“Egrets on Jones Lake”
Jones Lake is on the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge
on the Texas gulf coast. This scene is from the viewing platform that
is on the lake. When I was there last week, there were some baby alligators
in the nearby reeds. I got some good pictures of them and posted one
of the pictures on my blog on my website. The water level in the lake
is very low. Normally the water level would be over near the trees in
the distance.
Although Aransas NWR is best known as the winter grounds for the whooping
cranes, it should also be well known for its big alligators. Last year
I encountered one on the Heron Trail that had to be over fourteen feet
long. To see a meat-eating monster like that ahead of me in the trail—without
a tree anywhere nearby for me to climb—made me decide to do a quick
about-face and march back to the car.
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When I walk on the elevated wooden walkway out to the
viewing platform on Jones Lake, I am always extra careful not to drop anything
into the lake. I was even more careful this last visit because the lake
level was so low, causing the alligators to be more concentrated in a smaller
area near the viewing platform. If I should drop something valuable to me
into the lake, I would have to make the decision as to whether or not to
wade out from the lake bank to retrieve it. That decision would be kind
of a coastal Texas version of “Deal or No Deal.”
In this painting, I put an alligator floating in the water, just beyond the reeds,
watching the egrets. I would imagine that ducks and all the wading birds on these
lakes are a major source of prey for the alligators.
Cheers,
Acree
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