Also at Baytown

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As you might expect, herons weren't the only birds we saw at Baytown Nature Center.

Great Egrets were common, either perching in trees or hunting in the shallows.

We watched as this one preened.

There were more Snowy Egrets than I'd ever seen on previous visits.

You just have to love those yellow feet.

The posts in Burnett Bay were hosting Laughing Gulls and Brown Pelicans. Many of the Pelicans were preening.

A solitary Gull-billed Tern was fishing too far away for photos but a score of Least Terns were occupying a flooded area next to the road. There yellow bills and white foreheads make them easy to identify.

The group included several juveniles.

Three Killdeer were sharing the same area with the terns. I'm always truck by what beautiful eyes they have. 

Our first Clapper Rail of the year crossed the road just ahead of us and hunkered down out of sight in the reeds. Nearby a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher watched from a tree branch. I've seen a lot of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers since we moved to Texas but I don't think I've ever seen one with a longer tail. Not a bad bird to end our visit with.

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