On May 9th, nearly 40 observers took to the fields, creeks, wetlands, forests, and farms of the Katy Prairie to record as many species of living organisms as they could during a one day period. This annual adventure is called the Katy Prairie Bioblitz and this year's event was planned to coincide with International Migratory Bird Day.

Our first intrepid group met at the Warren Ranch - Rock Hollow Creek location at 6:30 AM to take in the dawn chorus in preparation for a morning of bird counting. Within the first 10 minutes we had already recorded Fulvous Whistling ducks, Long-billed Curlews, Northern Bobwhites, Eastern Meadowlarks, and even a wayward Striped Skunk!

Later in the day snake hunters, butterfly enthusiasts, plant aficionados, and more bird  lovers braved the warm temperatures and eventually tallied more than 200 species of wildlife and plants on the prairie, making a pretty strong argument for the continued protection of the Katy Prairie as a biodiversity mecca. Here's a video depicting some of the species that our Bioblitzers counted on May 9th. Special thanks to all those who participated in this year's Bioblitz, particularly our team leaders: Glenn Olsen (Early Morning Birds), Dr. Larry Brown and Paul Roling (Plants), Matthew Abernathy and Arron Tuggle (Herps), Wally Ward (Invertebrates), and Al Shultz, Kathie Shultz and Adam Wood (Evening Birds).