Finding Feathers, Fur, and Scales at Estero Llano Grande State Park

We enjoyed visiting several Texas state parks on our drive through this big state. We purchased a state park pass, and we're continuing to put it to good use while we are in the Rio Grande Valley. We picked a beautiful weather morning to make the 31-mile drive to Estero Llano Grande State Park. 

We called in advance to reserve the all-terrain wheel chair available at this park, so Denisa's Mother could enjoy the trails with us. We used it a year ago, and we remember how well it handled the rough terrain. We were surprised when they had to look for the chair. It sounds like it isn't being used as much as it should.

A short wheel chair ride from the parking lot brought us to the visitor center and the lake easily seen from the shaded patio. Most of the black-bellied whistling ducks weren't whistling, but standing on one leg in resting position this morning. 

A few whistling ducks were paddling about in the water.

We also got a good look at a handsome pintail duck,

and these Northern Shovelers on the lake.

That would have been the end of our day without a wheel chair. But the rest of Estero Llano Grande was waiting for us as we hit the trail system to visit several other lakes. In the picture below, we were actually walking beside the Dowitcher Lake. But we couldn't see the water because of all the cattails at the edge of the water.

The picture below was taken last year at the same spot. It illustrates that the cattail invasion is new to this lake. Our son was visiting a year ago, and we could see the entire length of the lake.

Likewise, we could see the lake from the bridge last year. . .

while the bridge had thick cattails on both sides this year. The volunteer ranger explained that very high rainfall during the last year caused this problem that certainly limits the number of water fowl that visitors can see in this state park this year.

We didn't see the multitude of ducks or roseate spoonbills like last year, but we did see some pretty flowers blooming here in the Rio Grande Valley.

We took turns pushing the wheel chair to the far corner of the state park all the way to Alligator Lake.

Just as promised, thanks to Mark's good eye for finding wildlife, we spotted two different alligators on the edge of the water. This scaly big guy was the easiest to photograph.

We also found this long-necked anhinga. These birds swim with only their necks out of the water, and then dry their wings while resting in the trees. They use their long pointy beak to spear their prey.

Also hiding in the trees around Alligator Lake was a good selection of night herons.

These birds always look a little sleepy, because like their name implies, they do their hunting at night.

Because the wheel chair was rolling so well, we made a big circle to the most westerly section of Estero Llano Grande State Park. This side is shaded, and has some nice flowers blooming even in the winter.

Because plants grow year-round, they grow bigger here in Texas. We took a picture in front of a tree-sized cactus.

Even a prickly old cactus can put on a beautifully-colored bloom. Finding those blooms is another example of wandering into God's wonders.

As we circled back towards the visitor center, we spotted our last animal of the day. This nutria was swimming across the lake. His fur was very wet, but we finally spotted a mammal here at the state park.

We were blessed to get to hike a few miles on the trails here at Estero Llano Grande State Park on a gorgeous day. We got to see plenty of feathers like we expected. But today we were also treated to the scales of the alligators, and the fur of the nutria.