Friends, it is with tremendous sadness that we inform you that our beloved Chief Naturalist and Director of Conservation Emeritus, Mark Kramer, passed away on Wednesday March 9, 2022.  Mark Kramer’s career spanned 25 years at Armand Bayou Nature Center.  He was a native of Pasadena, Texas and began paddling on Armand Bayou as a teenager. He was a student of Armand Bayou for more than 40 years.  Mark was a restoration ecologist, lecturer, writer, interpretive naturalist, licensed master captain with the U.S. Coast Guard, prescribed burn boss, and avid angler.   Mark has ..read more

Pasadena lake renamed for longtime conservationist Lake Mark Kramer, formerly know as Mud Lake, was renamed in 2020 in honor of Armand Bayou Nature Center Chief Naturalist, Mark Kramer, for a lifetime of unparalleled work and dedication to the preservation and restoration of wetland habitat along Armand Bayou. The lake forms the mouth of the Armand Bayou watershed, which is named for the famed Houston naturalist, Armand Yramategui. It is surrounded by Armand Bayou Nature Center’s 2,500 acres of Texas coastal tallgrass prairie, wetland marshes, and coastal flatwood forests. Armand Bayou and La ..read more

Written by Mark Kramer If most people were asked to imagine a healthy, productive waterway, they would probably visualize a clear mountain lake or salmon filled river. For most of us, clear water is associated with productive water. While gin clear alpine lakes and west coast rivers are beautiful, they pale in comparison to the volume and diversity of life found in estuaries. It turns out that the very nature of the turbid bayou water holds the secret ingredient to aquatic life. Estuaries are defined by the ebb and flow of tidal exchange. Tide water mixes with rainwater from the surrounding wa ..read more

Written by Mark Kramer Do you ever want to go back? I mean back in time. Rocky and Bullwinkle had the Way Back Machine. Marty McFly had the time-traveling DeLorean in Back to the Future. Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure had the time-traveling phone booth. Another of my favorites is the Hot Tub Time Machine. For most of us, pondering time travel is more practical. Through the power of imagination, we can take a trip and never leave the farm. Einstein said that imagination is more important than knowledge. Most agree they are both needed. I’ve recently been thinking of my first bike ride (wit ..read more

Written by Mark Kramer | Photos by Gary Seloff The pelican, its beak can hold more than its bellycan. That was the sage advise from my mother when we would visit south Louisiana in my childhood. My mother was no birder, but she often offered colorful Cajun phrases. Those are standout memories for me. They’re vivid because the birds were very large and had a peculiar bill.  The Brown Pelican is the state bird of Louisiana. They’re also strong memories because, at that time, there were no Brown Pelicans to be found in coastal Texas. Life is easy on Armand Bayou with abundant food and quie ..read more

Written by Mark Kramer | Photos by Gary Seloff Kingfishers are always found adjacent to water Keep a watchful eye on the powerlines and trees adjacent to local bayous and ditches and you may be fortunate to see a Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon). These small, fish-eating birds return to the Texas coast in September/October. After rearing this year’s brood, they do a short migration to their winter fishing grounds on Armand Bayou. They’re most often seen sitting on an observation perch scanning the water for small fish or other small aquatic morsels.   Kingfishers are birds who ..read more

Written by Mark Kramer The season is changing. As water temperatures cool, a great migration is underway. Unseen by human eyes, small fish, shrimp, and crabs are leaving the bayou, headed for Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. They’ve spent the first summer of their life in the lush marshes and warm water of Armand Bayou. This abundant fishery, especially the presence of juvenile Blue Crab attracts a member of the heron family which specializes in targeting these small crabs. Night Herons have several key adaptations which other herons don’t, that allow for their special feeding behavior ..read more

Written by Mark Kramer If you’re lucky, you may have the opportunity of catching a glimpse of one of the rarest mammals which inhabits the waters of Armand Bayou. The American River Otter (Lontra canadensis) is seen on rare occasions by those willing to paddle solo, slowly and quietly.  Otters are fast, agile swimmers with keen senses and high intelligence | Photo by Gary Seloff Photo by Ann Brinly They are semiaquatic members of the weasel family with long, flexible bodies. Otters are very aware of their surroundings, which means that they typically see you before you see them.  ..read more

Written by Mark Kramer Female Osprey wear a necklace of brown feathers at the base of their neck | Photo by Gary Seloff This marks the time on the calendar that I begin to watch the sky around Armand Bayou. The weeks of late September mark the return of two iconic birds of prey back to the Texas coast. Osprey return to coastal Texas after nesting elsewhere. They return at an ideal time when bayou waters are at their peak of productivity. All summer, juvenile marine fishes have been hiding, feeding, and growing in the nursery areas provided by lush green tidal marsh along the shoreline. Osprey ..read more

Written by Mark Kramer Females may lay 30-60 eggs | Photo by Mark Kramer It’s been two months since we last checked in on our Armand Bayou alligator nest. Over these months, the eggs have been incubating through the summer under mom’s watchful eye. Hopefully, there have been no flooding rains through the summer. Reptile eggs have a leathery shell and the developing young “breath” through the eggshell. If they become submerged, the young will drown inside the egg. The growing young certainly dodged a bullet from the near miss of Hurricane Laura. Hopefully, there have been no raccoons or other ..read more