Richard Moore Outdoor Report: Special Showing

ALAMO, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Imagine a place where hundreds of White pelicans annually flock to their sacred sanctuary.

Countless redhead ducks congregate in vast numbers, immense schools of redfish abound in shallow estuaries, magnificent White-tailed hawks soar amidst coastal prairies, elusive ocelots stalk cloaking chaparral, and amorous alligators bellow beneath tropical Altamira oriole nests.

Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge is the largest protected area of natural habitat open to the public in the Rio Grande Valley. Located east of Rio Hondo, between the Lower Laguna Madre and the Rio Grande, the 100, 115 plus-acre refuge encompasses four overlapping ecological regions…tropical influence from the south, coastal influence from the east, desert influence from the west, and plains influence from the north.

The refuge is home to an incredible biodiversity with more than 450 plant varieties, 417 species of birds documented, 130 types of butterflies, 45 mammal species, 44 reptile and amphibian varieties, and approximately 40 fish species.

The refuge is a land of extremes, and throughout the seasons a fascinating variety of wildlife make their home in the land of the yucca from rare Aplomado falcons to impressive gatherings of immense American alligators.

I have recently completed a documentary featuring the remarkable refuge, and this coming Saturday, Dec. 7 at 12 p.m. there will be a special showing of the documentary “One Refuge One Camera Seasons of Laguna.”

The special showing will take place at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge south of Alamo, and the public is invited.

Hope to see you there, and while at Santa Ana be sure to take time to enjoy another of the Rio Grande Valley’s wonderful wildlife refuges.

The remaining wildlands of the Rio Grande Valley protected by our national wildlife refuges offer a natural treasure of incalculable value to man and wildlife that together share this iconic tip of Texas.