Texas - Brazos Bend St. Pk.- Creekfield Lake Nature Walk

Today we went exploring and took the Creekfield Lake nature trail and were pleasantly surprised by all the bird life near and on this lake.

The nature trail goes completely around this lake and we were fortunate at the start of the trail to glimpse an alligator showing his snout and eyes.

We were even more fortunate to see four alligators on our walk.  The weather is warm and they are starting to come out of hibernation.

When you are looking out at the lake these alligators are hard to spot!

There were several water fowl.  We knew the names of some but some were completely new to us.

Black Bellied Whistling Ducks

Cattle Egrets on the rail and Coots in the water



Moorhens



Lots and lots of turtles were sunning themselves on logs and branches.  The most common turtle in this area is the Red Eared Slider and we saw little ones, medium ones and quite large ones.

We also saw a Great Egret, a Wurdemann's Egret, several Cattle Egrets as well as a Glossy Ibis and a few White Ibis.



Wurdemann's Egret



Great Egret



Cattle Egret



Glossy Ibis





White Ibis

There are several birds chirping in the trees that we don't see but you can't miss the black lumps roosting.



this guy was on the railing and we got within ten feet of him before he flew off


These vultures might look ungainly on the ground but in the air they are graceful as they soar on the wind currents.
There are other, very noisy black birds in the park which we have back in Alberta - the ever noisy crow!

Along the edges of the lake, in the marshy areas cypress trees grow.  Rising vertical from their roots are Cypress Knees.  Nobody understands why they grow, just that they do.  Later the Cypress Knees will actually lend support to the main tree.

As we were walking over to the nature centre I couldn't resist taking a picture of this huge Live Oak tree with Clark underneath it.  He is definitely dwarfed.

And speaking of the nature center, I was able to hold a baby alligator that had been hatched in August.  There are no distinct characteristics telling male and female alligators apart.  The placement of the eggs in the nest determines sex.  As alligators grow the males do get larger than the females.

One thing about warmth and humidity, there are lots of bugs.  We have several lady bugs attached to our screens, spiders, large and small everywhere, lots of no-see-ums and other bugs that have bitten us but we don't know what they are.

Texas - Brazos Bend State Park and Galveston Island

On the 17th we traveled towards the Gulf of Mexico, just southwest of Houston to a renowned state park, Brazos Bend.  Everyone we talked to said how pretty this park was and we concur.  The oaks are dripping with Spanish moss, the campsites are large and the area is quiet.  We haven't taken any trails yet but we hope to tomorrow and maybe see an alligator at one of the lakes! 


lots of oaks and Spanish moss

 

at 70+F it was nice to sit out and enjoy the end of the day

I will update this post in the next day or two as we explore further.

Tuesday, 18th of December and we day tripped to Galveston Island and the Gulf of Mexico. 

We wanted to check out Galveston Island State Park.  This park had received some serious damage from a hurricane three years ago.  It is quite different from the inland parks.  There is an ocean side and a bay side.  Lots of sun and beach walks available on the ocean side.



the campsite area in the state park - water and electric only



lots of sand and beach to explore





more campsites just over the dune

 

We drove over to the bay side but it wasn't near as nice as the ocean side of this park.  There were however lots of herons and egrets fishing in the marshes.

Texas - Stephen F. Austin State Park

We traveled towards Houston an hour and a half to a state park by San Felipe, Texas.  The weather is very warm for this time of year and the humidity is high.  We have had 70+F days and high 50's and 60's at night.


large campsites and lots of oak trees

 

 Stephen F. Austin, known as the Father of Texas came to this area in 1823 and established a community along the Brazos River.  San Felipe de Austin was the social, economic and political center of the Anglo colonies in Texas.  It served as the capital of the provisional government.
Unfortunately when the Texans retreated from the Mexican army in 1836, they burned the town to the ground hoping to stop the Mexicans from crossing the Brazos River.


"Father of Texas"



replica of Stephen F. Austin's cabin



the chimney is built using the original cabin's bricks


Sunday, December 16th, thunder, lightning and heavy rain in the night and early this morning.  We bundled up in wet gear and headed out for one of the nature walks.  Came across some turkey vultures drying their wings.  They spread their wings and do a 360 on the branch.  It was neat to see.

The Sycamore trail took us by the Brazos River.



banks were slippery from the rain so we stayed on the high ground



my partner in crime!





Texas - 12/12/12

Today is the day I was born, 65 years ago.  We spent the day very simply.  Lunch out, a rest in the afternoon and a campfire at night with new camping friends from B.C. and Texas.  It was an enjoyable day.
At home when we have a campfire, we use pine or birch but in Texas they use oak and it burns for a very long time and produces some wonderful coals.

Texas - Lockhart State Park

We traveled a whopping 42 miles on Monday, from Canyon Lake to Lockhart, Texas.  Lockhart, Texas is the start of the Chisholm Trail and the home of Texas Barbeque.

We didn't partake of the barbeque but we did eat at Henry's, which is famous for it's hamburgers.  We came across this impressive structure but am not sure what it is.   At the time I was going up the wrong way on a one way street (in the car not the motorhome) and Clark took this pic!

We are camped at Lockhart State Park built by the Civilian Conservation Corp in the early 1930's.  Part of the park is a nine hole golf course also built by the Corp.  We are camped right across from one of the fairways.

This morning we bundled up and went for a walk around the park.  Came across a CCC Trail and even though it looked sketchy we headed up it.  It wasn't maintained and we did have a few obstacles to climb over but we made it to the top.

The CCC constructed a cistern, a rec hall and three waterfalls across the stream going through the park.



CCC built waterfall

I can't swim so I better not be here when it floods!

a cactus grouping by the golf course

Just outside our door is a live oak and there are birds flitting to and fro constantly.  I have managed to capture a couple of the bluebirds.



small Eastern Bluebird