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 abundance of life is hidden below the surface, obscured from human view in the rich, cloudy bayou water. Because of the veil of algae hiding the life below the water’s surface, bayous don’t get the ecological respect that they deserve.

Armand Bayou Nature Center has been an ongoing ecological fixer upper. As with any fixer upper, step one is to purchase the property and begin refurbishing the home (habitats). Our initial efforts raised 6.5 million dollars as the purchase price. For over twenty-five years, the nature center has been a work in progress, slowly completing one ecological enhancement project after another.

Brown Pelicans were listed as an Endangered Species from 1970 -2009. After forty years, I had my first sighting ever on Armand Bayou in 2005. It was a memorable moment. The kind of rare moment where you take a deep breath of conservation success.

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.

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. This abundant fishery, especially the presence of juvenile Blue Crab attracts a member of the heron family which specializes in targeting these small crabs.

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.

Both Osprey and eagles return to the bayou at roughly the same time in September. Eagles are capable of catching fish but prefer to rob fish from the Osprey. I believe that a major factor in eagles choosing to return to and nest on Armand Bayou is the large number of Osprey which eagles can steal from.

August 15-30 is the time that alligator eggs begin to hatch on Armand Bayou. Before the young emerge from the egg, they begin to vocalize. The chirping calls signal to all brethren that today is the day to hatch.

You won’t travel far down any of the trails before you sight what is likely the biggest spider that you have ever seen perched on the biggest web that you have ever seen. But never fear, these massive beasts are generally harmless. The spider’s entire universe is the web.

Armand Bayou Nature Center is a living museum, an island ecosystem located in the midst of one of America’s major metropolitan areas. We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.

Just as Olympic gymnasts are small in stature, so too are these elite avian athletes. Grace, speed, balance, and strength characterize these marvels of the marsh.

So began Hana’s campaign to raise funds and public support for the purchase of a parkland in the memory of Armand Yramategui. I think how different my life would be without an Armand or Hana or Armand Bayou Nature Center. How profoundly different the trajectory of my life would have been, if not for Hana.

Many a paddler has returned to the shores of Armand Bayou convinced that they have had a close encounter with an alligator or even worse, a monster from the deep. The culprit is most certainly one of the three species of gar occurring in Armand Bayou. Gar are harmless to humans.

I sit on a shell midden on the edge of the Armand Bayou. Most Houstonians aren’t aware that these shell piles accumulated over thousands of years, left behind by the native peoples of our area.

Prairies today are critically imperiled habitat and now this prairie view is one of the rarest views remaining in Texas. The art of appreciating the beauty of coastal Texas is also the act of cultivating a deeper understanding.

ABNC is an island ecosystem, increasingly surrounded by urban and industrial growth. With few other natural areas nearby, ABNC is effectively a “biological greenhouse”, concentrating a richness of species difficult to experience elsewhere.

The skies above Armand Bayou host over 220 species of birds in an average year. Of that vast array, swallows, more than any bird, typify the joy of flight.

More than any other local species, the American alligator is an animal sure to stimulate discussion, emotion, and passion.