Hazel Bazemore County Park
Photo Gallery

 
Hazel Bazemore County Park is one of the best-kept secrets of the Coastal Bend. Small and unassuming (a mere 77+ acres in toto), the park hosts millions of birds, butterflies, bees and other assorted migrating hordes every spring and fall. It's a popular place for folks to come picnic and enjoy the quiet Nueces River, which wends it's way through the north edge of the park.

In the summer of 2002, south and central Texas experienced some of its worst flooding in decades. While rains were less in the Corpus Christi area than the hill country and San Antonio/Bexar County areas, the run-off from those more northern/western rains (up to 24" in some areas) sent people and animals in western Nueces County and nearby river and reservoir communities running for high ground for days and for some, more than a week. 

On July 13, 2002 we cruised to Hazel Bazemore, curious to see what it looked like when the first head waters began arriving from the run-off onslaught. It was an impressive sight, to say the least. The entire flood plain was flooded, all right ... up to the seats of the picnic tables scattered along the valley, where the river spilled over its banks. The pond we know and love so well for early morning and late afternoon birding just north and west of the fall watch site's Hawk Hill was now about four feet deeper than usual. Below is a panoramic of the view from fall watch site on Hawk Hill (at the north edge of the 17th green of the neighboring country club):
 

July 13, 2002 - fall hawk watch site, looking north
 
Pretty wild, huh? Wait'll you see this next photo! This series of images was taken just one week and six more feet of water later. Look carefully; you can't even see most of the picnic table tops any longer, much less the seating edges. The park was completely closed, and remained closed for some days.
 

July 20, 2002 - fall hawk watch site, one week later
 
You've seen Hazel on the wet side ... here's a look at her on her more typically dry side. This photo was taken from the same vantage point up on Hawk Hill, looking northward ... sans floodwaters.
 

 
Same vantage point, Hawk Hill looking north, but more northeasterly. That's tree number 4 on the left (a reference folks who've been to the site will recall). Interestingly, those two photos were taken in 1998, when the site apparently enjoyed some rainfall. Usually the hill is dessicated and dusty from the area's typical drought conditions of summer/fall.
  

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