It is almost completely impossible to get a bird-in-flight shot from these blinds. You can, however, shoot through the openings even though your lens hood won’t fit through. The openings are fixed and won’t accommodate anything larger than a 70-200mm lens. The blinds are ok for bird watching but not designed with the wildlife photographer in mind. There is a 1.75-mile trail that encircles the preserve with six blinds evenly spaced around the trail. They are dependent on volunteers to open and close the preserve and the morning opening can be delayed from 20 to 30 minutes eliminating the morning golden hour completely. Not the most photographer-friendly hours as you miss a good portion of the golden hours. The preserve hours vary from spring to summer, 8 A.M. After significant improvements including boardwalks and a hawk tower, the preserve opened to the public. As a birding enthusiast and a member of the Midland Naturalists, Jenna Welch was integral to the development of the preserve.
The Midland Naturalists and a group of volunteers maintained the preserve for over 20 years. The property is part of the stormwater drainage system for the city and as such was not of much industrial value. However, the city was never able to budget the money for the park. In the late 1960s, the property was donated to the City of Midland with the intention of creating a park. As a wildlife photographer, any place that attracts wildlife in significant quantities is some place to spend a significant amount of time. In West Texas, anywhere there is water, wildlife is not far away. As the seasons change so do the amount and variety of bird and animal life.
Even though at first sight the preserve may appear to be an unlikely location for wildlife, the playa lake and its surrounding habitat are home to a diverse local bird population, an amazingly large amount of native wildlife, and thousands of migratory birds throughout the year. Sandwiched between oilfield pipe yards in an industrial park the I-20 Wildlife Preserve is 86 acres of outdoor goodness. Just south of Midland Texas is such an o asis. Every once in a while though you’re lucky and you find an oasis in the desert. The average yearly rainfall is about 14 inches and not a lot can grow in those conditions.
You can literally drive a hundred miles and not change elevation more than 10 feet. If you have ever been to West Texas then you know there really isn’t much to look at.
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