One of my favorite to-do's on our first big RV trip in 2010 turned out to be...gator-spotting! This really began when we visited Brazos Bend State Park. I almost hate to post this place name on the web, and I wouldn't if I wasn't sure that Facebook has already done much more damage that way than my little blog could ever do...!! And it's a park, it's supposed to be visited. But, at some point, there are so many visitors, there's no room for you anymore!
On Wed., Feb. 25th, we moved from Sattler to Brazos. We weren't sure a stop at this park was going to work out because the weather hadn't been cooperating (the air temp needs to be warmer than the water, or the gators won't come out at all!). And since the park only offers 30amp spaces and has no sewer hook-ups, I didn't really want to stay there if the weather was too bad. And, as I was saying, the park's popularity got in the way too. We didn't book in time enough to beat the weekend crowd - the campground was already booked-up Fri. & Sat. nights.
Bill got tired, and I didn't really feel like driving, so Zouey took a turn behind the wheel...
I do wish we could get her to actually use it!
BBSP is kind of off the beaten path. Between that and our GPS messing up on a little detail (like knowing where a freeway off-ramp actually is...), we ended up on some pretty tiny roads. At least this one had a yellow stripe down the middle - some of the others didn't even have that. Looking at the surrounding farmland, you would never guess the kind of lake-bird-gator paradise hidden away in the park!
Once we got settled in, the next order of business was taking the kids out. Here, Tractor hurries to catch up with his beloved MizzouDog! He really prefers to have her along on the walks.
Violets! It's not really spring here yet, but it's wonderful to see some of the early bloomers!
Back to the ol' homesite...
The sun came out later in the afternoon, so I went out to explore. I just love the mossy trees!
The 40-acre Lake. I don't remember it being so covered in hyacinth before, and of course, when we were here last it was a little later and the brown parts were all green!
And you can tell what this is just by his silhouette, right? Yep, Bruce the Buzzard!
Some kind of hawk, but I don't know enough to tell which! He/she sure is pretty though! And so intent on potential prey that I was able to get close enough to get a croppable shot with just my 24-105mm lens! (of course, once I got my lens changed out to my 100-400mm, he took off!)
And a CrocoDog! Oh, whoops, wait, this is the real thing! Actually, not a croc, but a gator. Only saw two on this sunny but still cold afternoon (but that partly be because I wasn't looking hard enough and in too much of a hurry).
Here he/she is in all their glory - and with a bunch of coots hanging out in the background. This was probably a 6-7 ft gator.
And the other big boy (or girl) that was hanging out in the same patch of mud. This one was bigger. Probably a couple feet longer, and much heavier duty!
An ibis - or two (see the other bill in the background? Belongs to the darker body...?).
Parent great blue herons in their nest (far, far away - this is the best I could do...).
Another ibis.
Pretty swamp reflections.
Very elegantly-dressed great blue.
Another great blue - they're everywhere! I tell you - this place is great for birds! No doubt better in better weather, but good even on the bad days!
One of the awesome trails as sunset nears.
Beautiful balds (cypress) reflecting in Elm Lake.
A cormorant conference (and a slight squabble amongst participants).
Sunset colors the moss-draped oaks.
Nothing says, "gee, you're running late. I don't think you're going to make it back before dark!" like seeing things like this...and knowing you still have miles (only two or so...) to go to get back to the truck! Most of the time, I don't let things like this happen, but once in awhile my desire to be out there overwhelms my better judgement! And actually, it would've been fine if I'd only brought my flashlight...
Now I wouldn't have been caught dead out here (or maybe I would - be dead if caught out, that is!) after dark in really warm weather! But all the dangerous things being mostly reptilian and needing warmer temps to be out and about made walking in the dark less dangerous (or so I told myself!).
Going, going...
Those are ibises moving out for the evening.
Getting darker, and darker... I made it back all right (obviously!), but I was definitely losing my depth perception on the shadier parts of the trail! I could tell that the poor dead armadillo I had seen in the grass on the side of the trail earlier (thought I'd spare you the photos, although yes, I did take some!) had been dragged to the middle of the trail - and probably gutted. And it was right there that I also heard somebody scampering off to the side, in the darkness... (most likely a fox or something?)
