Bird & Nature Walks

Family friendly holiday event featuring holiday lights and decor on the half-mile nature trail. Live music, photos with Father Christmas and Mother Nature in a festive setting. Hot beverages and treats will be available for purchase.

Tickets at the door are $5-$9. (Children 2 and under are free.) Save $2 per ticket by purchasing tickets online from Nov. 3 through Dec. 13. The public is also welcome to purchase event tickets as gifts.

Our prairie is showing off its early autumn beauty and the butterflies are everywhere!

Come join butterfly expert Dale Clark from the Dallas County Lepidopterists’ Society in an educational walk around Twelve Hills.

We’ll proceed from the butterfly garden at the front of the nature center through the flowering prairie. Dale will net butterflies for us to get a closer look and teach us about the many beautiful species we have at Twelve Hills.

This walk is family friendly. No pets, please. 

RSVP:  twelvehillsnaturecenter@gmail.com

Join a naturalist for a family friendly exploration of one of nature’s most important mammals. Build a model dam like a beaver and discover the critical role beavers play in keeping our rivers and streams healthy. Pre-registration recommended.

$5 (with paid admission)

Expert birder Chris Runk will lead an early morning bird walk. Participants will be walking both the Canyon Floor and West Loop Trail, so be prepared for up to two miles of hiking (part of this trail goes uphill). Water fountains available to fill your water bottle. Bring binoculars or borrow ours. This event is free, but donations are appreciated. Register online at dogwoodcanyonaudubon.ticketleap.com/earlymorningbirdwalk/

A BioBlitz is an event that focuses on finding and identifying as many species of living things as possible in a given area, over just a few days. The LLELA event will include presentations and guided hikes led by experts on all sorts of topics: butterflies, reptiles and amphibians, wildflowers, birds, dragonflies, and more. Details TBA.

Guided hike. Preregistration required. Each child must have at least one adult attending and registered for the program. $10.

Explore nature at night! Activities will include games, crafts, owl pellet dissection and making s'mores by the campfire. Encounter live animals and glow-in-the-dark geology. $14. Registration required.

Info: olivernaturepark@mansfieldtexas.gov.

Why do butterflies prefer certain plants over others? What plants best attract pollinators? And what is a butterfly puddler? For answers to these questions and others, join the Denton County Master Gardeners in a walk through the pollinator and native plant gardens at Doubletree Ranch Park in Highland Village. 

After the walk, learn how to make a butterfly puddler that to take home. 

Free.

Rain date: Aug. 16, 9 a.m.

Fire ecology bus tour to Ray Roberts Lake State Park. Details TBA.

Celebrate National Moth Week (yes, it’s a real thing!) and help us find and identify as many moth species as possible! Texas Parks and Wildlife and Texas Master Naturalists are coming to Parr Park to set up special moth lights, sheets and baits and see how many moths we can find. Moths are important indicators of ecosystem health and their camouflaged wing patterns can be pretty amazing too. During the evening, we’ll also be on the lookout for other nocturnal friends, such as bats, owls, frogs, and opossums.