Four Ways to Enjoy Spring Outdoors

By John Brush, Urban Ecologist, Quinta Mazatlan

The Rio Grande Valley has a spectacular spring season. No, the area doesn’t shake off months of gray and snow to emerge into sudden green. No tulips bursting into spring sunlight. Rather, the Rio Grande Valley has its own set of signs – and things to do – as the days grow longer. Here are four things to notice or do outdoors during March, April, and May.

1. Enjoy spring flowers. Many of our most vibrant flowers bloom in spring. March is the peak season to see the flowers of the Horse Crippler and Ladyfinger Cactus in thornscrub habitats, while wildflowers are showing strong. A quick highway drive, either north on Interstate 69c or 69E, or jaunt through the country roads in the ranch country, will yield waves of Indian Blanket, Smallflower Desert-Chicory, and Bristleleaf Pricklyleaf in the grass rights of way. Once into April, the prickly pears – mostly yellow and orange flowers, with the occasional red mixed in – come to the fore along with the beautiful golden canopies of Retama trees.

2. Plan and plant your garden. Typically, earlier in the spring is better for planting gardens. At Quinta Mazatlan, we’re offering a series of gardening workshops focused on helping participants plan out and add native plants to their space, starting off with Plant Propagation, then moving into Gardening Tools & Techniques, and finishing with SiteSpecific Garden Design, where participants can bring information about their garden space and be guided through a design process with Quinta Mazatlan’s plant practitioners. Visit quintamazatlan.com for more information.

3. Watch migratory birds. From March into May, there are always different birds migrating through the Rio Grande Valley. Broad-winged Hawks and Swainson’s Hawks will soar overhead in kettles of hundreds or even thousands of birds. You can visit a local park or even see them flying over towns and cities. Later, in April and May, is when the colorful songbirds pass through – the buntings, the warblers, the orioles, and more –stopping over in local forests and woodlands on their way north. Spring is one of the most popular times for birdwatchers to visit the Rio Grande Valley because of migration, and those of us living here get to experience it every year.

4. Participate in the City Nature Challenge. The City Nature Challenge is an annual four-day bioblitz held in cities across the world. In 2024, more than 83,000 participants made nearly 2.5 million observations of plants, animals, and other wildlife in 690 cities around the world. Here in the Rio Grande Valley, people made almost 10 thousand observations of over 2000 species. That data - a snapshot of the biodiversity of urban places around the world - not only helps us better understand (and then conserve) the life around us, but also to get out and explore the spaces around us, from the smallest garden to an entire hike and bike trail to a local wildlife refuge. Learn more about participating by visiting the City Nature Challenge website.

Whether it's embracing the seasonality of flowers, bird migration, or participating in local events or programs, there’s always something to do or see during spring in the Rio Grande Valley. Visit your local nature centers, city parks, state parks, and national wildlife refuges to learn more about what is “in-season” in the outdoors.