People from all over the world visit Baytown for business, to see family, or simply to explore, but sometimes our city attracts visitors of a wilder kind.

On the morning of January 24th, a local birder at the Baytown Nature Center shared a photo of a pair of Long-tailed Ducks—an exceptionally rare species for this region. These ducks typically breed in the tundras of Canada, Alaska, and Eurasia, so their appearance in Baytown caught the attention of hundreds of birders eager to catch a glimpse. Perhaps the cold, snowy weather lured these arctic seaducks to stay and enjoy the abundant invertebrate life beneath Crystal Bay.

Another unusual visitor is Mushu, the Chinese Alligator, who is currently at the Wetlands Education and Recreation Center's Gatorland exhibit. Native to the Yangtze River Basin, Chinese Alligators are critically endangered, with only a couple hundred left in the wild due to habitat loss, pollution, and overhunting. Mushu is part of a breeding program aimed at increasing the species' population and preventing extinction. Unlike our local American alligators, Chinese Alligators have osteoderms—armor-like plates—covering their entire bodies, not just their backs. Stop by the Eddie V. Gray Wetlands Center to learn more about Mushu and compare him to our native alligators to spot the differences.

Long-tailed Duck Photo Credit: Michael Lindsey
Chinese Alligator Photo Credit: William Jones