Cottonmouth Snake at Hagerman (May 2019)

North Texas has had a lot of rain lately. So much that Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge is currently underwater. Most of the hiking trails and roads are flooded. We didn't realize how bad the flooding was until we went up there yesterday for a hike. Areas that, in April, were 6+ feet down and completely dry are now engulfed and basically missing. The bridge over the main part of the lake is usually 4-6 feet above the water; all I could see yesterday was the very top of the guardrails.

Because of all the flooding (and the subsequent lack of people), the wildlife had moved to higher ground. Unfortunately, this meant that what was supposed to be a relaxing hike was spiked with a couple of cottonmouth sightings. Generally, I have no problem with snakes, but venomous ones freak me out. The two we ran into yesterday were right in the middle of the trail (at the furthest point from the trailhead) and very angry to see hikers.

These are some photos I took of one of the snakes -- from a safe distance using a telephoto lens.

Killdeer at Hagerman (April 2019)

Hiked Raasch Trail at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge last weekend. This female killdeer put on a very convincing "look at me" show when I got too close to her nest. I didn't spend too much time bothering her, but I made sure to keep a safe distance from her eggs.

Birthday trip to Hagerman (July 2018)

I expected my birthday trip to Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge to be a little bit of a bust since mid-July in Texas means temperatures in the upper-90s/low-100s. Typically, the flora is browning (if not already dead) and the weather is generally oppressive. However, the refuge was flooding some of the fields while we were there and there were birds all over the place!

I'm not sure what makes them decide to flood areas but the plume of water was pretty impressive:

Typically, the birds in the refuge are spread out. There usually aren't groupings of more than one type of bird. (With the exception of the Canada geese because they do what they want). In the area that was flooding, though, we saw snowy egret, cattle egret, great blue heron, little blue heron, mallards, Canada geese, red-wing blackbirds, and more:

Maybe it was because of the flooding areas, but there were plenty of birds in other parts of the refuge, too:

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret with Canada Geese

Cattle Egret

Neotropic Cormorant

Eastern Pondhawk(?)

It's not a bird, obviously, but it was absolutely gorgeous. I'm not 100% sure this is an Eastern Podhawk, but it looks similar to pictures I've seen of them.

Whitetail deer at Hagerman (July 2018)

For my birthday last month, I took a weekday trip up to Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge. It was very hot (mid-July in Texas) and I didn't expect to see too much in the way of critters, but I really wanted to go anyway.

We didn't get up to the refuge until late afternoon and by 5 o'clock we could see some summer storms starting up nearby so we decided to head home. That's when the most wonderful thing happened: we saw a trio of whitetail deer near the refuge's wheatfields. Two adults and an adorable spotted fawn.

It was the best birthday gift I could have imagined.

Canada Geese at Hagerman (June 2018)

I finally finished going through my photos from my last trip to Hagerman in June. There were a lot of great photos of Canada geese.

There was a large flock of them dawdling about in the road. Of course, I had to stop and take photos of them. They weren't in a hurry to move out of our way. At one point, it was like an absurd skit: more and more geese emerged from the bushes.

The goslings from early in the spring now how most of their adult feathers. The goose in the middle of the photo below is showing off his pin feathers that are still growing in post-molt.

There was another flock of geese near the observation deck. Most of them were hanging out in the grass, relaxing.

My presence was not particularly welcome and the entire flock swam away in the most orderly fashion.

By the way they were pairing off as they got into the water and swam away, I'm guessing that I interrupted date night (afternoon?).

Bonham State Park

Bonham State Park is smaller than other nearby state parks, but I think it's lovely. The park is basically a smallish lake surrounded by trees, hike/bike trails, and some camping areas.

When I visited the park this past weekend, the weather was hot -- and humid because there were nearby storms.

Park Map

Lake view

You can see the nearby rain when you look at one end of the lake. The sky on the other side of the lake is sunny and blue.

Unknown plant

Still trying to identify this plant... very interesting seed pods

Road view

Love the "tunnel" effect that you get from tall trees overgrowing a road.

Jackrabbits at the Texas Sculpture Garden

Hall Office Park in Frisco, Texas is home to the Texas Sculpture Garden. Basically, the entire grounds of the office park are filled with sculptures. Every one of the sculptures was created by a Texas artist. There are lovely walking paths, plenty of trees and landscaping, and it's all free.

There are a lot of sculpture there that I really like, but I'm particularly enamored with these life-sized jackrabbits by David Iles. They're scattered around the planter in the traffic circle in front of one of the buildings.

American White Pelican at Hagerman (Jun 2018)

<>I'm not sure if this is the same male American white pelican that I've seen all the other times I've visited Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge, but I suppose it's possible. He's usually seen perched on a branch in the middle of the water, preening himself. I appreciate his laid back attitude because it makes it much easier for me to capture nice photos of him.