TimesToCome

Today we wandered along Hwy 82 to Hwy 27, part of the Creole Nature Trail in Louisiana. It was beautiful even in mid January and full of life. There were various hawks and king fishers all along the route. Next time we’ll follow Hwy 384 as well, I didn’t see that section until I started writing this post and looking up links. Some of the trail runs along the ocean, some through the plains and bayous of Lousisiana. It’s a pretty trip, even in winter.

We stumbled upon Sabine National Wildlife Refuge. The website says it is closed to the public but there was a board walk and trail about a mile long through the swamps that was open. It is really cool and very worth a trip. We saw alligators, white and brown ibis, red winged black birds, spoon bills, egrets, heron, many ducks, a few alligators sunning themselves, other assorted water birds, crawfish and a nutria. All this in mid January. I can’t wait to go back when the weather is warm.

It was the first time I saw a crawfish up close. The little guy really hammed it up for the camera and even tried to beat the camera up. What cool little critters.

Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Refuge is almost as far south as you can get in Texas. There are about 15 miles of driving trails through the park.

There were osprey everywhere along the bay catching fish. The seagulls would fight with the osprey over the fish. One seagull we saw was in between the legs of an osprey trying to steal his fish. We also saw some green jays, lots of roadrunners, javelina, armadillo and many other assorted critters.

In the dry lake beds you could see the large cat prints and the prints of the javalina being chased by the cat. The lakes had all dried up. I am not sure if that is typical this time of year or if it has been a dry year?