Friends of Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge

09/05/2026

If you're surprised by all the mud out at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge right now, a quick look at the lake elevation numbers explains why!

Lake Texoma is sitting right around 616 ft, just below normal pool (617 ft). That might not sound like a huge drop, but because the refuge sits across a shallow, gradual river delta where the bottom elevation ranges from 610 to 615 ft, even a foot or two of water loss exposes massive stretches of lake bottom.

Here is how elevation shapes what you see across the refuge:

610–615 ft | Refuge Lake Bed: Very flat, shallow terrain. When the lake hovers around 616 ft, inches of difference mean acres of exposed mudflats.

617 ft | Normal Conservation Pool: Water covers the flats up to the natural shoreline.

618–621 ft | Low-Lying Crossings & Drives: North Low Water Crossing goes under first at 618 ft, followed by the Tern Road crossover (619 ft), Bennett Lane West (620 ft), and Wildlife Drive/Raasch Trail (621 ft).

625–634 ft | Upper Trails & Facilities: Meadow Pond Trail (625 ft), Harris Creek (627 ft), and up to the Visitor Center driveway (634 ft) stay high and dry until major flood events.

While the low water leaves behind wide mudflats, it creates prime foraging grounds for migrating shorebirds, wading herons, and egrets probing the newly exposed shoreline. Bring your spotting scope, but definitely leave the street shoes at home!

https://www.twdb.texas.gov/hydro_survey/Texoma/2002-07/ContourMap.pdf

09/04/2026

Annual Photo Club Contest - come and get the scoop!

09/04/2026

Crow Hill Trail is closed for safety reasons until repairs can be made at the culvert crossing. It’s hard to tell in the photo but there is a 4 foot drop off in the middle of the trail due to a major wash-out.

09/03/2026

09/01/2026

Due to the hot weather there are a lot more mudflats appearing and they are being used by shorebirds and terns. The shorebirds are spread out over lots of areas of the refuge. Today we saw 6 Marbled Godwits, 26 Killdeer, 2 American Avocets, 1 Semipalmated Plover, 5 Upland Sandpipers, 5 Wilson's Phalaropes, 6 Spotted Sandpipers, 16 Lesser Yellowlegs, 1 Willet, 3 Greater Yellowlegs, 2 Stilt Sandpipers, 9 Buff-breasted Sandpipers, 147 Least Sandpipers, 25 Pectoral Sandpipers, 1 Western Sandpiper and 12 Semipalmated Sandpipers for a total of 16 shorebird species. We saw our second Olive-sided Flycatcher of the summer at the Goode area. We had a couple of Orchard Orioles at Dead Woman Pond. We had an early migrating sparrow species, a Chipping Sparrow on the road to Meadow Pond. We saw a total of 3 Belted Kingfishers. We counted 125 Least Terns, 96 Forster's Terns and 6 Black Terns. We finished the day with 75 species.

08/27/2026

The Sandy Point bank stabilization project is going well although there have been several heavy equipment breakdowns that had to be repaired which caused some delays. The dirt moving is mostly done and next comes placement of the underlayment fabric then adding large riprap and a foot access path. At least two more weeks of work will be needed and we will keep you updated! A huge thank you to the staff from Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge who are enduring this heat 12-14 hours a day to get this project done! Short video in the comments section.

08/25/2026

We had some cloud cover for the first couple of hours and it was pleasant until the cloud cover burned off and then it really began to heat up. It turned out to be a good day for this time of year. Probably the best bird of the day was a Long-billed Curlew on the sandbar off the end of Tern pad. We saw 15 species of shorebirds Including the Long-billed Curlew, 8, Buff-breasted Sandpipers, 7 Upland Sandpipers, 1 Willet, 1 American Avocet, 1 Short-billed Dowticher, 1 Wilson's Phalarope, 2 Stilt Sandpipers, 7 Western Sandpipers, 11 Pectoral Sandpipers, 20 Least Sandpipers, 5 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 22 Lesser Yellowlegs, 4 Spotted Sandpipers and 31 Killdeer. We had a large count of 89 Least Terns, 72 Forster's Terns and 16 Black Terns. We counted 75 Blue-winged Teals, 1 Northern Shoveler, 6 Wood Ducks and 17 Mallards. We counted 15 Northern Yellow Warblers. We finished the day with 76 species

08/24/2026

If you’ve driven Wildlife Drive or scanned across the Big Mineral Creek area, you’ve likely seen them nodding along. Here is a look at the history, the numbers, and what the future holds for energy operations on the refuge according to data from the Railroad Commission of Texas that publicly tracks oil operations in Texas :

○ ​A Historic Footprint: Oil production in the Big Mineral Creek field dates back to the late 1940s and early 1950s, pre-dating parts of the refuge. Today, legacy operations are managed primarily by Flintlock Exploration across several historic units.

○ ​A 50%+ Decline Over 15 Years: Oil output has dropped by roughly 50% to 60% over the last decade and a half. Most active wellheads now yield just 3 to 4 barrels of oil per day, classifying them as low-volume "st****er wells." But, there are still some wells that remain very productive.

○ ​More Water Than Oil: As conventional reservoirs age, they sometimes produce far more subsurface water than crude—often requiring operators to lift and separate dozens of barrels of water just to recover a single barrel of oil.

○ ​The Long-Term Horizon: At current depletion rates, the field is estimated to have 15 to 25 years of remaining economic life. Rather than a sudden shutdown, wells will be retired on a rolling basis—when a major mechanical repair costs more than the well can produce, it is permanently plugged and abandoned (P&A).

​As these legacy wells reach the end of their operational lives, each site is safely sealed, equipment is removed, and the land is reclaimed—returning more footprint back to native marsh, prairie, and wildlife habitat.

Thank you Pam Rendall-Bass from the Friends of Hagerman Photography Club for the amazing photo.

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08/22/2026

Good morning from Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge. We experienced a whopping 5 minutes of rain this morning at 7:30AM! A beautiful rainbow emerged about that time. Maybe there is a reason we call it a "rain" bow...

NOAA - A rainbow is caused by sunlight and atmospheric conditions. Light enters a water droplet, slowing down and bending as it goes from air to denser water. The light reflects off the inside of the droplet, separating into its component wavelengths--or colors. When light exits the droplet, it makes a rainbow. Learn everything there is to know about rainbows here: https://www.nesdis.noaa.gov/about/k-12-education/optical-phenomena/what-causes-rainbow