Beaumont

.
After checking in at our motel - an excellent Day's Inn - we headed over to Cattail Marsh, a natural water treatment facility. 

The ponds were busy with a range of birds, with groups of American White Pelicans resting on islands and surrounded by numerous Black-necked Stilts, Dowitchers, American Coots and Green-winged Teal.

Swamp Sparrows popped up at several places along the trail.

Unfortunately, the light was bad when we arrived and it got even worse as the afternoon ended. While this didn't stop us from seeing 43 species of birds, it did mean that most of my photos were grainy and blurred, like this one of a flock of 100+ Cattle Egrets.

I managed to save just one of several pictures that I took of nutrias that we came across along the trail.

I returned for an hour early the next morning, just in time for sunrise.

I saw mainly the same birds as the previous day, although this time they were bathed in golden light.

Even the Great-tailed Grackles looked spectacular in the dawn light.

Before heading back to Houston, we paid a visit to Village Creek State Park, which is part of what used to be the massive Big Thicket forest. 

We enjoyed a very pleasant walk along a woodland trail by the creek.

Birds were very few and far between: we saw or heard only half-a-dozen species. The only bird that appeared close and long enough for a photo was a Red-headed Woodpecker.

Our visit to Beaumont hadn't produced as many new birds as I had hoped for but the 45 species we saw at Cattail Marsh made the trip worthwhile.
.