One of the many reasons to visit this remote refuge is to see the beautiful expansive butterfly and insect gardens that volunteers are working on and expanding every year.
Monarch butterflies, Gulf Fritillaries, Black Swallowtails, Tiger Swallowtails, Giant Swallowtails, the Bay Skipper (a local butterfly with a limited range), The Viceroy, and the Ocola Skipper all have unique hotels and micro-habitats in the butterfly gardens here.
Depending on when you visit, you can enjoy hungry caterpillars, pupating caterpillars, or mature butterflies flitting around the concentrations of species-specific host plants scattered throughout the butterfly garden area.
Currently, there are 8 species-specific butterfly houses scattered throughout this butterfly garden, each hotel in the middle of a 20x10-foot oval plot of host and habitat plants that each butterfly species needs to survive and thrive.
The houses are made of wood and are placed on poles at varying heights, depending on the needs and preferences of each species. One sides is covered with a clear plastic cover so the butterflies can be seen when they are inside the houses. Which side is open is also dependent on the species and their needs. Most hotels for the larger butterflies (Monarchs, Swallowtails, Viceroys and Fritillaries) have 2-3-inch vertical slits in the front to allow the butterflies to come and go. For the skippers, the hotels have smaller openings under a small ledge at the top. The skipper houses are also lower in the brushy habitat host plants, where the larger butterflies' hotels are above the host plants and are prominent.
The butterfly houses for the larger butterflies are 2-3 feet tall, where the skipper houses are smaller, 18-inches-2 feet tall. The skipper houses are about 9 inches wide, and look like fat birdhouses. The large-butterfly houses are thinner, about 6 inches wide, with the large slits.
The various houses also have in common that they are attractive areas for caterpillars to pupate, and the houses have shelves or poles inside for the pupating caterpillars to attach themselves to (again, depending on the species).
Of course, there is more to see at Anahuac NWR than just the butterflies:
From Wikipedia: (
visit link)
The Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is a wildlife conservation area along the coast of Texas (USA), west of the town of High Island, Texas. It borders East Bay, part of the Galveston Bay complex, behind Bolivar Peninsula at the Gulf of Mexico.
Established in 1963, this wildlife refuge is located on the upper Texas Coast in Chambers County. The refuge protects approximately 34,000 acres of coastal marsh and prairies. The refuge offers opportunities for fishing, waterfowl hunting, paddling, and wildlife viewing. A large network of volunteers contributes thousands of hours in support of the refuge.
Birdwatchers find the refuge an excellent place to observe neotropical migrants in the spring and the fall. Other species sought by birdwatchers include American Bittern, Seaside Sparrow, Fulvous Whistling-Duck, and Black Rail.
Volunteers have been working to compile a butterfly list for the refuge. Over sixty species have been identified, including the extremely localized Bay Skipper (Euphyes bayensis).
. . . .
The refuge is designated as part of the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, a network of trails and wildlife viewing sites established by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. [end]