Archive for the ‘alligator’ Category

Brazos Bend State Park, continued. . .

Thursday, December 18th, 2008

Top picture: Tricolored heron. Below it a heron catches something (a small crab?) through the muck and swallows it.

Some young coots did not know enough to fly away as I walked by.

After a few days of 40/30 degrees, it warmed up to 70/80 today. Saw a number of turtles and alligators. Met some people who were counting the number of alligators. They had sighted 23 in the two main lakes here.

A snake bird. It was always in the middle of the lake, making hard to get a good picture.

Turkey vultures always congregate by this lake. The black-bellied whistling ducks are heard in the background.

Black bellied whistling ducks. Nothing dramatic.

Posted in alligator, anhinga, black-bellied whistling, coot, heron, State, Texas | No Comments »

More From Brazos Bend State Park

Friday, February 8th, 2008

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Brazos Bend State Park really amazes me. Driving through the nearby farmland, you don’t expect much. But wow, once you drive into the park, it is just incredible.

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More beautiful paths, one with an alligator on the side.

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common moorhen. There are a lot of moorhens and coots here.

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Turtles and a cormorant.

Posted in Airstream, alligator, cormorants, egret, heron, State, Texas, turtle | No Comments »

Brazos Bend State Park

Thursday, February 7th, 2008

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I am at Brazos Bend State Park in Texas, around 50 miles from Houston. It is made up of 5,000 acres of land with lakes, rivers, sloughs, and bayous and 21 miles of beautiful intersecting hiking/biking trails. There are only about 10 other rv’s presently staying here and it feels like we have the park to ourselves. I’m sure there will be more people over the weekend. It is a beautiful park. So glad to be where there is no need to drive anywhere.

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Did I say I wanted to see alligators? There are beautiful trails that go around the lakes, like in the top picture. I passed an alligator off to the right of the trail, in the grass near the water. I walked by it without thinking much about it. Subsequently read where you should keep 30 feet away from them. In the afternoon I saw probably the same alligator, but this time he was wide awake, facing the trail with his teeth showing. Thought it best to turn around, as I would have to go within 6 feet of him to pass him.

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Posted in Airstream, alligator, egret, Ibis, State, Texas | No Comments »

More Galveston

Wednesday, January 30th, 2008

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Signs of Mardi Gras at the WalMart in Galveston.

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Finally spotted an alligator at Brazoria Wildlife Refuge. It was small, probably a young one.

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Pied-billed grebe

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Very pretty little blue heron.

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Picture of houses off to the side of where I have been staying at Galveston Island State Park. There are so many beautiful houses in the area, like these. Both these are shuttered, so I assume they are vacation homes. About half the homes in the area are either shuttered or for sale. Texas got the land for their park just in time. There are housing developments on both sides of it.

Posted in alligator, Galveston, grebe, heron, wildlife refuge | Comments Off