Click here for Part I.
Somewhat surprisingly, the road out to the Greer Island levee crossing was completely passable. Just some puddles in a couple of spots. So I ended my visit out there.
If
Lake Worth rises another foot, the levee probably won't be above water any longer. It was lapping right up against the trail in some stretches.
These reeds looked interesting enough to shoot. As so often happens, once I looked at the shot on the computer I noticed something I hadn't seen in the wild -- the tiny grasshopper near the top!
I heard a fairly loud "sploosh" as I was headed back to my car -- whatever made it was likely larger than a turtle. As I scanned the water to see if I could make out what had made it, I noticed this fellow doing his best imitation of a log. What a treat! I'd heard that there were
alligators in North Texas, but had never actually seen one in the wild before. I waited with him until the sun made a brief appearance.
Mimosa tree at the trail head. A naturalist at the visitor center helped identify several of the wildflowers I saw, and added that this one is not native to Texas.
The
prickly pear cacti were in bloom all over the refuge.
Eastern Pondhawks were among the many dragonflies I saw along the trail.
As I was driving out, I stopped to shoot a patch of
blanket flowers near the gate house.
I also saw three armadillos and a painted bunting during my four-hour visit, but wasn't able to get pictures of them. The alligator was really the big win of the trip. Apparently the swift-moving waters have been moving some downstream and they get "caught" by the levee.
Just the fix I was looking for after all our wet, overcast weather lately!
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