there myself both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday I was out on the sidelines; Sunday the security guard actually came over to the side where I was scoping the birds and invited me to drive in. She is a wonderfully nice person. However, given the comments of the site managers today, I think it best not even to enter with the guard's invitation if the site is not active (i.e. Saturday after 12:00 and all day Sunday).
Guidelines
Posted by Gary Clark, 3/11/2008
In preparation for our Houston Chronicle column on the Iceland Gull, we talked to the foreman and project manager at the construction site. They hold no hard feelings toward birders because of the actions of a few, and they are happy to allow people on the site to view the array of gulls, as long as visitors follow the rules. Visitors should sign in at the construction trailer or security guard trailer when they arrive, stay inside their vehicles while on the site, and sign out upon leaving. If you want to walk the grounds, put on a hard hat and orange vest which the construction managers will provide. The site is normally closed on Sundays, so that action is not new.
The managers and construction crew are extraordinarily nice people, and I say let's return their politeness with equal politeness and, above all, respect.
