View allAll Photos Tagged brazosbend
Egretta caerulea
This Little Blue Heron was from an outing to Brazos Bend State Park yesterday and was a great subject for us to experiment with the different auto-focus modes of my friend’s new EOS 7D mk2. It was great to be out in the park, especially since the weather looked like rain for most of the day allowing us to pretty much have the whole place to ourselves.
To see more photos of this species please look here:
www.pbase.com/dadas115/little_blue_heron
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This male Vermilion Flycatcher is another from yesterday’s visit to Brazos Bend State Park. I usually like to get a little closer but I thought this looked sort of neat. It amazes me how they can spot tiny insects from such a long distance.
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Pyrocephalus rubinus
After a long hiatus, I'm working my way back into Flickr. This image was made in the spillway at Brazos Bend State Park. Much of the year, the spillway is dry. During rainy periods, water runs in the spillway, bringing feeding birds and gators. SE Texas - 12/2020
Bitterns are a winter bird here, so they will soon be packing up and moving on. They will start to show up again next October/November.
Brazos Bend State Park in SE Texas. 3/2018
ISO 1600, 1/160, f6,3 (metered +1 stop)
During a recent visit to Brazos Bend SP we encountered this Snowy Egret fishing and decided to take a few shots. For the first several minutes with the bird I just couldn’t find an angle that I thought was very interesting and I got the strong urge to walk on and find another subject. However, I decided to keep after it a little longer and try a few more angles, eventually arriving at this.
Just as I started liking what I was seeing, some young people walked up and asked what I was taking a picture of. No sooner had they asked, the egret lifted off and flew into the distance. That’s photography in a public place. It was also an opportunity to point out a beautiful bird and show some curious onlookers the result of my experience efforts.
It would have been fun to explore this scene more but even my limited time did yield a result that I thought was interesting.
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Egretta thula
Nutria are semi-aquatic, herbivorous rodents. Native to South America, they were introduced to the US by the fur trade.
Because they damage marshlands, programs exist to control the population. Here at Brazos Bend, the alligators do their best to keep the nutria number down.
Regardless of their invasive status and the damage they do, they are kind of cute (in a rodent kind of way).
Brazos Bend State Park in SE Texas - 3/2021
I spent a few hours watching this bird go about his work. This image has a nice view of the feeding holes made by the bird. The following from Cornell's "All About Birds" describes the sapsucker's feeding behavior: "The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker makes two kinds of holes in trees to harvest sap. Round holes extend deep in the tree and are not enlarged. The sapsucker inserts its bill into the hole to probe for sap. Rectangular holes are shallower, and must be maintained continually for the sap to flow. The sapsucker licks the sap from these holes, and eats the cambium of the tree too. New holes usually are made in a line with old holes, or in a new line above the old."
ƒ/8.0, 1/400, ISO 3200
Brazos Bend State Park in SE Texas - 12/2020
This adult great horned owl is either the mother or father of the owlets in my previous few posts. This image was made early morning when there was very little light (ISO 6400, f5.6, 1/80). I don't like to push the ISO that much, but it was hard to resist this bird landing reasonably close, and looking right at me. Brazos Bend State Park in SE Texas. 3/2019
Brazos Bend State Park in SE Texas. I think there were six of them in the pile. This one is best viewed large.
This image was made a fraction of a second before a similar image posted a few days ago. A parent's legs (not sure which parent) tower over the chick.
In the earlier post, the chick's wings are raised higher, and the adult's legs are a bit straighter. Things change in a fraction of a second.
Brazos Bend State Park in SE Texas - 5/2023.
Yesterday morning I made a brief visit to Brazos Bend State Park. The morning was foggy creating some beautiful lighting. I decided to spend my time exploring the prairie a bit in hopes of getting some neat shots of water-laden spiderwebs. While I was struggling to find the “the” spiderweb I noticed this shy little beauty checking me out. At that point my full attention was on the Le Conte’s Sparrow. I love how its yellow tones blend in so nicely with the grass.
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Ammodramus leconteii
New roles at my day job have kept me from doing much exploring/photography for a while. Hopefully I have the day job under control, and can get back to my favorite things.
This morning I made a trip to Brazos Bend State Park and was welcomed by my old friend the male (pretty sure) Great-horned Owl. My guess this is the same bird I have photographed nesting at the park for the previous few years (only a guess, of course). Anyway, this bird was a nice welcome back to the park.
Early morning, without much light.
/7.1 500.0 mm 1/50 ISO 12800
I wanted to add another stop of light, but I didn't feel confident doing it handheld, so I lighted in raw conversion (thus more noise than I would have liked). Tripod was left in the car, very smart of me.
Brazos Bend State Park in SE Texas - 1/2024.
I'll start catching up with friends pics soon.
This is a common summer bird for us, but when I see them they are usually on the ground hunting. It was nice to get this bird perched in a bush. Brazos Bend State Park in SE Texas - 5/2022.
ƒ/6.3, 400.0 mm, 1/250, ISO 1600
I can’t count the number of Anhinga photos I have taken over the years but I am sure it is a pretty big number. That being the case, I still have a hard time walking past one like this beauty that was posing so nicely yesterday at Brazos Bend SP. They look prehistoric to me and so much cool detail to check out once you get home.
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Anhinga anhinga
I ended up moving in close to this bird for a few tight portraits, but I kind of like this more distant shot of the bird framed by his colorful habitat.
Brazos Bend State Park in SE Texas. 8/2018
This is from early one morning back in March. There was little light (as seems to be a common situation for me). Another guy and I were focused on this bird when the mouth opened. Neither of us regretted getting up early. Both owlets have since fledged. Brazos Bend State Park in SE Texas - 3/2021.
ƒ/8.0, 1/80 6400
This is one of the fawns pictured in a post from a few days back. They were not too concerned about me. I sat on the ground and watched them eat and wander around and occasionally check me out as in this image. Eventually they sat down together to rest. The session ended when I moved on. They did not flush while I was with them, which made it extra special. Brazos Bend State Park in SE Texas - 5/2024.
Santa and his Elves from B&H dropped an Olympus mirrorless camera down the chimney. I'm having a great time with this small, light camera. The retro look reminds me of carrying my Olympus OMG around the Minnesota woods during my College years. Christmas Eve 2015 at Brazos Bend State Park in SE Texas
I spent a few minutes (well probably an hour) with this bird this morning and he gave me a nice opportunity. In this image, he is regurgitating a crawfish that he quickly re-swallowed. Yum.
500 mm with 1.4x TC, 1/2000, f5.6, Eval meter -1/3. SE Texas, US
We had a few springs when Black-necked stilts nested in a very accessible area of the park. There was plenty of water in the ponds, and they were not overgrown with plants as they are now. There were some great opportunities to observe and photograph the adult and young stilts, and I made as many visits as I could. This image is from spring 2023. Brazos Bend State Park in SE Texas - 5/2023
This morning, I spent a few hours watching this green heron go about its work. Sometimes I shot, and sometimes I just watched. The bird seemed comfortable with me and went about its routine. The GH did not like other birds near it. however. The raised crest was meant for a nearby Moorhen, who apparently was not welcome. Brazos Bend State Park in SE Texas - 3/2025
One gulf fritillary butterfly seems to think another fritillary needs assistance.
Brazos Bend State Park
After a passerby flushed the little blue heron I had been watching, i decided to move on. When I stood up, I thought I saw a green heron. Further inspection showed it to be a least bittern. These birds aren't rare at Brazos Bend, but they aren't common either. Most of my previous views have been from a long distance, or for a fraction of a second. I like the tongue in this pic. Brazos Bend State Park in SE Texas - 5/2022.
After a few minutes the ibis swallowed the crawfish. I'll post a few more images in the coming days. Brazos Bend State Park in SE Texas - 6/2024.
This area of the park (the spillway) has running water when we have ample rain and the birds and gators feed on critters in the flowing water.
The image was made in 6/2024. The spillway is currently dry, but one big rain could change that.
Brazos Bend State Park in SE Texas - 6/2024.
The American Alligator and the Yellow-crowned night heron will always define Brazos Bend to me. I see a lot of gators but rarely photograph them (not sure why not), but I can not resist a good look at a YCNH. I was fortunate to catch this young one early yesterday morning. Brazos Bend State Park in SE Texas - 7/2024.