Natural History Wanderings

 Gary Regner Photography reports on 4/17/14

• Bluebonnets are now on the decline in Austin and are starting to go to seed. Paintbrush are still looking good and even more are showing up. To the west of Austin, some of the shores of Lake Travis have large stands of bluebonnets. Look for areas that are normally under water. Many may only be accessible by boat, but several parks have nice displays.
• LCRA Muleshoe Bend Park – hundreds of acres of bluebonnets, at peak now [Rating 5]
• LCRA Turkey Bend Park – I could see from across the lake that this park had bluebonnets along the shore as well [Rating 4]
• LCRA Gloster Bend Park – I could also see from across the lake that this park had bluebonnets along the shore, not sure how accessible they are

See older reports at: Gary Regner Photography.

Excerpt from Wildflower Haven report on bluebonnets in Central Texas:

Visited Muleshoe Bend park on 4/15 & 4/16 for sunset and sunrise. Bluebonnets are covering the shores where there is usually water. I visited this same place in 2007 and it was the same, only this year is quite a bit better. Other areas of Lake Travis have bluebonnets as well, including Turkey Bend and some other areas along the shores of northern Lake Travis. Many would only be accessible by boat.

The majority of the flowers were at maximum peak today, tallFor pure, large monocultures of bluebonnets, this is the best I’ve seen this year. Must be over a hundred acres of them, maybe more, in Muleshoe alone. I could see Turkey Bend across the lake and there were many there as well.

See photo at:  A Literal Lake of Bluebonnets! – Austin and South Central Texas.