Blathr Wayne Lorentz

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Sunday, February 5th, 2023 Alive 18,912 days

I spent the morning at the Turtle Bayou Nature Preserve. Turtle Bayou used to be a oil town, but when the oil ran out, so did the people. All that's left of the town is an abandoned ferry landing, scattered concrete foundations, and the occasional bit of rusting oil infrastructure.

Today, the preserve is a refuge for various birds and other wetland critters from coyotes to crawfish. It is also occasionally occupied by herds of cattle, who crop the greenery, fertilize with abandon, and churn up the soil so it doesn't get too compacted. Pretty much the same thing that deer and elk and buffalo used to do here, before they were driven out by suburbia.

The area also functions as a geologic sponge, regulating water levels and cleaning pollutants from the water that flows from the surrounding 88,000 acres into Galveston Bay. That's why the Chambers-Liberty County Navigation District supports this project. It helps both birds and barges.

Birds tallied on this visit:

  • American Goldfinch
  • American Kestrel
  • American Wigeon
  • American Crow
  • Belted Kingfisher
  • Boat-tailed Grackle
  • Blue Jay
  • Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
  • Brown-headed Cowbird
  • Carolina Chickadee
  • Carolina Wren
  • Cedar Waxwing
  • Common Gallinule
  • Dark-eyed Junco
  • Golden-crowned Kinglet
  • House Wren
  • Mallard
  • Northern Cardinal
  • Pine Warbler
  • Red-bellied Woodpecker
  • Red-shouldered Hawk
  • Red-winged Blackbird
  • Royal Tern
  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet
  • Savannah Sparrow
  • Sedge Wren
  • Swamp Sparrow
  • Yellow-rumped Warbler

My recommendation: do not hike the trails with flat-bottomed shoes. You need hiking boots at a minimum. Well-worn cowboy boots are probably best. Especially if it's rained in the last week, and if the cows are visiting.

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