January 27, 2022
As Texas’s inhabitants soars, many communities are feeling the rising pains of fast growth. Right here in booming Austin that manifests as condos, condos, condos and visitors, visitors, visitors. However smaller cities additionally really feel the pinch, not least by way of misplaced inexperienced area.
In Horseshoe Bay, a lake-resort city within the Hill Nation west of Austin, one neighborhood lately banded collectively to maintain 11 acres of native grasses, reside oaks, and junipers from being paved over for condos. Because of benefactors John and Sandra Smith, who donated using the land, and companies that discounted their companies, in addition to vital group fundraising, Horseshoe Bay West neighbors preserved the land as a nature park — one which’s open to the general public, not simply neighborhood residents.
I drove out to Horseshoe Bay Nature Park every week in the past to stroll the path. I additionally spoke with Sarah Yant, principal of Twistleaf, who led the design growth and development of Part 1 of the park.
A half-mile loop path winds by means of the park’s prairie grassland and woodland.
Sarah says the park is a naturalist’s dream. The park options 8 distinct ecological zones with completely different vegetation, topography, and wildlife habitat.
Birding is inspired with a chook blind overlooking a pond, nesting packing containers for bluebirds and screech owls, chimney swift roosting towers, and a rainwater-collecting wildlife watering station. Birds which have been noticed on the park embrace painted buntings, black-bellied whistling geese, Bell’s vireos, summer time tanagers, and vermilion flycatchers.
In late January, the native grasses bend and swirl in winter hues of russet and tan. Stay oaks and junipers (aka cedars) stay olive inexperienced by means of winter, whereas deciduous bushes like cedar elm elevate naked branches to the sky.
Cool climate, light-catching grasses, and cloudless blue skies make winter my favourite mountaineering season in Texas.
Sarah says environmental planner Elizabeth McGreevy‘s work was key to creating the property as a nature park: “[Her] ecological web site evaluation unearthed the park’s true character, revealing its distinct ecozones and distinctive qualities. Elizabeth crafted a plan to protect and keep the park’s vitality whereas serving each the wants of the group and the ecosystem.”
Granite outcropping, and an commentary pavilion on the high of the hill
Close to the parking zone we stopped to take a look at an analemmatic sundial put in by a Boy Scout Troop. I’d by no means seen one earlier than, and naturally I needed to attempt it out by standing in the appropriate spot and seeing if my shadow pointed to the right time. It was fairly shut.
Twistleaf additionally labored on the design of the park’s web site, which is informative and interesting. Sarah encourages mother and father and grandparents to take a look at the children’ web page, which incorporates actions to encourage younger birders, artists, and explorers. It additionally recommends age-appropriate books about nature.
Horseshoe Bay Nature Park is positioned at 1514 Golden Nugget in Horseshoe Bay. Admission to the park is free, and it’s open from dawn to sundown. Facilities embrace a small parking zone, porta-potty, water fountain, and benches alongside the path.
Kudos to the group and people who donated to deliver the dream of a park to fruition, preserving inexperienced area for wildlife and for the general public. Might their instance encourage others.
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