By Brandt Mannchen
I was early on my drive to the Katy Prairie Conservancy’s (KPC) Indiangrass Prairie at their field office in Grimes County. I stopped at KPC’s observation platform at Warren Lake on the 6,000-acre Warren Ranch. I could see a lot of ducks, but they were too far away to identify. I have got to get a “stopping scope”!
As I drove away, I saw a large, brown, bird, a raptor, fly overhead and into the prairie horizon. It was big and looked like a juvenile Bald Eagle, but I was not sure. There are always surprises on the Katy Prairie.
I got to Indiangrass Prairie about 8:30 am. David and Louis were already there, talking about what the world was doing. I said “hello” and went inside the field office and said “Hi” to Lan, Julie, Isabel, and others who volunteer or work for KPC. They are a good crew and it was a pleasure to work with them today as the Houston Sierra Club provided a service outing workday for the Katy Prairie.
Soon others began to arrive. By the time 9 am rolled around there were at least 9 Sierrans and a few other volunteers. We laboriously filled out the sign-in forms and liability waivers. Then Lan talked about what we were going to do. We would dig up Brazilian Vervain, a non-native invasive plant species that overgrows the prairie, and also plant native wildflowers and grasses, like Gulf Mulhy and Purple Lovegrass, to replace the vervain.
As I walked with Lan on the Ann Hamilton Trail, I heard a popping in the distance. It was a nearby private property where they target shoot. I saw a hawk flying in the distance and the sun peaked out of the partly cloudy blue sky with a friendly breeze blowing the Switchgrass, Little Bluestem, and dead stalks of Rattlesnake Master plants. Dewberry flowers were already out even though this was mid-February, Spring was in the air!
We spread out along the trail and began to dig. After we dug up the vervain, we shook the dirt off the roots and threw it on the trail. For three hours we worked persistently. We cleared, on both sides, probably over 100 feet of severely infested prairie. At times, people would stop digging and take the potted wildflowers and native grasses and plant them where vervain had been. We also took mixed grass and wildflower seeds, placed them on bare earth, and tamped them down.
Finally, we were through. As we walked the trail back to the field office we saw a Crested Caracara and a Great Blue Heron. A few wildflowers were blooming including Wine Cup and what I thought was a yellow aster.
As we approached the field office, a Northern Harrier flew erratically on the far side of Indiangass Prairie. What really made me happy was seeing 25 to 30 Sandhill Cranes call and slowly catch thermals, circle, and rise up into the air right overhead. It is hard to beat seeing Sandhill Cranes!
We had a great potluck lunch with everyone, volunteers, Sierrans, and staff, joining in for a noisy and happy lunch. The food tasted great, like it always does after you have finished physical labor, and the company was outstanding.
We bade goodbye to our great KPC “hosts”, and headed to the observation platform. We met a couple with a spotting scope who said there were scores of Pintail Ducks on the far side of Warren Lake. We climbed the platform and enjoyed the cool breeze of the afternoon and we scoped out the shoreline for birds, hawks, caracaras, ducks, and vultures.
It was a good feeling to be among friends after having done something good for the Earth and the Katy Prairie. As I waved goodbye to everyone, I thought to myself that my day could not have been better. Thank you, Katy Prairie!