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October 11, 2005
Mitchell Lake
We went on a great fieldtrip yesterday to Mitchell Lake Audubon Center. We got a guided tour through the property which has wetlands and several small lakes. We saw hundreds, if not thousands of pelicans. We also saw egrets, stilts, anhingas, roseate spoonbills, cormorants, coots and many other birds.
We also saw a nutria, a South American rodent about the size of a beaver, which is not native to Texas. It had been introduced for its fur and in the hopes that it would reduce some aquatic plants. It hasn't been very successful and has become a problem in many places. One benefit though is that it has become a food source for the native alligator population, which is actually starting to make a small comeback. Luckily we didn't see any of those!
The nutria:
At the end of the tour we stopped at a pond where our guide took a sample from the bottom of the water and put it in a container so we come see the creature residents. We saw freshwater shrimp. damselfly larvae, small fish and some other tiny insects. We also saw many turtles poke their heads up through the water.
Posted by Julee at October 11, 2005 08:32 AM
Comments
Julee,
I read your post to Josh and he looked at me and said, "That's why I want to go to Texas mom!" Seems our Nevada birds are becoming more common place to him lately. lol Sounds like your having a good time and getting settled in your new state.
Posted by: barb at October 17, 2005 01:05 PM