A fellow photographer told me recently that one of greatest benefits of their lifestyle is the opportunity to explore. This short conversation led me to Commons Ford Park.
Located at 614 North Commons Ford Rd., the park is located on Lake Austin, just west of the city.
The park is composed of 215 acres in total and features a ranch, a fishing pier/jump off, a boat ramp, picnic tables and walking trails.
The most interesting part of the park is the ongoing restoration project. 40 acres in the central area of the park are being restored by planting and maintaining native Texas grasses and wildflowers. At the beginning of the project, back in 2012, the Commons Ford Restoration Organization planted a combination of 70 different plant species.
At one point, tall grass prairie land covered wide areas of the United States, while today only 1% remains. Eliminating invasive species of grass by restoring biodiverse vegetation allows the local eco systems to slowly recover by increasing food sources and providing shelter. Bird species are especially impacted by these changes, the Restoration Organization has noted a 50x increase in bird population and 8x increase in species diversification.
I think the restored prairie offers a diverse scene and seems to really come alive in the late hours of the afternoon, as seen below.
I plan to go back and explore Commons Ford in the coming months.
See you soon.
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