It is a delight to visit Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge, but I do not go very often. For one thing, it is an hour away and I do not head over that direction frequently. But when I do get to visit, I always enjoy driving around the Greenlea Bend Wildlife Drive. The wildlife is visible long before you get there, as you travel down Quebec Road to get to the loop. Here are a few friends I spotted pretty soon on my journey. I actually drove past the deer and had to maneuver the camera to get a picture! The armadillo was unconcerned about my presence, and he was a big one!
I enjoyed driving around the loop twice on this October afternoon and saw a good bit of wildlife. The trees are beginning to turn and there are some lovely colors to enjoy. I don’t know what was up with me or my camera or both of us, but most of the pictures I took were fuzzy and out of focus. But I’ll share what I did take with you!
I took several pictures of this beautiful doe. It didn’t look like there was much to graze on, but she seemed to happily find something on which to nibble.
There were plenty of turkeys wandering around both on Quebec Road and on the wildlife loop. Most of the pictures I took were not great, but they are fun to watch.
On one area I saw this little armadillo digging around for his supper. He was small, and I got out of the car to get closer. He didn’t seem to mind. In one picture I think he was smiling at me.
I also watched a family of raccoons foraging around. I think there were four or five of them, it was hard to count because they were really moving around! Then around the curve I saw a bobcat. It was pretty large, but at a long distance and it wasn’t going to let me get close.
The sun was staring to go down and the shadows were growing, making picture taking a little more challenging. But that was a beautiful part of the day to be in the Refuge. I even got a picture of the moon as it began to trade places with the sun .
On the way out of the park I saw these two bucks and a doe in the distance. If the lighting had been better these might have been outstanding pictures, but I still enjoyed them, especially the way one buck’s rack framed the face of the buck behind him.
I enjoyed my visit to Tensas River NWR. The river is so low right now and I didn’t see any of the massive alligators one can usually see. There are apparently many bears in this area, but I have yet to see one. I should be determined to go back again soon and not wait so long to visit this wonderful resource. Check out the Tensas River NWR Photography group on Facebook for more great images from Tensas. Thanks for joining me as I share what I saw at Tensas.
Great photos of the wildlife and surroundings of the Tensas Reserve!
Genuinely enjoyed reading this experience and your photos brought it all to life--those deer at the end--just gorgeous. ✨🦌🤓