By Brandt Mannchen

After heavy rain showers in the early morning, the Houston Sierra Club arrived and had a great time at Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge (APCNWR).  Nine Sierrans ventured along the Sycamore and Horseshoe Lake Trails and took the auto tour and saw enough blooming wildflowers for a lifetime.

You could hardly move without stepping on wildflowers.  They were in their wild splendor and included: 

Texas Dandelion, Mexican Primrose, False Indigo, Spiderwort, Dayflower, Queen’s Delight, Blue-eyed Grass, Prairie and Land-leaf Coreopsis, Prickly Poppy, Southern Dewberry, Scarlet Pimpernel, Carolina Mallow, Virginia Plantain, Texas Phlox, Drummond Phlox, Spatterdock, White Water Lilly, Meadow Pink, Water Plantain, Texas Thistle, Bull Thistle, Bull Nettle, Common Sunflower, Wine Cup, Sida, Yellow Wood Sorrel, Eastern Gama Grass, Yellow Gallardia, Cudweed, Larkspur, Old Plainsman, Toadflax, Pepper Grass, Herbertia, Evening Primrose, Sensitive Briar, Texas Verbena, Morning Glory, Yellow Flax, Frog Fruit, Indian Paintbrush, Bluebonnet, etc., etc., etc.

We found an American Alligator sunning itself on the bank of the San Bernard River and Red-Eared Sliders could be seen resting in the sunlight.  Numerous butterflies visited nectar sites called wildflowers!  Two White-tailed Deer made their way through the prairie ahead of us and disappeared in the floodplain of the river.

We also saw many birds which included:

Western Kingbird, Killdeer, Mockingbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Caracara, Meadow Lark, Mourning Dove, American Crow, Red-Winged Blackbird, Northern Harrier, Barn Swallow, Moorhen, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, White Ibis, and a cormorant. 

The wind provided a breezy complement to the partly sunny and cloudy sky.  More rain was expected in the afternoon, but we had a great lunch under American Sycamore trees near the visitor center.  It was just what the doctor ordered for me.  I needed to get away from the hustle and bustle of Houston.

Anyone who wants to see acres of wildflowers of all different shapes and sizes should visit APCNWR from April until June.  You will surely be surprised and take home a contentment that cannot be replicated or denied.  Hooray for our blooming friends!