Houston

As fate would have it, we ended up in Houston after abruptly leaving Seattle. I visited two wetland parks -- my favorite stomping ground Brazos Bend State Park (more on this later) and Cullinan Park in Sugarland, which I view as a mininature Brazos Bend -- it has similar habitat and a wooden boardwalk with an elevated observation platform as well, though smaller in scale (on the plus side, it is also free!). It is a nice place to stop by for an hour or two, although I had to cut my walk short because of the unbearable heat and humidity.

(Click on each image to see the high-resolution version)

There were several different sepcies of dragonflies in the wetland. I think these are Halloween Pennant and female Eastern Pondhawk respectively.


Dragonfly -- Halloween Pennant?


Dragonfly -- female Eastern Pondhawk?

But the most interesting are the clusters of pink eggs clung to the stems of aquatic plants, and sometimes the boardwalk posts. Pretty as they are, I later found out, these are the eggs of the invasive applesnails, see more on this site for their environmental impact and how to control them.


Applesnail eggs

A different dragon fly flew across the sky -- a plane that was to land in the nearby Sugarland Airport.


Plane

I managed to go back to Brazos Bend State Park again. I managed to get there early in the morning, before the steamer kicked into its high gear. Live Oaks draped with Spanish Moss, the scene is quintessentially southern at 40-acre Lake, which is where I usually start my walk.


Live Oak


Live Oak


40-acre Lake

I did not get any new bird on this day, but took pictures of some long-familiar ones. This Great Blue Heron greeted me from a tree branch.


Great Blue Heron

Common Gallinules and their chicks were browsing the aquatic plants.


Common Gallinule


Common Gallinule


Common Gallinule


Common Gallinule

The Black-bellied Whistling Ducks are my favorite ducks, they look goofy and humorous (but that may be just my mental projection) and make musical whistling sounds, very enchanting.


Black-bellied Whistling Duck


Black-bellied Whistling Duck

There were also many Yellow-crowned Night Herons, both juveniles and mature ones.


Yellow-crowned Night Heron


Yellow-crowned Night Heron


Yellow-crowned Night Heron

Of course, the White Ibises are ubiquitous throughout the park.


White Ibis


White Ibis

A slightly surprising finding was a Yellow-billed Cuckoo in the tree branches. I was mostly expecting water birds, so was pleasantly surprised with this sighting.


Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Near the end of my walk around 40-acre Lake, I witnessed a Little Blue Heron catching and swallowing (or trying to swallow) a large fish.


Little Blue Heron


Little Blue Heron


Little Blue Heron


Little Blue Heron


Little Blue Heron

Of course, I had to take a picture of an alligator.


Alligator

And of the blooming lotus flower.


Lotus

A very large spider made a web hanging from the Live Oak trees, I believe this is a Golden Silk Spider


Spider

Yet another dragonfly, I think this one is a male Eastern Pondhawk .


Dragonfly - male Eastern Pondhawk?

Finally, a couple of shots of a very active squirrel.


Squirrel


Squirrel



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