The Eastern Spotted skunk, Spilogale putorius, is a diminutive relative of the more familiar and common striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis). The subspecies, Spilogale putorius interrupta or plains spotted skunk, inhabits the Great Plains in the MIdwest and central area of the United States, including Texas.

Picture this: It’s a beautiful fall day along the Texas Gulf Coast. While enjoying the sun and listening to the peaceful sounds of waves crashing along the shoreline, your eyes are drawn towards the sky. A beautiful flock of birds fly overhead towards the coastal marshes just behind you. You grab your binoculars, zoom in, and see multiple species of medium white waterbirds. A black bill and yellow feet give away the snowy egret immediately.

As a country kid roaming the piney woods and plentiful pastures of rural north Louisiana each summer, I remember mimicking the "bob-WHITE" call. With each attempt, I hoped a northern bobwhite would answer back like they did for my father's whistle. But I could not, and still can't, whistle. My inept attempts at using my shrillest voice to approximate the call never quite worked. But that did not stop me from practicing the high-pitched bobwhite’s call frequently.

Walking across the coastal prairie in the winter, you scan the horizon and the grasses surrounding you, looking for sandhill cranes, northern harrier hawks, and other winter visitors. Suddenly you jump: inches in front of you, a single sparrow-like bird shoots straight up to the sky, uttering a loud squeak as he goes. You catch your breath and smile, realizing that you have just encountered a Sprague’s pipit.

As the name suggests, the crawfish frog (Lithobates areolata) lives in crawfish burrows. You might think this frog is a wetland creature from its common name, but is actually lives in grasslands, prairies, open fields, and abandoned pastures.

Bumblebees are important pollinators that live in grasslands and open spaces. The American bumblebee is known for its comparatively large size, fuzzy yellow and black stripes, and loud buzzing sound. The bumblebee has an erratic flight pattern that makes it a useful pollinator across row crops – and inspired Rimsky-Korsakov to compose the Flight of the Bumblebee.

As the morning sun shines across the land, the fog clears over the wetland prairie. In the distance you hear a faint sound, you grab your binoculars. Quickly trying to identify the small flock of ducks in the distance, you realize you have spotted the mottled duck.

Nothing says “summer” to me like the call of the eastern meadowlark. As a child growing up in Tennessee’s pastures and meadows, the trilling call and flashing yellow breast of the eastern meadowlark told me that school was almost out and the long, lazy days of summer were beginning. Today, I look forward to the same sights and sounds when I visit the Katy Prairie Preserve.

The loggerhead shrike (Lanius ludovicianus) is a unique songbird you might see on the coastal prairie. Named for its disproportionately large head …

What’s that, scurrying through the marsh grass? Oh, it’s just a mouse…. Or is it? You may have seen a subtle blur …