Brazos Bend Nature Walk | The End of the Trail

The abundance of wildlife at Brazos Bend State Park attracts nature lovers and photographers...

with serious lenses! I can only imagine the detail that you can get with such a high power zoom...imagine and dream.

I stepped over when this photographer was finished to see what she was shooting. 

It was a heron perched in a dead tree. This was the best I could do--lens zoomed all the way out--no crop--more of a scenic shot, than a bird photo.

A very brief drizzle of rain convinced John and I that it was time to head back. We had gone as far as the observation tower, just on the edge of 40 Acre Lake.

Retracing our steps down the Spillway Trail, I once again admired the swamp sunflowers against a backdrop of cattails.

We rejoined Elm Lake Trail where we left off and finished the loop around the lake...

stopping to watch a flock of whistling ducks...

and to photograph the only turtle we saw all day.

The trail ends back at the recreation area in a grove of mature trees thickly draped in Spanish moss.

A dead tree nearby in silhouette against a drab sky gave off a spooky vibe that is entirely appropriate for this Halloween weekend.

Brazos Bend State Park is a great place to get up close and personal with nature. We had a lot of fun and plan to go back soon.

I hope you are able to get out and enjoy a nature walk in your area. I'd love to see your pictures!

Bonus Snap:

An armadillo we saw in the campground on our way out...a strange and weird looking creature...perfectly creepy for Halloween.

Brazos Bend Nature Walk | Spillway Trail

Continuing our nature walk, John and I left the Elm Lake Loop Trail and headed to 40 Acre Lake by way of the Spillway Trail.

Do you see what we saw in the water?

Yes, it's another large gator! His head is exposed and you can see his body just below the surface. The trail is much higher than the water level here, so I felt safe to take all the pictures I wanted.

The trees along the spillway create a perfect leafy arch over the trail. It was a pleasant walk through the woods.

The Brazos River flooded earlier this year and the park was closed for a time until the water receded. See how the lower portion of these tree trunks are dark? I'm guessing that's from the high water.

And then the scenery changes--out of the swampy woods and onto the open plain. 

A golden blanket of swamp sunflowers covered the field nearly as far as my eye could see. It was impressive!

The closer we got to 40 Acre Lake, the more alligators we saw. In one small area there were at least 20. 

That was also impressive, but...

I like flowers better...so no more pictures of the alligators.

To be continued...

Brazos Bend Nature Walk | Scenery on Elm Lake Trail

Despite the cloudy, overcast skies on Friday, John and I decided to go for a nature walk at Brazos Bend State Park. We haven't been here in a long time.

I noticed there's a new sign at the entrance featuring one of the park's main attractions. If you've never seen an American alligator in the wild, this is the place to come. They are abundant here.

We began our nature walk at Elm Lake. We didn't have very far to go before we came across our first gator sighting. John pointed him out to me.

The alligator was in the water at the edge of the trail, partially covered with plant debris. He was huge! He never moved the whole time we were there. We kept a safe distance while taking our pictures. I was glad to move along. Alligators fascinate me and scare me at the same time.

There were so many things to see and photograph. I tried to snap a few pictures of birds, but soon gave up on that. I may have said out loud more than once, that the shot was well beyond the range of my lens. I wasn't hinting around or anything like that. Truly.

Instead I focused on scenery shots that evoked the feeling of Elm Lake Trail. The bald cypress trees were showing just a tinge of fall color.

This is a pretty spot where the trail bends along the lake. There are several of these decks along the trail. They extend over the water for better views and for fishing. The white tube mounted on the side is for discarding used fishing line. 

For the most part, we had the trail all to ourselves, but it wasn't quiet. The music of nature--constant calls of birds and bullfrogs--played in the background as we continued down the tree-lined path under a drape of Spanish moss.

To be continued...

My Lucky Day

Me and My Flounder (photo taken by John)

I felt lucky to catch this nice flounder on Saturday. It was actually the third time that day that I'd had this feeling, but this was the only keeper fish I caught. 

Let me explain...

We were fishing at the Redfish Hole.

There are all kind of logs under the water here and it's easy to get hung up on them, especially when fishing on the bottom like we were doing. I've gotten pretty good at getting loose when that happens, but this time I was stuck tight and it wasn't budging. 

Just as I was handing my rod (the pretty blue one, my favorite) to John to see what he could do, something pulled it from my hand and it went sliding across the boat. Lucky for me, John grabbed it before it went overboard (Lucky feeling #1).

Was it a fish after all?

Well, not exactly...

I was an alligator! I didn't see it when I cast, because it was under the water. It surfaced when John was trying to get my line unstuck (Okay, right at this point I wasn't feeling very lucky, just weak in the knees). 

Can you see the gator in the water?

Here's a closer look...

Yes, he's big. Maybe 6 to 8 feet long. I'm very sure he never knew he was hooked, and he didn't seem aggressive, but that didn't matter to me. I was ready to leave.

I persuaded John to cut the line and move the boat to a new fishing spot. Whew! (Lucky feeling #2).

And then I caught that flounder (Lucky feeling #3).

I do believe it was my lucky day.

Ever Have One of Those Days?

Mr. Squirrel is resting. He found a comfortable limb to stretch out on and stayed there for a long time. I've never seen a squirrel so relaxed. I can only guess that he'd had one of those days.

Photographed at National Butterfly Center, Mission, Texas, May 2015