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Camping at Brazos Bend
Date: July 16 - 17, 1998 Weather: Hot & humid, no breeze, 75/98 degrees Activities: Camping, nature photography, wildlife observation Submitted by: Shannon Moore Despite the summer heat, Justin and I needed to enjoy the outdoors for awhile. We decided to camp overnight at Brazos Bend State Park which we first visited in April while driving home from Houston. The park's abundance of alligators, birds, and other wildlife seemed certain to renew our spirits. We arrived at Brazos Bend around 2 PM, staking our claim at campsite #105 in the Burr Oak Camping Area. We relaxed, cooked lunch (soup, nothing fancy) on the camp stove, and headed over to Elm Lake at 5 PM for some evening birding and alligator watching. We observed a variety of birds with the aid of binoculars: great blue heron, American crow, pileated woodpecker, downy woodpecker, red-winged blackbird, black-bellied whistling duck, Northern cardinal, great egret, green heron, moorhen (w/juveniles), yellow-crowned night heron, Eastern kingbird, white ibis, American coot (w/juveniles), little blue heron, European starling On our way to 40 Acre Lake, we checked out a portion of the .5 mile Creekfield Interpretive Trail, located across from the George Observatory. We observed raccoon (w/juveniles), white-tailed deer (very healthy looking herd with some impressive bucks), Eastern cottontail, great blue heron, tri-colored heron, and little blue heron. We reached 40 Acre Lake at 7 PM and found huge lily pads with beautiful yellow flowers covering much of the lake. The water level was fairly low, making it easier to spot alligators. Unfortunately, we did not see as many alligators as we had in April and most of those we did see were juveniles. The same bird species that we observed at Elm Lake were present at 40 Acre Lake. Green herons and black-bellied whistling ducks were especially prevalent. We also saw a jackrabbit near the observation tower.
As we climbed into the tent for the evening, we realized everyone else in the vicinity had something we didn't--air conditioning! We bought our tent for its superior breathability, anticipating sultry South Texas nights such as this; however, with absolutely no breeze the tent soon seemed like an oven. Thankfully, the antics of the lightning bugs and occasional hoots from great horned owls made up for our discomfort. Although summer isn't the best birding and wildlife watching season, we were pleasantly surprised with the number of species we did see this trip. Since Justin would really like to take more photographs of mature alligators, we will return in the spring when they tend to bask on the shoreline during the day.
 Experience more Texas travels
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