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This young gator, about four years old, seems to have found a nice, sunny spot on the Creekfield hiking trail at Brazos Bend State Park. As I approached it, it scurried off into the nearby water.
I spent about an hour with this bird last Sunday evening.
Brazos Bend State Park in SE Texas
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These black vultures seem to be poised to begin chowing down on a dead alligator, but the gator seemed to me to be in fine fettle. At this distance, roughly 40-50 yards, it's impossible to say, though. If the gator is indeed dead, its passing is very recent.
Somewhere between juvenile and adult plumage.
Brazos Bend State Park, SE Texas
Member of the Flickr Bird Brigade
Activists for birds and wildlife
Hatchling roseate spoonbills are white and gradually acquire their rosy color from their diet. This one is on its way to its adult plumage but still has a little way to go.
I spent quite awhile yesterday watching this nest and waiting for the owlet to show. He/she spent most of the time under mom's wing. The light was far from perfect, but I'm not complaining. There seems to be an egg in front of the chick. It was in the open the entire day, so it's not viable. I don't know if it's the pictured owlet's egg or one that never hatched. Brazos Bend State Park in SE Texas
3/14/2015
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Activists for birds and wildlife
This is a telephoto shot that's been cropped a little. I was standing quite a distance away from this alligator. Actually, this large reptile was in the water quite a bit of distance away from anyone. Nonetheless, it apparently thought we were still too close to it and it kept warning everybody and everything with this low, deep-throated rumble.
Copyright Rebecca L. Latson, all rights reserved.
Snowy egret in Pilant Lake, Brazos Bend State Park
These birds wade around in shallow water, and scrape the muck on the bottom in hopes of scratching out some insects or other bottom dwelling prey, sort of like the way chickens scratch the dirt in a barnyard.
Lots of people refer to these black-bellied whistling ducks as tree ducks. Indeed, another name for them is black-bellied tree ducks, as they can often be seen perched in trees. They like to make their nests inside tree cavities and boxes.
Three young alligators, approximately the same age, at water's edge in Creekfield Lake at Brazos Bend State Park. Given their similar age, and given that young gators tend to stick together for their first few years, these probably hatched from the same clutch of eggs.
Golden silk spider, a.k.a. banana spider, prepares to make a meal of a beetle at Brazos Bend State Park.
A couple of alligators sunning themselves beside the water in Elm Lake, Brazos Bend State Park. Although the smaller gator's open mouth might look like a threat display, it's almost certainly a case of thermal regulation, as alligators will do that when conditions warrant, as they did here.
Gators often hang out together this time of year since mating season will soon be upon us - and them. Mating usually happens in March and April, preceded by a short period of courting. Given the disparity in sizes of these two, the smaller one is probably a female.
Note, also, the red teeth, which means they have probably eaten something recently. They can and often do go the whole winter without eating, so they likely have just broken their long fast.