Yellow Hues at Balcones Canyonlands

Whether you go on a long hike or a short walk, the sights at Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge will always please you. In the fall, you have vibrant colors from the Prairie Flameleaf Sumac (Rhus lanceolata) and Roosevelt Weed (Baccharis neglecta), creating impressionist scenes with Hill Country plants, as shown in the featured image. With trails for every endurance level, the Refuge is a constant destination for people who want to photograph wildlife and wildflowers, one step at a time.

Springtime is when you see more visitors at the Refuge, and it is one of my favorite times to go there. Wildlife and wildflower lovers flock to the park. Admission is free, and the park remains open as long as there is daylight. Besides the number of flowers and insects one can find, there is also another thing a visitor can count on: cell phone reception is very spotty or non-existent. You may get a signal in the higher elevations, but if you stay close to the creek and lower-elevation trails, you’ll be in complete isolation. What a way to enjoy nature!

The following are a very small sample of what you can expect to see in the spring. The first image is the Scarlet Leather Flower (Clematis texensis), which is endemic to the Edwards Plateau. Seeing these flowers blooming along the creek is always a welcome sight. They are only found in this part of Texas.

Next, you can expect to see fields of Texas Prairie Parsley (Polytaenia texana) adding yellow hues to the landscape. With them, you can also expect to see Western Honey Bees (Apis mellifera) and other pollinators.

Don’t forget to look at the ground, too. You never know whether you will see a lizard or a beautiful Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme) butterfly resting.

Whatever your eyes are looking for, you can be assured that the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge will please you, one step at a time.

That is the story behind the shots. For more like this, enjoy these related stories: Balcones Canyonlands NWR, FlowerHour, Landscapes, Macros, One Step, Orange sulphur, Parks, Scarlet leather flower, Sunday Stills, Texas, Texas Prairie Parsley, Western Honey Bee, Wildflowers, and Wildlife. Until the next shoot, keep chasing the light and the wonders it reveals.

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• Posted for Terri’s Flower Hour #43.
• Posted for Terri’s Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge: Yellow Hues Featuring Ochre and Saffron
• Posted for Pepper’s One Step at a Time #22.

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Sources:

• U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service — Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge — https://www.fws.gov/refuge/balcones-canyonlands
• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center — Rhus lanceolata (Prairie Flameleaf Sumac) — https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=rhla3
• Native Plant Society of Texas — Baccharis neglecta (Roosevelt Weed) — https://www.npsot.org/posts/native-plant/baccharis-neglecta/
• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center — Clematis texensis (Scarlet Clematis) — https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=clte2
• Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center — Polytaenia texana (Texas Prairie Parsley) — https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=POTE3
• Butterflies and Moths of North America — Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme) — https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Colias-eurytheme