Tag: wildlife
Lake Somerville State Park and Trailway
On our way home from Houston (Battleship Texas and San Jacinto Monument) we stopped by Lake Somerville State Park.
The park has an office on both sides of the lake. The reason for this is that the lake is very long. It does take some time to drive from one office to the other so if you plan on visiting both offices (path tags at both) make sure you allow for about 45 minutes to get from one to the other. The other key piece of info is that the Birch Creek Unit Office closes at 4:45 pm. We arrived at 4:55 and were unable to get our path tag.
The park and lake are very beautiful. Some trails do need some maintenance. It doesn’t look like they cut some of them back much. Make sure to wear jeans/boots on the more hairy trails as there are some poisonous snakes out and about especially around the shore.
This was one of the trails that looked safer.
It turned out to be the one we saw a rather large water moccasin cross right in front of us.
Again, the lake was beautiful and there were lots of people out enjoying the water.
Plan to spend a weekend at this park to enjoy the lake. Be sure to check the TPWD site for good directions and updates on the water level.
Pedernales Falls State Park Bird Blind
After the storms on Monday, I headed out the Perd to see if the rains had any impact on the water level. While out there I remembered that there’s plenty about this park that I haven’t experienced yet. One of those things is the bird blind at the park.
My expectations were really low because I thought “low budget and state park must mean bench and tree = bird blind.” Boy was I wrong.
If you haven’t had the pleasure, put it at the top of your list for your next visit to the park.
From the park store, head towards the main falls. Keep an eye out on the left side of the road for the parking area for the blind. It is well-marked and should be easily found.
To get the most out of your visit and to be respectful of others at the blind:
- Turn your radio off before you turn into the parking area.
- No talking unless you are able to whisper (not all people are able to in my experience)
- When you park, try to park at the far end of the lot away from the entrance to the blind.
- Close the door to your car as quietly as possible
- Don’t set your alarm. Lock your doors, but no honking of the horn to set the alarm.
- Enter the blind quietly (don’t let the gate slam)
There are two large bird blinds once you enter. The first one on the right, pictured below, has a few hummingbird feeders.
I saw several different species in just a short time in this blind.
There is another blind in this area that has a special visitor right now.
I was lucky to get there around feeding time. The volunteer, Mr. Strickland, said that the baby fox, pictured below, shows up every day around 5pm and stays about an hour.
According to Mr. Strickland, there is a mother and a couple of other young foxes. However he had not seen them in a few days and the worry is that something might have happened to them. Hopefully this little guy is not on his own so young.
The park is in the middle of a large project at the blind/surrounding area. They are building a large star gazing area. Mr. Strickland said that there would be a telescope and accompanying facility. I look forward to visiting this facility when it opens.
Pedernales Falls (again)
I made it out to Pedernales on Monday after the heavy rains. Got some great pictures with the old camera I dug out of the closet. Easy to say that this park is my favorite so far. Every time I visit I see something I haven’t seen before.
Doeskin Ranch – Creek Trail
The creek trail starts at the information
kiosk near the restrooms* and follows the old homestead (no longer there), school (mid to late 1800’s structure), and then continues along the creek until it meets back up with the main trail (rimrock trail).
The old school building provides a small picture of what living on the ranch must have been like.
Even though the creek trail is only a half mile from the ponds and prairies trail the landscape is completely different. You’ll also see lots of grasshoppers along this trail. Watch for snakes (depending on time of year) and keep an eye out for the many birds and butterflies. The creek will have water in it if there has been a recent rain. Otherwise you can explore the old creek bed.
The old trees on this trail also provide plenty of photo opportunities. This was one of my favorite from today.
Summertime at Doeskin Ranch
I haven’t been out to one of my favorite hiking spots in Central Texas in quite some time. I headed out to Doeskin Ranch today to check out the end of a hot June at Doeskin Ranch.
This is a great protected park with plenty of opportunities for wildlife viewing. For the grasshopper lovers out there Doeskin must be paradise. You easily lose count of the different grasshoppers and crickets you come across on just a short hike at this park.
Take the ponds and prairies trail
(near the restrooms*) for a 0.4 mile walk among the flat, open area of the park. The grass has really grown up in this area and the grasshoppers are plentiful. Because of the abundance of grasshoppers, there’s also many grasshopper sparrows out at the park. These birds have wonderful coloration and fly around at chest height providing good opportunity to see them up close as they fly by hopper hunting.
*restrooms are compost restrooms and provide minimal facilities
McKinney Falls State Park Video
I found another great video on one of the parks I’ve visited a few times now. Watch the video and check out my posts on McKinney Falls State Park.
TPWD Sheldon Lake Video
Great short video on Sheldon Lake State Park and Environmental Learning Center.
Sheldon Lake State Park
Park #17 on our Texas State Parks adventures was Sheldon Lake State Park. This park is just East of Houston about 20 minutes from downtown.
We almost missed the turnoff to get into the park because the entrance was blocked by a passing train.
The park office was closed because they don’t want to be open on the weekends when people may visit. Just kidding of course, but it did seem odd. There was no entrance fee so that was nice.
There were plenty of picture opportunities at this park. The front of the park has several ponds with lilies and other blooming flowers around.
Each pond had it’s own personality. Some looked calm.
And others looked like “several things in there could kill me.”
We saw some wildlife along the trail.
And were warned of some others.
Between the smaller ponds at the front and Sheldon Lake is a great observation tower. The elevator is powered by solar panels. (Elevator currently undergoing maintenance. Call ahead to check availability).
Be careful at the Bent Pine Tree. While standing and reading the sign we noticed our feet were quickly covered in ants. They weren’t fire ants, but still annoying.
Overall a nice park with much to offer for visitors of all ages.
Blanco State Park
Park #15 was Blanco State Park. Somehow I forgot to post about it, but this post will be just like the park itself. Short and sweet.
Blanco State Park is just off Highway 281 South of Johnson City, TX. You can see almost the entire park from the entrance road. There were several people fishing along the banks of the river. There were also many families enjoying the swimming area kept separate from the fishing area by the orange buoys seen in the image below. This would a good park to visit for a picnic lunch on a day outing. There are also some overnight cabins.
Exploring Texas State Parks 