Flora of the Red Corral Ranch

 Conditions seem to be just right all along a swath of south central Texas for Snow on the Mountain.  Everywhere you look it seems to be “snowing” even in September.  We’ve found this flower from Round Top to Austin, to San Marcos to Wimberley.  The Red Corral Ranch is no exception.

 On our walk to the pond, populated by about a gazillion frogs, we found bees quite attracted to the Buffalo Bur which lined the sides.

Who won the Battle?

 On a morning’s walk at Red Corral Ranch we headed toward The Pond.  On the way we found a spider and a grasshopper in a life and death struggle.  One would have bet on the spider.  However, we watched for some time.  All of the sudden, the spider disappeared having been viciously kicked by the grasshopper.  The grasshopper eventually broke the web and escaped

Porcupine Texas

 Porcupine Texas is not Porcupine, Texas.  Porcupines in Texas are even more surprising.

We have a favorite spot we enjoy for escaping the hustle-bustle of every day duties and obligations. Part of the reason for coming to the Red Corral Ranch near Wimberley, Texas is the wildlife. We have always seen deer and Golden Cheeked Warblers and Ladderbacked Woodpeckers. This time we were treated to porcupine. I don’t know about the rest of you, but the western US is associated with porcupines in my mind. In point of fact, the only other porcupine I’ve ever seen was in Colorado. So, to discover one in Texas is a big deal. This one ambled along slowly chomping on the woody vegetation. We had almost begun to prepare our breakfast when, out the kitchen window of the cabin, we saw this clumsy dark ball of an animal engaged in its breakfast.



Porcupines are supposed to enjoy forested areas or areas where there are rock ledges which afford crevices where they can den or hide.  They are supposed to enjoy pines but will inhabit brushy areas.   Okay, most of that fits this ranch.  Much of the ranch is forested, but not with pines.  The surrounding forest consists of Scrub oaks, Live oaks and Western Red Cedar.  There is considerable relief to the topography, and limestone ledges are present everywhere.

We did approach the animal cautiously.  No, they don’t shoot their quills, but for a clumsy animal they can quickly jump and flap that tail at you.  You’ll regret that.  Okay, close enough for a few pictures and that’s all.

Ladder-Backs, Broad-wings and more at the Red Corral

We escaped once again to a favorite R&R place, the Red Corral Ranch between Wimberly and Blanco, Texas. There is a cabin stuck way back in the woods where one can lounge around, read, listen to the silence and relax. Carolina Chickadees and Tufted Titmice flit about the cabin grounds.



Of course, if one wishes, there are plenty of trails through the ranch to explore. One of those trails, appropriately called the Nature Trail, follows the creek from the cabin to the main lodge. It is easy walking, about a mile long, and takes you past open spaces and along cliffs and by terrain where, if one is lucky, one might spot a Golden Cheeked Warbler. Yet, even if one doesn’t there is other avifauna about. On one such walk, we spotted first a female Ladder-Backed Woodpecker and then the male in the oak grove. The sexes look much alike with the exception of red on the head of the male, which the female lacks. The face of this bird is distinctive, and this is what caught our eye. We, also, had a Hermit Thrush run the trail before us as we pressed onward. Pausing as if to wait on us to catch up, it slowly lifted and lowered its reddish tail. Turning once to show us its spotted breast, it darted for cover and left the trail to us.

We walked several trails in addition to the Nature Trail; the Goddess Trail, the Pond Trail and its unmarked offshoot to the north pass a windmill on top of a rise. We saw White Winged Dove, Northern Cardinals, Scrub Jay, Spotted Towhees, Vesper Sparrow, American Robins, Turkey Vultures, and two kettles of Black Vultures. The area just northeast of the Pond netted a pair of soaring Broad-winged Hawks.

The fact that this ranch is managed for the protection of the Golden Cheeked Warbler and the Black Capped Vireo makes this one of our top places to visit, which we do as often as possible.


Photograph of Ladder Backed Woodpecker from Animal Diversity Web.