Back to Nature

We are leaving for Corpus Christi area tomorrow (Rockport, TX)
Then Harlingen, TX and San Antonio

We will be in Arizona in mid March


Since we have been exploring many cities the last few weeks, I was anxious to get back to hiking.  The warmer weather and the Beaumont area provided a perfect opportunity for us to explore the Big Thicket National Preserve.
First we took the Kirby trail that had a bunch of tall pines, magnolias, and live oak trees.

There were a couple of interesting things to see in this forest.

We took a turn off to see the cypress trees that grow in the swamps, called sloughs.  That proved to be the most interesting part of our hike with various tree shapes and bark.  Johnny is really good at remembering all the names and native regions.  I just appreciate the beauty of Nature!

Below you can see the "knees" that grow above the roots in the swampy areas of the cypress trees.  No one is quite sure of their function  - they are an odd shape and look kind of weird and spooky.

At one point in our hike, we ran into this sign.  They haven't finished cleaning up after the hurricane in December.  We turned around and retraced our steps at this point in the trail.

Once we finished the Kirby trail, we went over to the Pitcher Plant Trail as recommended by the Ranger at the Welcome Center.   The Pitcher Plant is carnivorous in that it eats insects!  Bugs are attracted by the sweet smell and then trapped in the long stem.  The picture below is in winter, of course, so it looks brown.  But in summer they are a beautiful yellow.

Finally, on our way out of the park (in the car) we saw this little guy.  Not sure if he is dead or alive, but it's our first armadillo in Texas!

Continuing on the Nature theme, our RV park is very close to the Beaumont Botanical Garden, so we checked it out.  There were sculptures of dinosaurs - see the pterodactyl.

And some beautiful (and valuable) koi fish - dark, cream color and orange.

There is a lovely outdoor section that has a rose garden, a Japanese garden and a butterfly garden among other things.  But in winter there was not much worth photographing.

We also went to the Cattail Marsh as recommended by the docent at the Botanical Garden.  It was a cool day so we didn't see beavers, alligators or many fish.  But lots of birds - mostly ducks! And this little black and white guy who thinks he is above it all.

These two were diving for their dinner.  I don't know why I think this is so funny.

This guy either thinks he's a rooster or wants to tell us which way the wind blows.  He had a really sweet sound.

This is just an overall view of one side of the marsh.  We met a couple of men who were bird watching using a high powered binocular.  They were watching an eagle at a nest in the distance.  They also showed us a flock of white egrets where one was light blue! Highly unusual.  I don't have a photo because they were too far away, but it was really cool.