By Brandt Mannchen

Photographs by Kristy Key

I felt cooped up lately with Covid still out and about.  I decided to change that trajectory and visit the over 44,000-acre Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge to view some end of Winter birds and get away from it all.  I invited two of my friends, Naomi and David. We masked up and practiced social distance, and enjoyed an early March morning.

We first checked out the pavilion, boardwalk, and pond next to the Nature Discovery Center.  Red-Winged Blackbirds were everywhere, the males showing off their red with yellow accented wing patch, while bored females shrugged and hid in the cane.  Barn Swallows swooped and dived over the pond.

Several American Alligators cruised the pond and kept away from each other, for now.  American Coots squawked, cackled, and made other amusing noises as they disappeared underwater and came up with a tasty vegan treat to munch on.  A couple of Ring-necked Ducks swam in and out of cattails and kept themselves away from these strange forms hanging over the rail with binoculars.  A Moorhen, with bright red-orange bill, sculled in the water taking its’ time and floating peacefully.

We drove down to the brackish water of Salt Lake and scanned salt marsh grasses.  We detected a lone Snowy Egret and a pink Roseate Spoonbill as they searched the edge of the marsh for a midmorning snack.  As we left the parking lot, I saw a vision of pink in the distant horizon as another Roseate Spoonbill flew away.

We began the Big Slough Loop auto tour and stopped at Gator Nest Pond.  A Little Blue Heron stalked the shallows with several Black-necked Stilts, and Northern Shovelers and Gadwall ducks drifted on the far side of the pond.

As we drove the Loop road, through the prairie, Meadow Larks flushed and headed for nearby grassy safe places to hide.  On this day, we also saw the increasingly rare Loggerhead Shrike, the famous “Butcher Bird”, that hangs its dead prey on twigs and barbed wire fences.  Who says Nature can’t be macabre.

Olney and Cross-trails Ponds were either dry mud flats or had very low water that was six inches deep or less.  100’s of Long-billed and probably Short-billed Dowitchers drove their bills into the rich, organic, anoxic, mud and pulled-out invertebrates for lunch.  Willets, Greater Yellowlegs, and Lesser Yellowlegs strutted through the water looking for tasty treats.  It was like a huge smorgasbord laid out on wetlands.  No one was leaning on their elbows, or wings, and waiting to be asked to dine.

Laughing Gulls, White Ibis, other dark colored ibis (either Glossy or White-faced), and a Tri-colored Heron flew, circled, and then landed at various locations.  A Northern Harrier glided over the pond much to the consternation of the rest of our feathered denizens.

Killdeer ran back and forth trying to see where best to sup.  Sandpipers tread carefully around the dowitchers and Black-necked Stilts while Blue-Wing Teal, Northern Pintail, Northern Shovelers, Gadwalls, and other ducks dabbled and dipped under the surface for their fair share.

Finally, we ate lunch at the pavilion, talked about the state of our world (Lordy!), and chatted for a while.  Naomi had to leave early, so David and I continued our discourse.  As we headed to our cars, several other visitors asked us if we had seen the alligators.  I said we had seen about six in the pond, and their faces lit up.

One woman said to us that we should walk across the boardwalk and we would see more alligators.  David and I looked at each other in a puzzled manner, and then did as she suggested.  Sure enough, there was a mother American Alligator, with five babies sunning themselves on her body, with one laying on her snout.  Cute!

Then David told me to look again.  As I gazed at this scene of domestic tranquility, I saw behind the mother alligator, in a wetland that had been flattened like a bed, a mass of sleeping or sunning alligators that ranged from 10 inches to two feet or more in length.  Amazing!!!  And not far away more small alligators lay out on the shoreline or on wetland plants.  There must have been 50 alligators.  What a deal!

As we got in our cars to go, I thought to myself, really, “It’s all in the ponds!”