Brazos Bend State Park. Nikon D2X Nikon 70-200 F2.8 VRI

I used red monochrome filter (R: 100%, G: 0%, B: 0%) to darken the sky. (Blogged on 2007.01.29)

alligator

Anas carolinensis, a solitary Green-winged Teal, long click, but new capture.

April 01,2014 at Brazos Bend State Park.

At Brazos Bend State Park. A ranger is cataloging and tagging hummingbirds. Here he is gauging the fat store that the hummingbird has accumulated.

These three ducks sailed the lake among the duck weed floating on the surface.

Hale lake loop trail

An Anhinga (Anhinga Anhinga) catches a small fish in the waters of 40 Acre Lake at Brazos Bend State Park, Texas, USA.

At Brazos Bend State Park. A ranger is cataloging and tagging hummingbirds. Here he is measuring wing length.

Brazos Bend State Park

tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/brazos-bend

6n24 02112015 038 DSC_0387 f

At Brazos Bend State Park. A ranger is cataloging and tagging hummingbirds.

I cropped the closest gator pic I have so that you can see the details without viewing it large.

a few miles from our Assembly Hall at Rosenburg...there are a number of structures from all time periods in Texas Ranching on this historic and working cattle ranch. Demonstrations of all cowboy and ranching activities can be enjoyed here on Saturdays. It was a special treat to go with the JW Home School group a couple of years back as they toured. The kids were taught how and participated in many activities. It was fun to watch. "Cattle farms" as they were first called, began by roundind up a couple of wild longhorns who wandered on the property. "Pioneers" taugh the kids how to quickly make a split rail fence to contain the cow or two the farmers might round up. The kids were designated "wild longhorns" or "pioneers" and showed how to use whips to keep the cows out of the farmer's garden, and drive them into the hastily built fenced 'corrals'. They saw live demostrations of roping and branding, loading cattle into rail cars to go to market, and actual "dipping vat" activity of the cows, fromerly required before they could be shipped north. Of course, chuckwagon cooking and other activities were also explained....we derfinitely had as much fun as the kids !

duckweed

A Gulf Fritillary with a Long-tailed Skipper in the background, Brazos Bend State Park.

This shot was taken just when the weather went from hot to blazing hot. We're now in the middle of the month or two of time when it is too hot to spend much time outside. When your shins sweat even if you are lounging in the shade, it's time to go inside. Houston and the surrounding areas become the world's largest natural terrarium from August until late September.

This is Elm Lake from Brazos Bend State Park. Here is a blurb about the park:

Brazos Bend State Park, a 5,000-acre gem on the Upper Texas Coast, is just 40 miles from downtown Houston and offers a wide variety of activities for every age: biking, fishing, hiking, birding, camping, star-gazing, and opportunities to learn about Texas’ bountiful natural history via free programs and guided hikes.

The park’s scenic terrain has been carved gently over time by the vigorous Brazos River, which marks its eastern boundary. Fragments of the ancient coastal prairie survive here as do dense bottomland hardwood forests and extensive marshes, making ideal habitats for the American alligator and a rich diversity of other reptiles, amphibians, and mammals. The park is an important refuge for birds, with more than 300 species recorded, and wildflowers abound during the warmer months, drawing a wealth of butterflies.

Wetlands of many kinds enhance species diversity at the park. Brazos Bend wetlands include swamps, lakes and marshes. Herons, egrets and ibis find homes in the plants that make up the parks’ marshes. In the lakes, grebes and anhinga locate the deep water they need to hunt bluegill and other sunfish. Meanwhile, the swamps provide shelter for migratory water birds, including least bitterns, mallards, green herons and purple gallinules. For woodpeckers and songbirds, dead trees transform into shelter. But the swamp waters also give the birds protection unavailable in the forest by keeping land predators away. This attracts a greater variety of birds to the park.

Brazos Bend State Park, Pearland, Texas, USA

An American Bullfrog (Lithobates Catesbeianus) at Brazos Bend State Park, Texas, USA.

Brazos Bend State Park, Tx-1449

Caught this Wren right next to a trail I was on. Typically they would be gone, but I think I snuck up on it and surprised it, it just froze. Nice birds. Thryothorus ludovicianus

old oak, still home for many in the forest

Broken

~ Seether, ft. Amy Lee (Evanescence)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPC2Fp7IT7o

I wanted you to know I love the way you laugh

I wanna hold you high and steal your pain away

I keep your photograph, I know it serves me well

I wanna hold you high and steal your pain

'Cause I'm broken when I'm open

And I don't feel like I am strong enough

'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome

And I don't feel right when you're gone away

The worst is over now and we can breathe again

I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away

There's so much left to learn, and no one left to fight

I wanna hold you high and steal your pain

'Cause I'm broken when I'm open

And I don't feel like I am strong enough

'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome

And I don't feel right when you're gone away

Brazos Bend State Park in SE Texas

American Alligator

Brazos Bend State Park in SE Texas

August 2015

A Red-Eared Slider partially submerged in the swampy water at Brazos Bend State Park, Texas, USA.

Windy dat at Brazos Bend State Park

This is one of the largest alligators in Brazos Bend. What a yawn? Just look at how small the other gator looks.

CameraNikon D7000

Exposure0.002 sec (1/640)

Aperturef/5.3

Focal Length 240 mm

ISO Speed 200

duckweed

This snowy egret was feeding in the sloughs in Brazos Bend State Park. Note that color bar by its eye is getting more red in it. This is an indication that breeding and nesting is coming soon. I also like their yellow slippers which are also getting more red in them.

Brazos Bend State Park