Sewage line right of way in Lick Creek Park. College Station, Texas, December 13, 2025
Sewage line right of way in mist in Lick Creek Park. College Station, Texas, December 13, 2025
Palmetto near Raccoon Run Trail in Lick Creek Park. College Station, Texas, December 13, 2025
Saplings from a recently cut tree of Paloverde (Parkinsonia aculeata, ratama, horsebean)in Lick Creek Park. College Station, Texas, December 13, 2025
Splitgill mushrooms (Schizophyllum commune) on a fallen tree branch in Lick Creek Park. College Station, Texas, December 13, 2025
Underside of splitgill mushrooms (Schizophyllum commune) on a fallen tree branch in Lick Creek Park. College Station, Texas, December 13, 2025
Close-up of splitgill mushrooms (Schizophyllum commune) on a fallen tree branch in Lick Creek Park. College Station, Texas, December 13, 2025
Caps of splitgill mushrooms (Schizophyllum commune) on a fallen tree branch in Lick Creek Park. College Station, Texas, December 13, 2025
Young splitgill mushrooms (Schizophyllum commune) on a fallen tree branch in Lick Creek Park. College Station, Texas, December 13, 2025
Drowned, algae-encrusted pair of over-ear (circumaural) style headphones, with a thick headband and large cups that looks like David Clark H10-13.4 Aviation Headset on a lake shore at Lake Somerville Trailway near Birch Creek Unit of Somerville Lake State Park. By December 2025, drought had expanded across the region, with Lake Somerville's water levels dropping significantly (reported around 78-83% capacity or lower in related drought monitors), exposing mudflats and lakebed artifacts that are normally submerged. Texas, December 14, 2025
 | Pintail Trail, Burleson County, Texas, United States |
Weathered remains of a post oak stump exposed by the drought-lowered water levels on a lake shore at Lake Somerville Trailway near Birch Creek Unit of Somerville Lake State Park. This "driftwood" appearance is characteristic of hardwoods that have been submerged and subjected to long-term water erosion, which scours away the softer outer sapwood and leaves the dense, rot-resistant heartwood. Texas, December 14, 2025
| Pintail Trail, Burleson County, Texas, United States |
"Driftwood sculpture" of eroded oak stump with its weathered texture and skeletal appearance on a lake shore at Lake Somerville Trailway near Birch Creek Unit of Somerville Lake State Park. Texas, December 14, 2025
| Pintail Trail, Burleson County, Texas, United States |
Gnarled oak stump with rugged, roughened, and knotty texture of the wood, twisted by time and water, on a lake shore at Lake Somerville Trailway near Birch Creek Unit of Somerville Lake State Park. Texas, December 14, 2025
| Pintail Trail, Burleson County, Texas, United States |
Shell of a Giant Floater (Pyganodon grandis) freshwater mussel on a lake shore at Lake Somerville Trailway near Birch Creek Unit of Somerville Lake State Park. The oxidation of iron deposits on the shell's nacre (the inner pearly layer) turns them into this characteristic rusty-orange or copper color. Texas, December 14, 2025
| Pintail Trail, Burleson County, Texas, United States |
Heineken beer bottle, specifically a variant of their "Star Bottle" design, on a lake shore at Lake Somerville Trailway near Birch Creek Unit of Somerville Lake State Park. Texas, December 14, 2025
| Pintail Trail, Burleson County, Texas, United States |
Timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) exhibiting behavior driven by unseasonably warm weather and thermoregulation at Lake Somerville Trailway near Birch Creek Unit of Somerville Lake State Park. It is taking advantage of the mild Texas winter to warm up (thermoregulate) before returning to its den when temperatures drop again at night. Texas, December 14, 2025
| Pintail Trail, Burleson County, Texas, United States |
Small, reddish spheres of oak leaf galls (specifically from the gall wasp Belonocnema kinseyi or a related cynipid species) harvested by ants at Lake Somerville Trailway near Birch Creek Unit of Somerville Lake State Park. Texas, December 14, 2025
Oak leaf galls (specifically from the gall wasp Belonocnema kinseyi or a related cynipid species) at Lake Somerville Trailway near Birch Creek Unit of Somerville Lake State Park. Ants harvest the galls, carry them back to the nest to consume the nutritious outer layer, and often discard the hard inner "seed" (which contains the wasp larva) unharmed. This is a newly discovered form of "myrmecochory" (ant dispersal) where the gall wasp manipulates the ants to transport its offspring to the safety of the ant nest. Texas, December 14, 2025
Potato earthball mushrooms (Scleroderma bovista) at Lake Somerville Trailway near Birch Creek Unit of Somerville Lake State Park. Texas, December 14, 2025
Oak curtain crust fungus (Hymenochaete rubiginosa) on fallen oak twigs collected at Lake Somerville Trailway near Birch Creek Unit of Somerville Lake State Park. Texas, December 14, 2025
Bumpy or velvety hymenium of oak curtain crust fungus (Hymenochaete rubiginosa) on a fallen oak branch collected at Lake Somerville Trailway near Birch Creek Unit of Somerville Lake State Park. Texas, December 14, 2025
