By Brandt Mannchen

I got to the 40-Acre Lake parking lot early in Brazos Bend State Park.  There was heavy overcast and cloud cover which looked suspiciously like rain.  The forecast hadn’t mentioned rain, so I was puzzled.  Never try to outguess Nature so I put on my binoculars and walked to the T-head pier while waiting for David to arrive.  American Crows suggested that I wasn’t in the right place.

A Cottontail Rabbit welcomed me near some picnic tables and when I got to the T-head pier I noticed a bird with outstretched wings, drying itself at the end the T-head.  At first, I thought it might be a cormorant.  But as I slowly walked toward the end of the T-head I noticed this bird had white markings and a straight bill.

A cormorant has a thick, hooked bill.  This was an Anhinga, also know as “Snake-bird” or “Water-turkey”.  I don’t see many of them and I’d never been so close.  I took several photos and then backed off so I wouldn’t disturb this bird anymore than I already had.

Egrets and Black-bellied Whistling Ducks flew overhead as they headed for their feeding and loafing places.  40-Acre Lake was fringed with hundreds of Water Lotus, large pizza pan-sized floating plants with softball sized yellow flowers.  A blooming wetland if I’d ever seen one!  I also noticed native, large, white hibiscus blooming near the shoreline and lots of Frog Fruit snaking along the ground. 

I walked back to the parking lot and enjoyed looking at blooming wildflowers including Texas Dandelion, Mexican Hat, American Elderberry, Mexican Primrose, Sensitive Briar, and Wild Petunia.  Soon I saw that Dave had arrived and we greeted each other and then walked to the T-head pier.

By this time the Bullfrogs set-up a chorus and 3-4-foot gars breached the water surface and displayed their multiple dorsal fins.  A small American Alligator could be seen near wetland plants and Great-tailed Grackles and Red-winged Blackbirds were scattered on vegetation along the lakeside. A Little Blue Heron and Common Gallinule added to the diversity while Yellow-crowned Night Herons flew overhead.

We walked back to the car and admired the Live Oak and hackberry trees covered with Resurrection Fern and Trumpet Vine. We then drove to the Creekfield Lake parking lot, next to the visitor center.  We hiked on the Creekfield Trail and crossed the lake.  We saw another American Alligator.  We also saw White Ibis, Snowy Egret, Great Egret, Common Gallinule, Pied-billed Grebe, Green Heron, and Tri-colored Heron.

There was a lot of feral hog rooting in this area. Feral hogs are pests that compete with and eat native plants and animals.  I’ve often wondered why we don’t have a regional plan to reduce their numbers.  Another of my wishes that hasn’t happened in the past 30 years.

We also noticed Climbing Hempweed and American Beautyberry were blooming along the trail.  Mockingbirds and Northern Cardinals flitted through open areas and near where a mower was cutting grass, Cattle Egrets inspected the cuttings for insects.

The best bird of the day was a beautiful Red-shouldered Hawk.  We saw it fly through the tree canopy and land in a Live Oak with Resurrection Fern. We used our binoculars to admire its profile.  What a nice-looking, but ferocious, bird.

We eased into the car to discuss next where in the park we should go.  Lightning streaked, thunder rolled, the skies opened up, and the rain began to fall. The rain fell in torrents which blew with the stiff rain.  We drove for a few minutes through campgrounds and over Big Creek but decided that to avoid a limb or tree fall we would head back to 40-Acre parking lot.

We arrived and the rain kept falling.  Our growling stomachs then gained our attention and we decided to leave the park and go to lunch.  It had been a shorter visit than usual, but we were happy to see that Nature refreshed the woods, prairies, and wetlands of Brazos Bend State Park.  That’s a nice legacy to see as you leave.  We’ll be back to visit soon!

Photos by Brandt Mannchen.