The Big Thicket totals over 100,000 acres, within 15 units. 5 of the preserves have hiking trails. There is 4 major plant associations, bottomland hardwoods and cypress sloughs. Palmetto hardwood flats. Wetland pine savannah and a slope forest. With this preserve being so big the logical thing was to drive to the visitor center first. We watched a video and looked at the exhibits. We next drove south to the Roy E Larsen Sandyland Sanctuary. It was a quiet day for birds but we did find a Northern Parula and that is a new bird for us. The next stop was back at the Headquarters to walk around the Kirby Nature Trail. The trail consists of several loops ranging from 1.7 to 2.5 miles. The trails pass through several plant communities, from baygalls to cypress sloughs to the riparian along Village Creek. A portion of this trail is still closed due to recent flooding.
We came across this little guy and when he would pump up his throat it was a light salmon color.
Dick on one of the many trails we took today.
We went to a covered area and had our picnic.
Spanish Moss hanging from the trees at the picnic area.
Our last stop for the day was the Sundew Trail it is only 1 mile long and the loop passes through a small bog that supports Pitcher Plants and Sundews, 2 carnivorous plants. The inner loop continues through a savannah that has summer wildflowers, while the outer loop winds through a woodland composed of longleaf pines.
Since the birds have been so quiet all day we went after these carnivorous plants. The first one we came across was the Pitcher Plant. It was easy to see.
The next one was much more difficult to find.
We finally found some, when the sun hits them the little bead tips shine. We couldn’t take enough pictures to show how really small it was.
I took my ring off to illustrate how small it is, if the sun doesn’t shine it is most impossible to see.
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