Garlands of Spanish Moss cling to the branches of Bald Cypress trees and cascade almost to the water in Caddo Lake, a maze of slow-moving bayous, wetlands and backwaters. Spanish Moss, which is neither Spanish nor moss but a type of bromeliad, is ubiquitous in Caddo Lake and in much of the Southeastern part of the US. In my mind, it defines the bayou along with the Bald Cypress trees to which it clings. Yesterday morning, Captain Rich took us to a part of the lake we hadn’t visited and there were far more birds than in the parts of the lake we saw in our first two days here. Great Egrets, White Ibis, and Great Blue Herons were everywhere. Great Blue Herons would pose on posts for a brief time as we drifted up to and past them but when Captain Rich shifted gears with a ker-thump, off they flew. This GBH posed on a fallen branch, not a marker post, and with the drapes of Spanish Moss as a backdrop, it is the perfect representation of a bird of the bayou.
Welcome to Texas and one of the jewels Caddo Lake!
Really nice portrait of a Blue Heron!