Earth, Wind, and Fire

November 17, 2017 ~ shoreacres ~ 49 Comments

Scorched but resolute after a prescribed burn, broadleaf cattails (Typha latifolia) stand tall in a Brazoria Wildlife Refuge slough, their fluff a token of the regeneration and new life to come.

Comments always are welcome.

Shedding Circumstance

September 21, 2017 ~ shoreacres ~ 60 Comments

There’s nothing particularly charming about flood waters. Muddy, debris-filled and insistent, they rage indiscriminately, sparing nothing in their path.

Nonetheless, once waters recede, tokens of their presence can be surprisingly delicate. Unbroken grasses bend beneath invisible flows; trees wear faint watermarks with pride.

Among the jumbled plants, a few leaves dangle. Their thin, crisp coating of sand has begun flaking away; their striated surface recalls a season of growth.

Given over to death, they echo life: stirring before the wind, they murmur and sigh, casting off remnants of a strange and fearsome time.

Comments always are welcome.

Summer Storm

July 23, 2017 ~ shoreacres ~ 39 Comments

Although I often post images of the flowers. birds, and insects populating the Brazoria Wildlife Refuge, it recently occurred to me that I’ve never shown wider views of the Refuge itself.

Its 44,414 acres of prairies, ponds, marshes, and sloughs provide ever-changing delights. When summer heat and humidity bring their own sort of change to the sky, the delights only multiply.

Comments always are welcome.

The Pleasure of Unexpected Treasure

July 8, 2017July 8, 2017 ~ shoreacres ~ 46 Comments

Yellow rain lily (Zephyranthes pulchella)

After a friend and I discovered great swaths of bluebells and eryngo at the Brazoria Wildlife Refuge, I decided to return for a day of solo exploration, and July 4 was my opportunity.

Stopping for a quick survey of the planted gardens, I noticed what I assumed to be a late Texas dandelion blooming in the mowed grass edging the parking lot. A second look revealed something entirely different. A yellow rain lily was glowing in the sunlight, and at the very moment I recognized it, my day was complete.

I first encountered one of these lilies at a local nature center, and spent a good bit of time trying to identify it. Later, I found patches of them at Armand Bayou, and in the process of writing about them, satisfied myself that I’d found Zephyranthes smallii.

Still, my original identification had been provisional, so I emailed a pair of photos to Thomas Adams, botanist at the Mid-Coast National Wildlife Complex, which includes the Brazoria refuge. After noting that it’s sometimes difficult to distinguish between Zephyranthes citrina and Zephyranthes pulchella, he added that, given the equal size of the stamens and the short perianth tube, it seemed likely that I had stumbled across Zephyranthes pulchella: a Texas native that historically has been found close to Brazoria County.

Other surprises would come that day, but nothing could equal this bit of explosive color — an example of floral fireworks that seemed made for a day of celebration.