View allAll Photos Tagged brazosbend
As a native Oregonian, I am unfamiliar with the lightning bugs in the South. I enjoyed catching them in the evening and watching them flicker their glowing abdomens.
Cruising the backwaters of Brazos Bend State Park, this American Alligator demonstrates one of it's primary attributes - stealth.
I'm not certain because there's no obvious visible difference between male and female alligators, but I believe the trailing gator in this photo is a male in pursuit of a female in front of him. The reason I believe that is that April is mating season for alligators, and the trailing one followed the other for a good distance before the one in the lead growled, made a left turn, and submerged. The trailing gator turned right and went its own way. The lead gator eventually surfaced, and there was no further interaction.
Alligator at Brazos Bend State Park with a dragonfly hitching a ride (technically, the gator wasn't going anywhere, so the dragonfly was doing nothing more than alighting on the gator's eye socket. The lakes at BBSP have so little water in them that the gators don't have many places to go.)
This small (about 5 1/2 feet long) gator was parked beside the trail around 40 Acre Lake. They open their mouths like this for the same reason a dog pants - it helps them regulate their body temperature. The afternoon was hot, and most gators were in the water, but not this one.
Another bird that doesn't resemble anything I can find in my bird books, though I suspect it's a warbler of some kind
July 29,2011 in Brazos State Park. Shooting with Ken Bullock photo club members.
Brazos Bend State Park, approximately 28 miles southwest of Houston, covers roughly 5000 acres.
Roseate spoonbills are nearly all white when young. Their diet gradually turns their plumage to mostly pink as they age. This spoonbill's mostly white feathers show indicate it is still quite young.