It's snow-time. Or at least snow-on-the-prairie time here at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge. The first snow is starting to show. In good years, huge patches of snow-on-the-prairie appear and look like drifts of snow. This year, some of the plants are blooming when they only have one small stalk, so I don't expect more than a few little snow showers.
Other flowers are contributing to the snowy effect.
Even our great egrets and cattle egrets are adding to the snowy effect when tLughey congregate into huge roosts each evening.
Other wildflowers are also blooming, even in one of the worst droughts in history.
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| A small drift of snow-on-the-prairie (Euphorbia bicolor) |
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| Snow-on-the-prairie |
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| A plot of gauara (Guara lindheimeri) |
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| False dandelion seed head - these often grow in large groups and the seed head is equal in beauty to the flower |
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| Great egret, cattle egret, and neotropical cormorant rookery in the Skillern Unit |
Other wildflowers are also blooming, even in one of the worst droughts in history.
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| Basket flower (Oenothera speciosa) - see the basket around the bud? |
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| Water primrose (Lugwigia peploides) |
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| Eryngo is making huge purple drifts |
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| Bluebells ( Eustoma exaltatum) are blooming in many places |
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| Yellow Puff (Neptunia lutea) makes a great little ground cover |
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| Green Milkweed (Asclepias viridis) is our most common native milkweed |
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| Pickeralweed (Pontederia cordata) - I rescued this ahead of the roadside mowers for the Visitor Center Pond |
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Showy evening primrose (Oenothera speciosa) - they've been blooming since February and make a lovely weaver in the native garden. These southern plants bloom in the daytime. |
Fabulous wildflowers! And how wonderful to see the busy rookery. I appreciate that you identify all the flowers with their scientific name.
ReplyDeleteJust gorgeous! Every single flower. I am amazed at that rookery. I'd love to be able to observe one such as that. We have a Great Blue rookery just across the harbor, but it is only accessible by boat, and not in the best viewing area. They sure are noisy, though!!
ReplyDeleteActually the picture is of mostly a roost. We hope to rehab it with plantings of button bush and cypress and add more trees and understory shrubs/trees along the trail. But a few neotropical cormorants and an Anhinga nested there. The BIG rookery is at Boy Scout Woods in High Island and it is just finishing up. Thousands of birds nest there including roseate spoonbills, great egrets, neotropical cormorants, tri-colored egrets and cattle egrets. It is a MUST see between March and June. Here is a link to a discussion about it (http://www.houstonaudubon.org/default.aspx?MenuItemID=894&MenuGroup=HighIsland2&&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1) and I have some pictures up on my webshots link. Some are in Anahuac albums and some are in High Island albums. I have a picture of two roseate spoonbills fighting over a stick. You should find lots more pictures if you do a search for High Island, TX or Smith Woods, High Island, TX. This is one of several Audubon sites in the immediate area.
ReplyDeleteI misspoke. The rookery is at Smith Oaks, only blocks away from Boy Scout Woods which is one of the finest migrant traps in the country.
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