Red River Natural Wildlife Refuge, Louisiana

A while back they opened up the Red River Natural Wildlife Refuge in Bossier City LA (here's the  link to the Red River Natural Wildlife Refuge ) .  I had been wanting to go there to see it but never got around to doing it until Monday.  I went with my husband and we had a fun time there.  We did not know what to expect.  When we got there since it was a national holiday the building was closed but the park was open so we decide to walk the trails.  Trouble was we didn't see a map and this was the first time there so we had no idea where we were going.  Its not a popular spot yet and we only saw one other family there fishing while we were there.  We walked and figured we had gone about two miles before we headed home.  It's in the south and the heat and humidity were starting to get to us, fortunately there was a nice breeze that made it tolerable.

They have a nice building and I wished I could have gone in to see the exhibits.

As we were leaving we did find a map of the area.  I'm including it here so if I ever go there again I can look it up on my cell phone.

The map was just a map and really didn't explain much of the area at all.  The refuge is around an oxbow lake called Lake Caroline.  It does get to the Red River  but we never got all the way over to the red river.
 
We didn't know what to expect and were pleased with all the birds and butterflies we saw.  The trouble was they were very hard to take pictures of. So mostly we just enjoyed walking the  trails and taking pictures of the flora that was present. This area had a lot of turtles but they all went into the water when they heard us getting near.

 I'm not to sure what this flower is.  It look like it could be a hollyhock or morning glory.

 The clover was in bloom.

I just really liked these yellow flowers but they've had me stumped as to what they could be.   I thought of buttercup but they aren't rounded as a buttercup, but looking up buttercup they suggested Marsh Marigold  - but that only has 5 pedals so I didn't think it would be that.  There is also sagebrush buttercup but the leaves don't work.   They may be related to St John's Wort but again the number of pedals is wrong.  So now I just guess I have to keep on looking to try to figure it out.

 Another bush in bloom but I wasn't to sure what it was. Its most likely Queen Ann's Lace but I'm not sure.

 It was nice to see the elderberry bushes having the blooms on them.

Lake Caroline, Red River National Wildlife Refuge

 We came upon a field that was nothing but these Bull thistles (here's the link to Wikipedia on Bull_thistle.)   They were so pretty yet so thorny it made it hard to get close too. I was just glad the path was already blazed and we didn't have to go through it and make the trail. 

Bull Thisle

 They were very tall and we were surprised at how big they were.  We are normally used to seeing them about ankle high.  These were over our head.  I got this one so you could see the scale.  My husband is 6ft tall and they were taller than him.

They were still pretty to see and the butterflies loved them.  We watched all sorts of butterflies flying about but really couldn't get a picture of them.

Bull Thistle

 What really got to me was how these things caught so much with there thorns

 And here's a close up of one of the leaves so you could see the spikes on it.

 

Bull Thistle

  Here's a shot of the field with the Bossier city water tower in the background.

A field of Bull Thistles

  Here's another picture of the Lake.

Lake Caroline, Red River Natural Wildlife Refuge

  We did see some turtles that quickly swam off when they heard us.  And we did see some other things like this lady bug. (I did think I had it in better focus but I was using my cell phone camera and was please I got the images I did get. It is out of focus, and I apologize.)

And I did get this one picture of a butterfly.

 And we did see some evidence of wildlife like these tracks in the path going to the lake.  I think they may be raccoons but it could also be a Nutria rat or a beaver.   I live on a bayou in this area and have seen all of those in my backyard and know they are abundant in the area.

While we were walking we did see a rabbit run across the path and we could see an area where wildlife had been going from an area of heavy overgrowth down to the water. We wondered what all was hidden in that area that we weren't seeing. 

Most of the time we were walking in the sun but there were sometimes when we would get into a forested area like this one.  It was such an oasis from the sun. It was on top of an old levee and just had a totally different feel to it from the rest of the area.   It was so peaceful and beautiful - it gave you a feeling like you were in a natural cathedral.  This picture just does not do it justice.

Path along the Red River National Wildlife Refuge, Bossier City.

Now that I have the map I look forward to visiting it again