Autumn at Redlands Ranch & Western Wildlife - A Hackberry Farm Nature Photography Workshops field report

To the west, the clouds gathering are turning a deeper shade of slate.  A slight breeze blows and cools off the morning nicely.  Lately, Texas is unseasonably warm and a bit drouthy.  Therefore, the prospects of rain (although it threatens to place our morning shoot on hiatus) is wholly welcome.     

Aside from a brief moment of golden sunlight this morning, it’s been overcast.  

We sit inside the blind overlooking the waterhole.  I contemplate when we should leave.  Since this country is wild and mostly untamed, the roads get a little “western” after a moderate rain.  Then it happens:  a band of desert mule deer shows up to get a sip of water and feed a bit. 

Cameras click in unison.

It’s the last morning in the blind, and we’ve had a steady cast of characters come in while we wait for the action to begin.   Various bird species, a cottontail, and the mule deer all appear.  However, I’m most excited about the big covey of bobwhite quail that keeps showing up.

Bobwhite quail are in trouble.  The birds are one of many imperiled grassland bird species, and before us is a covey of 20 or so birds.  While their numbers are declining range-wide, the diminutive birds are doing well at Redlands Ranch.  A big covey comes to the waterhole to feed.  They are merely feet from us, but have no clue we are watching their every move.  They feed, flap their wings, and give themselves a dust bath.  In short, these quail are living their best lives.

It’s fun to watch in real-time.

It’s also fun to watch the elk in rut.  From a grassy hillside on the first national wildlife refuge in the United States, we watch a bull listen curiously to another bull calling his plaintive bellow from the post oaks just a few hundred yards away.  The bull calling is out of sight, and there’s little doubt he’s keeping his harem of cows hidden away from potential rivals.  Nonetheless, there’s tension in the air.

Just a few hundred yards away, the bison graze on the hilltop like they have for eons.  The prairie grasses, thick from early summer rains, sustain them and the other grazers across the range.  This is where getting bison silhouettes isn’t uncommon, so we seek them out in earnest.

Drive after drive finds something new to photograph:  the brightly colored mountain boomers, a raccoon, Texas longhorns, tarantulas, and other critters round out the week’s portfolio of quality images.

While summer lingers on and the temperatures are warm for the Redlands Ranch & Western Wildlife nature photography workshop, the opportunities are steady.  Seeing animals merely feet away and at eye level is an incredible experience.   Looking across history at bison (who share the lineage of the original bison that roam these plains) is cathartic.  

That’s why folks love this workshop.