Swamp Hiking Beyond Big Spring In The Great Trinity Forest

The maze of wetlands, swamp and lush vegetation in the Great Trinity Forest within walking distance of Big Spring

Dawn on the longest day of the year lights the eastern sky well before 6am, the earliest of early sunrises. The solstice fell on a Saturday in 2014 a day chosen to venture into the large wetlands and swamps beyond Big Spring in the Great Trinity Forest. Most people avoid such areas full of high water, snakes and dense vegetation. A difficult hike and wade through some of the harshest topography in Dallas.

Jim Schutze who writes for the Dallas Observer referred to this area as "Nature Post-Apocalypto" in a 2012 article entitled A Bushwhacker's Guide To Dallas. A part of town that was left to be forgotten due to the high floods that came with every storm in the watershed.

Sean Fizgerald sitting next to the silver pipe structure visible from Big Spring which sits to the south. In the background is a bar gate leading to a Water Utilities ROW with swamp and wetlands beyond.

Diamondback Water Snake cruising the swamp

The goal for this hike was to push north from the relative serene nature of Big Spring and hike northwest through some great swamp country, under 175 and up into an area Tim Dalbey calls Bruton Bottoms. A mass of felled timber and ephemeral wetlands that make for some very tough going.

Getting there is a little bit of a trick from Big Spring. We needed to cross some private property owned by Father Richard Hill and his wife Paula Pemberton Hill. They were kind enough to grant us access across their property towards Bryan's Slough, Oak Creek and White Rock Creek. That land and many of the adjoining parcels were part of the larger Edward Case Pemberton farm that was purchased from Margaret Beeman Bryan, the widow of John Neely Bryan founder of Dallas.

One of the larger beaver impounded bodies of water in Dallas. A stunning view inside Loop 12 few have ever seen.

An emerging Swallowtail Butterfly preparing for first flight

It would blow away most long time Dallasites and natives to know that places like this not only still exist but the fact that they exist at all. Dallas as a city gave up on this land many decades ago.

Hibiscus taller than a man ringing wetlands in Dallas

 For the last forty years, the area fell into extreme neglect. The grid of old streets served as a favored illegal dump for cars, tires, shingles and the occasional human. During those forty some odd years of abandon, the outer areas of this bottom land began to heal. Trees slowly began to take root, old farmed areas went to seed, then weed, then tree.

Roosevelt Heights sits just a hair above three creek intersections on a small peninsula rise of land running north to south bisected by US 175. In the southern half, large wetlands sit on either side of the peninsula. In the last half decade these swamps have gone bone dry no later than mid June. The water height and impoundment is determined by rainfall and to a larger extent by beavers and their engineering of dams in the area.

A male Indigo Bunting making a territorial call from his perch in the early morning light of the Summer Solstice 2014. These birds fly from Central America to the Great Trinity Forest every spring to breed

Roosevelt Heights is named after President Franklin D Roosevelt and his New Deal programs that are believed to have spurred development of low income housing in this area. Reading up on the background I think most of the Roosevelt Heights area was developed in the post war boom of the 1940s at a time when Dallas saw an influx of skilled African American laborers from East Texas. The epic drought of the 1950s in Dallas allowed home construction in areas well within the 100 year flood plain. Unaware for years that their new homes were in peril when normal rain patterns returned.

Arrowhead plants in the foreground

Roosevelt Heights grew in the interim. A population of less than a thousand, three churches, two grocery stores, hair salons and a sundry store or two. It was a real community. That came to an abrupt
end in 1957 when Roosevelt Heights saw the first major sustained multi-day flood. The aerial photo(inset) shows the extent of the flooding that spring which inundated Roosevelt Heights and Rochester Park. In the photo, Second Avenue can be seen running lower left to upper right. Roosevelt Heights in the foreground and Rochester Park in the background left. Many of the refugees from this flood were forced to live in railroad boxcars until flooding subsided. Few moved permanently after this flood.

The 1960s brought flood after flood to Roosevelt Heights. The flooding was magnified by new levee construction upstream and urbanization of former farming lands.

A channelized branch of Oak Creek with a pronounced levee running on the west side. This levee was built between 1968-1972 to provide a degree of flood protection from smaller flooding events from the Second Avenue/175 intersection

The result was not a devastating flash flood but a backing up of flood water from the Trinity into the White Rock watershed. In the early 1970s, talk began of flood control improvements. Rochester Park was earmarked for a levee and Roosevelt Heights was bought out by the city. In the lower section of Roosevelt Park, the last homeowners around 1973. North of US 175, one homeowner, at last check, still resides today.

Masters of Construction and Engineering -- The Great Trinity Forest Beavers

Up close and personal with a beaver on June 21, 2014

The beaver pictured here came to check us out and see what we were up to. Friendly in every way, it approached within twenty feet or less of us and watched us with great interest. Perhaps it had never seen a human before and wondered what we were.

Beaver at a distance creating a bow wake as it approaches with great interest June 21, 2014

 Once among the most widely distributed mammals in North America, beavers were eliminated from much of their range in the late 1800s because of unregulated trapping. With a decline in the demand for beaver pelts, and with proper management, they became reestablished in much of their former range and are now common in many areas.  Beavers are found where their preferred foods are in good supply—along rivers, and in small streams, lakes, marshes, and even roadside ditches containing adequate year-round water flow.

One of many great beaver dams. Pictured is Master Naturalist Bill Holston admiring the construction of the dam

 In areas where deep, calm water is not available, beavers that have enough building material available will create ponds by building dams across creeks or other watercourses and impounding water.  Beavers dams create habitat for many other animals and plants of Texas. In winter, deer frequent beaver ponds to forage on shrubby plants that grow where beavers cut down trees for food or use to make their dams and lodges. Raccoons, and herons hunt frogs and other prey along the marshy edges of beaver ponds. Migratory waterbirds use beaver ponds as nesting areas and resting stops during migration. Ducks often nest on top of beaver lodges since they offer warmth and protection, especially when lodges are formed in the middle of a pond. The trees that die as a result of rising water levels attract insects, which in turn feed woodpeckers, whose holes later provide homes for other wildlife.

Flooded willows and water covered with cottonwood seed

Beavers have constructed large and complex sets of dams through the bottoms here, keeping much of it flooded through one of the driest spring seasons on record in Dallas.

Their tireless work has left large sections of the woods here submerged for most of the year, forming great habitat for ducks, wading birds, aquatic insects and fish. The water is quite clear and in some spots has a hard bottom suitable for careful wading.

A prime example of Great Trinity Forest sedge

Sedge grasses in large pockets like the one above provide critical wetland habitat for dragonflies, crawfish and in wet seasons fish. These sedge patches are often overlooked by many but perform a critical role in establishing biodiversity in the Great Trinity Forest.

A huge wetland forest area dominated by native hedge in the background and invasive Alligatorweed in the foreground

Adult White Ibis

Alligator weed Alternanthera philoxeroides is a perennial plant native to South America and often forms very dense stands or mats that make shoreline access difficult in the Great Trinity Forest.The water loving aquatic stems are hollow and can be single or branched. Leaves are opposite, long, elliptical or lance-shaped up about an inch wide and half a foot long with a prominent midrib. Often roots develop at leaf nodes. Soft, whitish hairs are found in the leaves. Single flowers are small (about 1/2 inch in diameter) white, fragrant clusters of 6 to 10 florets, borne on long branches (to 3 inches). The flowers resemble those of white clover. A single seed develops within the fruit.

Juvenile White Ibis fishing from a log in the Great Trinity Forest June 21, 2014

When alligator weed invades waterways it can reduce water flow and quality by preventing light penetration and oxygenation of the water. It can also reduce water bird and fish activity and cause the death of fish and native plants. Alligator weed mats create a favorable habitat for breeding mosquitoes. Alligator weed is also difficult to control and such is prohibited from owning.

Tri-Colored Heron sprinting through the shallow water for a mosquitofish in the Great Trinity Forest June 21, 2014

The Halberd Leaf Rosemallow -- A Texas Native

Wild hibiscus growing in the Great Trinity Forest

At first glance one would wonder how hibiscus could naturally grow in Dallas wetlands. The second question is who planted them? The answers are that they are native to North Texas, have always grown here and thrive naturally just as they have for centuries in this special swamp. These plants go by the name Halberd-Leaved Rose Mallow due to their distinctive shaped leaves that resemble a medieval battle axe sword called a halberd.


The Halberd Leaf Rosemallow is commonly known by its Latin name Hibiscus laevis. Sometimes it is also called soldier hibiscus. The "militaris," "soldier" and "halberd" parts of its various names allude to the similarity between the shape of its leaves and the lance end of a medieval pole-ax called a halberd. The leaves have pointed tips and a broad, deeply lobed base with a silhouette similar to a double-headed ax. Unlike many hibiscus family members, the Halberdleaf rosemallow has smooth leaves and stems.

A pollen laden bumblebee tries to wiggle out of a hibiscus flower

Each plant grows upright, reaching a height of 3 to 6 feet. Each five-petal blossom grows out of a leaf axil, the point at which a leaf joins the stem.

The harsh winter of 2014 had little effect on the hibiscus here that tower over eight feet in some cases

Hibiscus blooms emerge from the bottom to the tip of the stem. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center notes that the flowers may bloom from May to November, depending on the region. In the Great Trinity Forest they bloom only in the mornings from June through October. The blooms will stay open longer on cloudy or rainy days.

Many volunteer hours are now being put to good use in studying the flora and fauna of Big Spring and the immediate wateshed. Continuing the great hands on management plan developed by Billy Ray Pemberton plus the added knowledge of many experts will help keep the aesthetic of the place going for generations to come. It will also allow many of the plants that were traditionally mowed to flourish and bloom out for years to come. Big Spring has a number of  native hibiscus growing on the conservation and future landmark footprint. They should be blooming in the next several weeks.

The easy walk back towards the icon of the forest, the Histori Big Spring Bur Oak

 As we walked back to Big Spring, in the far echoing hollow we could hear the faint yell of Master Naturalist Jim Flood and Geoarcheologist Tim Dalbey who had been conducting a weekly plant census. Horse trading field notes, Jim Flood pointed out some unique specimens of plants he had gathered for further study. A couple days later, he reported that one of the plants had not been seen in Dallas County for a very long time and was originally first documented by none other than famed Botanist and La Reunion Colonist Julien Reverchon. An important find.

As we learn more about Big Spring, what makes the woods tick, how the swamp and wetlands connect with Big Spring as an ecosystem we can begin to paint a picture of how special this part of Dallas is and something that should be forever preserved and protected.

Scissor-tailed Flycatchers and Kingbirds In Texas Trinity River Corridor

Texas Bird of Paradise, the Scissor Tailed Flycatcher perched on an Arkansas Yucca surrounded by Prairie Coneflower and other native wildflowers in Dallas, Texas

The strong southerly winds of a Texas spring bring more than humidity up from the Gulf of Mexico. Riding the air currents north from as far away as the tropical rainforests of Central and South America are the flycatchers of the bird world.

The dripping wet blossoms of an native Arkansas Yucca just after an spring thunderstorm at McCommas Bluff Preserve, Dallas Texas, Spring 2014

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher at the Mockingbird-Westmoreland Bridge in the Trinity River Floodway, Dallas, Texas. Downtown Dallas and Victory Park can be seen in the distance

The flycatchers are fond of the open spaces and fence lines of the Trinity River. In the late Spring, June to be precise, the birds move into Dallas in great numbers setting up shop among high insect populations that dominate the fields here. The three most dominant species seen are the Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher, the Eastern Kingbird and Western Kingbird. The Trinity River Corridor serves as a great overlap for the Kingbird species with near equal amounts of both Eastern and Western species.

Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher Tyrannus forficatus
The Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher Tyrannus forficatus is known by other names as well... Scissortail, Texas Bird-of-Paradise and Swallow-Tailed Flycatcher.


From the appearance, it is obvious how the bird acquired its common names, but its former Latin name - Muscivora forficata, describes the bird in even grander terms. Muscivora derives from the Latin word for "fly" (musca) and "to devour" (vorare), while Forficata comes from forfex, or scissors. The scissortail now is a member of the genus Tyrannus, or "tyrant-like flycatchers."

Strong willed and fearless, the best comparison one can make to such a bird is the familiar Mockingbird who also readily defends territory, nest sites and has a qualification for fighting dirty. 

Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher perched high above an endless meadow of coneflowers near Piedmont Ridge Trail in the Great Trinity Forest

Scissor-Tailed Flycatchers hunt by sight and by ambush. Many see Scissortails lining barbed wire fences, telephone lines or even road signs. Those artificial perches afford great over watch of a field.

The photos here were taken entirely in wildscape. Meadows, fields and treelines along the Trinity River and in East/Southeast Dallas along lower White Rock Creek in an area called the Great Trinity Forest.

So many know White Rock Creek as it moves through North Dallas but so few ever see it beyond the outfall of the White Rock Lake Spillway where the creek slows, the trees get larger and the scenery much more photogenic.

A good look at a departing Texas Bird of Paradise, the Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher in full breeding plumage

Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher Attack Sequence On a Red-Tailed Hawk

Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher moves in on a trespassing Red Tailed Hawk

In some areas like the Trinity River Floodway, perches and tree cover for nesting sites are scarce. This is an area between the levees near the Industrial District and Downtown where lone Cottonwood and Pecan trees dot the landscape. They are the usual haunts of resident Red Tailed Hawks year round. When flycatchers come in to nest, there will be many nests in one tree as habitat is a premium. That leads to conflict and dramatic attacks result.

Red Tailed Hawks will actually prey on nests of other species. Documented cases of nestlings being eaten by hawks are well known. The Scissortail goes the extra mile to make a point with the Red Tailed Hawk in this photo, delivering what appears to be a quite painful strike to the back of the hawk's neck.

Contact with the hawk, the Scissortail is riding the hawk like a winged horse

The hawk screams in pain and maybe disbelief as the plucky Scissortail unleashes an aerial assault. Note the long Scissortail on the back of the hawk

Splash one hawk. The Scissortail returns to his nest.

This genus earned its name because several species are extremely aggressive on their breeding territories, where they will attack larger birds such as crows, hawks and even owls. Beautiful and ounce for ounce some of the heaviest hitters among Texas birds.

Rarely documented mirroring mating dance behavior of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers

Scissor-tailed flycatchers are easily identified by their long, scissor-like tail, which may reach nine inches in length. During flight, the bird opens and shuts its taillike a pair of scissors and folds or closes the "scissors" when perching. Since the bird is only 12 inches long, its tail is proportionately longer than any other Texas bird including Roadrunners.

The signature call of the Scissortail

Scissor-tailed flycatchers are considered Neotropical migrants birds that spend their winters in Central and South America, returning to North America to nest and raise young.

As a rule, scissortails are seen in Texas from early April to late October, though individuals occasionally are seen during the last week of March and some birds linger until mid-November.

Most likely their residency in Texas is tied to the first killing frosts of the Fall, which diminishes food supplies for the birds.

The scissortail is one of the earliest summer birds to arrive each spring. Across most of the Trinity River Corridor, Dallasites can begin looking for them during the first week in April. Their limited nesting range is primarily concentrated in the southern Great Plains states, from New Mexico to Louisiana and Nebraska southward to southern Texas and adjoining areas of Northern Mexico. However, the birds have wandered and documented as far north as Hudson Bay in Canada.

The brilliant colors of a Scissortail in near perfect light of a Texas sunset

The nape of the scissortail's neck and back are pearl gray, and the breast is white. Wings are smoke coal black with a touch of crimson at the shoulders while the sides and wing linings are pink. Females usually are shorter than males because her tail is not as long.

Breeding pair of Scissortail Flycatchers riding the stiff wind currents on the evening of June 16, 2014

A Scissortail bounds of the perch of a yucca to attack an unsuspecting insect below

Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher nest with four nestlings, June 13, 2014

The nesting habits for the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher include a small diamter stick nest lined with soft fiber material in an isolated tree where three to five eggs are laid. The female builds the nest and the male often adds the fiber material during the building process.

A Walking Stick becomes dinner for a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher nestling

Both parents work all day long to feed the nestlings. Moths, butterflies, June Bugs, grasshoppers and even Walking Sticks are standard table fare at these nests. 2014 seems to be a particularly banner year for these insects. Walking Sticks consume the foliage of oaks and other hardwoods. Severe outbreaks of the walking stick, Diapheromera femorata, have been documented in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas and Oklahoma. The insects eat the entire leaf blade. In the event of heavy outbreaks, entire stands of trees can be completely ravaged. Continuous defoliation over several years often results in the death of the tree. Birds like flycatchers help control the population of these insects.

Adult flycatcher removing waste from the nest site

Arkansas Yucca Yucca arkansana-- Photogenic Perch For Flycatchers

Native Yucca  in the brilliant sunset light growing on the bluff tops of the Trinity Forest

As a rule we think of Yucca as desert fare, but it is a common Texas plant often seen in undisturbed areas along the bluff tops of the Trinity River and White Rock Escarpment running through the Great Trinity Forest.

One  of the smallest yucca in Texas, Arkansas Yucca ranges from South Central to North Central Texas, into Oklahoma and Arkansas, preferring chalky pan soil on rocky hillsides and prairies. It has asymmetrical rosettes in small open groups.

Like most yucca, the leaves are bluish-green to yellowish-green with white margins and curly threads on the margin.

As is, the "stem" of the yucca looks woody (it has to be strong to support that mass of blooms.) Dead yucca leave a strong supporting "stick" for lack of a better term.  These particular groupings stand tall above the wildflowers, from 3 to 4 feet standard. 

There are over two dozen US species of these plants, much more widely distributed than agave, ranging across the Midwest, Great Plains and all the eastern states in addition to the south, in mixed environments including deserts, grassland, mountains and coastal scrub.

Yucca also extend through Mexico towards Central America. All species have the capability to grow tall and branch, though in some arid locations this does not happen, and the plants remain compact and single. Flowers are white and bell-shaped, growing in a great mass on a shortish stalk; they are usually produced once a year though may not appear if weather conditions are unfavorable.

Eastern Kingbird Tyrannus tyrannus

Eastern Kingbird Tyrannus tyrannus as seen hunting for insects among a grouping of wild Prairie Coneflower along a limestone escarpment along Lower White Rock Creek, Dallas Texas, 2014

The dressed to kill flycatcher of the Great Trinity Forest accolades go to that of the Eastern Kingbird Tyrannus tyrannus. A bird dressed in a tuxedo with fine lines and a descriptive ability to crush any and all insects that venture near.

The kingbird is easy to identify from other flycatchers with its contrasting black back and white chest, giving it the appearance of wearing formal dinner attire.  The black tail is tipped in white, making it easily recognizable. 

Black and white is not really the norm for flycatchers and songbirds. The Eastern Kingbird is unique in this way. Reds and yellows are more common.  But for what he lacks in color and song, he compensates for nicely in presentation and style.

An Eastern Kingbird weighs down an already blossom laden and top heavy Arkansas Yucca

Eastern kingbirds are flycatchers, which is considered the largest family of birds on Earth, with over 400 species.  The Eastern Kingbird exhibits that classic flycatcher silhouette, complete with the slight crown or ruffled head that is common among other flycatchers such as phoebes, wood pewees and so on.

Caught in mid air, an Eastern Kingbird hovers like a hawk in an effective technique to spook insects out of a hiding spot

Eastern Kingbirds also exhibit typical flycatcher behavior, called sallying, where they fly out from a perch in pursuit of flying insects, and then often returning back to the same perch (also called hawking). 

They feed mainly on insects during breeding season, but oddly enough, during migration and on their wintering grounds in South America, kingbirds change personalities and behave almost docile,  flying around in flocks, feeding on mainly fruit.

While as large as a Mockingbird and with similar colors, the Eastern Kingbird has a more robust and stockier build

Western Kingbird Tyrannus verticalis

Western Kingbird Tyrannus verticalis

One of the most common birds to spot in the Great Trinity Forest in spring are the hearty Western Kingbirds Tyrannus verticalis. From prairie areas of the Lower Chain of Wetlands to the deep swamps of Rochester Parks, these birds are visible at every turn from dawn to dusk.

Before the pioneer settlement of the Southern Plains the Western Kingbird range undoubtedly was restricted by the lack of advantageous perches in otherwise prime open country habitat.  Its range in Texas in the early 1900s was the western part of the state encompassing  the Panhandle, southern plains, and the mountains west and south of the Pecos River Valley.



Since the early 20th century, man’s opening of woodlands for timber harvest/farming, planting of trees on the plains, and construction of power lines, and other structures which accompanied settlement have facilitated expansion of Western Kingbird breeding range.

Nesting had spread by the mid 20th century east to Austin and by the late 1960s to the upper Texas coast.  By the early 1970s they were nesting in the Dallas Fort Worth area.

Western Kingbirds migrate from Central America to breed across the western United States during the spring and summer months--about April through the end of August/early September.

They leave their breeding grounds relatively early and are generally not seen in the western states from about mid-September through early May. They tend to be viewed around farms, meadows, and along fence rows near dry open fields with scattered trees and brush.

Western Kingbirds are members of the flycatcher family and are often seen hunting insects from fences and small bushes and trees along roadsides. They are about 9 inches long with a wingspan of about 16 inches. They have gray heads and chests, thick dark bills, yellow bellies, and dark tails with white edges. They can be aggressive and often harass large raptors

Western Kingbirds on guard

Just like Scissortailed Flycatchers, the Western Kingbird readily defends nest sites, habitat and favored trees from any predator or competing bird species. The telltale flash of yellow as the beat through the high grass is an easy way to spot these birds which very much resemble the Eastern Kingbirds, a distant cousin.