Birds at Brazos Bend

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Perhaps because it was breezy, Sunday was a pretty quiet day for birds at Brazos Bend.

The only birds on the water were Blue-winged Teal, American Coots and Common Moorhen.


As usual, though, the edges of 40 Acre Lake had a good selection of wading birds.

White Ibis were fairly plentiful and there were several species of heron.

Little Blue Herons and a Tricolored Heron were too shy to photograph. However, a Yellow-crowned Night Heron was hunting only a few yards away from the trail.


Every so often it would be spooked by all the people walking along the path and would fly off.


But a few minutes later it would return.


This Great Blue Heron was even closer to the trail. It let me take several photos before more people came along and scared it away, giving a fine view of its plumage as it went.






If you looked carefully, there were quite a few smaller birds feeding by the path, too. These included Savannah Sparrows and American Pipits.


There were also a couple of Least Sandpipers.


At Elm Lake, Anhingas were looking less elegant than usual as the took breaks from fishing dives and perched in the sun to dry their plumage.


April is the peak wildflower month in southeast Texas. Our drive to Brazos was brightened up by several roadside displays of Texas Bluebonnets, Evening Primroses and Indian Paintbrush. We weren't able to stop to photograph these but I did manage a couple of photos of wildflowers in the park itself.




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