By Brandt Mannchen
On April 12, 2025, the Houston Sierra Club (HSC) visited Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge (APCNWR). Ten people enjoyed a nearly perfect day of sun, light wind, and lovely Spring weather and each other. The company was superb!
We hiked on the Sycamore and Horseshoe Lake Trails and took the auto tour. Some of the wildlife that we saw included:
Broad-banded Water Snake, White Ibis, Blue-winged Teal, Little Blue Heron, Green Anole, Common Gallinule, Pied-billed Grebe, Bull Frog, Black and Turkey Vultures, Northern Harrier, American Kestrel, Red-wing Blackbird, Upland Sand piper, Morning Dove, Green Tree Frog, Loggerhead Shrike, Northern Mocking Bird, Eastern Meadow Lark, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Savannah Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird, Red-tailed Hawk, Great Egret, Tufted Titmouse, Northern Cardinal, Green Heron, Bob White, White-eyed Vireo, Killdeer, Swainson’s Hawk, Barn and Cliff Swallows, Double-crested Cormorant, and American Coot.
Wildflowers were everywhere and included:
Texas Dandelion, Mexican Primrose, False Indigo, Spiderwort, Queen’s Delight, Blue-eyed Grass, White-eyed Grass, Prickly Poppy, Southern Dewberry, Scarlet Pimpernel, Virginia Plantain, Texas Phlox, Drummond Phlox, Spatterdock, White Water Lilly, Meadow Pink, Water Plantain, Bull Thistle, Bull Nettle, Wine Cup, Sida, Yellow Wood Sorrel, Cudweed, Larkspur, Old Plainsman, Toadflax, Pepper Grass, Herbertia, Evening Primrose, Texas Verbena, Indian Paintbrush, Bluebonnet, Sow Thistle, Silky Evolvulus, Venus Looking Glass, vetch, and Corn Salad. So many wildflowers, so little time!
It was great to see that the new headquarters/visitors’ center was finished. Last year there was work to be done but this year construction was complete, the old building had been taken down, and the area relandscaped.
If you love wildflowers and wildlife visit APCNWR. You’ll be surprised and delighted at the diversity and beauty of Nature. You’ll take home irreplaceable and indelible memories.
Texas verbena photo courtesy of Linda Mundwiller.