Greater Houston and the Texas Gulf Coast form one of North America’s premier birding corridors, and thanks to its nutrient-rich ecosystems and unique position as a resting place for millions of migrating birds, Texas bird enthusiasts can see quite the show all year long.
Preserving and protecting the habitats where avian life thrives take collaboration and commitment from all players. M2L Associates is fortunate to be adding premier green spaces that showcase the best of Texas avian viewing and diversity, especially in urban areas where parks and trails are increasingly important for mitigating flooding, reducing heat islands and filtering pollution. Here are three projects in our portfolio where birds and their habitats are on full display.
Arroyo Colorado World Birding Center
Located in Harlingen, Texas near the Mexican border, Arroyo Colorado World Birding Center is one of nine parks and nature preserves in the Rio Grande Valley collectively known as the World Birding Center. Arroyo Colorado is a quiet, wooded retreat surrounded by urban Harlingen, 173 acres of trails and parkland close to downtown, an international airport, and the hustle and bustle of city life.
M2L Associates partnered with local architect Megamorphosis to bring this World Birding Center location to life. Working on a multidisciplinary design team, M2L provided a site master plan, trail design, softscape design and environmental graphics for signage and wayfinding. The design team leaned into the coastal theme to complement the natural trail surfaces that wind through the largely undisturbed site, teeming with native plants and wildlife, with a focus on connecting viewing points to showcase the avian stars of the region. Amenities include a nature-theme picnic pavilion and restrooms, plus numerous nature-play and exploration opportunities like sand pits with “dinosaur-egg” climbing structures, fossilized animal footprints and prehistoric bird skeletons.
Visitors to this World Birding Center and adjacent parks can look forward to shaded, stroller-friendly interactive trails, dedicated bird blinds and water views to show off the best of the Rio Grande Valley’s unique wildlife habitat.
More information about birding at Arroyo Colorado World Birding Center
Willow Waterhole Greenway
Located only 2.7 miles south of Meyerland in the southwest Houston Westbury community, Willow Waterhole Greenway is a stunning oasis of nature that many Houstonians don’t even know exists. Relatively new as a Houston green space, Willow Waterhole Greenway was built in 2004 by the Harris County Flood Control District as both a park and flood-control site. More recently the greenway has been expanded to include six detention lakes that can hold up to 600 million gallons of stormwater runoff.
M2L Associates provides landscape architecture and tree preservation expertise assisting Gauge Engineers in creating an eight-mile trail system linking the greenway’s six lakes. Preserving and protecting existing trees, wildlife habitats and the site’s biodiverse environment are essential to this project, the first phase of a hike and bike trail system connecting the lakes and adjacent bayous.
The greenway is first and foremost a flood mitigation effort to protect adjacent homes and businesses from catastrophic flooding. But thanks to careful planning and preservation efforts, today Willow Waterhole Greenway is also an essential environmental protection area that is home to spectacular birding and wildlife. Willow Waterhole has earned a place on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s “Upper Texas Coast — Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail.”
Birders have observed more than 250 species of birds. The six wet-bottom detention lakes are well stocked with bass, catfish and sunfish, and canoes and kayaks are welcome, adding to the many viewing opportunities throughout the greenway.
More information about birding at Willow Waterhole Greenway
Sims Bayou Trail Sections 3 and 4 and Sunnyside Park Trail
The Sims Bayou Greenway Trail is a 20-mile, 10-foot-wide concrete hike-and-bike path that begins in southwest Houston and extends east to near Hobby Airport and the Houston Ship Channel. The expansive trail system includes north and south connectors for accessibility to city parks and nearby community destinations like schools and libraries. And thanks to the city’s steadfast commitment to adding green spaces and parkland to help address overlapping sustainability and environmental concerns, Houstonians using the city’s bayou trail systems can look forward to sharing these important habitats with our animal and avian friends.
M2L Associates is proud to have two trail systems that serve south Houston communities in its portfolio. In 2013, M2L completed a hike and bike trail at Sunnyside Park, in one of the oldest African-American communities in south Houston. Working closely with the city of Houston and the Houston Parks and Recreation Department, M2L provided a site master plan, trail and softscape design, and wayfinding signage that became a model for later development of green corridors in the area.
More recently, M2L worked on an important 5-mile segment of the Sims Bayou Trail known as Sections 3 and 4. Collaborating with engineering firm Walter P. Moore, M2L’s team developed a site master plan that prioritized safe, sustainable and environmentally sensitive design while connecting numerous city landmarks and respecting Harris County Flood Control and TxDOT rights of way and best practices. The project’s footprint included several bridges and grade transitions, which required considerable expertise to accommodate infrastructure challenges while protecting native habitats surrounding the bayou.
Today, these trails in south Houston along with their well-protected wildlife habitats provide Houstonians with improved recreation and wellness space, access to nearby Houston landmarks, dramatic views of the city’s skyline, and a front-row seat to Houston’s increasingly diverse wildlife and avian populations.
The investment in biodiversity is paying off for the birding community. The Houston Parks Board hosts conservation and volunteer events, nature walks and community plantings that ensure the long-term health of these habitats.
More information about Sims Bayou Greenway birding and conservation events