Diario de alflinn329

I made the mistake of mentioning the song (as I have seen almost nothing else lately) and all the youngsters in the room had never heard the song. A friend who is from the country (as am I) mentioned that the skunks are mating now and so they are everywhere. On a drive to Dallas yesterday I saw animal after animal on the side of the road. We did not have time to stop. But I thought I would take the time today for a little drive to document those I could. There were almost as many I couldn't safely photograph.

So, here is the week in road kill. I will need a walk in the wild with flowers and LIVE animals soon.

[One day I will take the time to document a month of the "other" stuff I see on the side of the road - gloves, shirts, hats, newspapers, boxes, tires...all the things that can fool me. Today there was a square of turf - folded just so. I slowed down for a moment before I could focus and notice the grass.]

We love this place, but it has been hard to access due to construction. We also avoid it during hunting season (although we heard shooting in the section across the highway from where we were walking). I still wear an orange vest as people come out and shoot in spite of the rules.

We had a good hike down to the creek and back. By now we had wildflowers last year. We saw only anemone blooming.

We heard (and briefly saw) crows making a fuss across the creek. We also saw buzzards flying overhead. Other than that, the scat along the trail, empty snail shells, and bees getting water were the only signs of living creatures (okay - there were a couple of minnows in the creek, one sulfur, and two grasshoppers - all too fast for my cell camera). We know there are deer - we used their trails.

As we get warmer we'll be back for wildflowers and milkweed.

[After a lot of road kill, it was time for more living things.]

It was overcast when we left the house. As we headed south the clouds dropped lower and lower. It was misty and then started to rain before we were half-way to the park. We continued on. to the park and made various observations before dusk. Then we gathered with 8 others (including one Junior Master Naturalist in training, his younger brother and other family members).

We heard Rio Grande Leopard frogs calling a CI of 1 or 2. Then we caught two Rio Grande Leopard frogs (one called as we completed our examination) and 1 Gulf Coast Toad (small and a strange color).

It is always fun to have young people along. I showed M and E a few things I'd seen before it got dark - mullosks and plants. We talked about different things we'd seen in the past and M remembered a trip we had made together to Berry Springs (ALWAYS good to know that they remember our carefully planned trips!).

The bats made themselves known visually and on the "bat detector." Two Great Horned Owls called from the oak grove.

All in all it was a cold, wet, muddy, and successful watch.

I went to pick the dog up from day care (don't judge) and got the time wrong. So I drove out past a small lake where I have never seen any birds. Everyone else sees them. I think there were whooping cranes here earlier this year. But we never see anything. Today there were Canada Geese (2), Cormorants (7), Great Egrets (3), and more. I'll have to go back when I have more time.

After almost two weeks (out-of-town) I have made a couple of trips to the ponds to check water level and bird activity.. The hawks and Kestrels are gone. Two turkey vultures were gliding around. Most of the "ponds" are dry or "barely" there. Water levels in the two tanks close to the road are dropping.

Still, today there were three Great Egrets, 1 Great Blue Heron, 7 cormorants (a mixed bag, fishing and drying feathers), a few ducks and a half-dozen turtles in the turtle pond (I suppose we should call it the turtle tank). The egrets were busy moving across the tank and back and making some obvious catches of lunch.

If we don't get some serious rain soon, we will soon have little to watch here.

The Good Water Chapter Junior Master Naturalist class spent a few hours today cleaning the "pond scum" from the pond area (a back area where one of the springs empties into a small pool connected to the other ponds. It is near the beaver dam.

One of the resident American Bullfrogs started calling about 2 p.m. and performed some good long calls. The JMNs were able to confirm this first observation from their September Amphibian training. We were all surprised to hear the calls mid-day and hope to come out in a few weeks for another Amphibian Watch at dusk.

I had a couple of firsts I was able to share with the JMNs. This is the first time I recognized the Williamson County Winecup. It is also my first Spotless Ladybird (at least I think it is).

These aren't all the observations, but we were here to clean, not observe so I only grabbed a few while waiting for the group (and when I simply couldn't help myself). I do love the winecups - what a treat!

It was a productive afternoon.

It is getting dry on Witter Lane.

I made my "drive by" twice today. I saw cormorants (12), one Great Egret, 11 turtles, 7 shovelers (3 females/4 males), one Great Blue Heron, and heard the cry of a Belted Kingfisher. As I stopped to take a few photos I spied so many tiny flowers blooming I needed to get some photos. A few lady bugs showed up as did a slow grasshopper.

The only birds were at the Turtle Tank. The only water is in the two tanks before the turn.

Rain is supposed to be coming, but I'm not optimistic.

It's time to find some other spots.

You cannot miss these tails. I remember when my daddy pointed out these birds. “Scissor-tailed Flycatchers” he said. There were two at the ponds today (in case you wonder why I go by to see the same 3 birds every day - it must seem anyway).

But for me there is always something new. Today? 4 Great Egrets, 12 cormorants, 11 pond sliders, a handful of ducks (shovelers), one red-tailed hawk (the first in a few weeks), 4 meadowlarks, and 3 mockingbirds. Oh, and first regular winecups I’ve seen.

Nothing is lost. They are always with me. [there was another scissor-tail in a field closer to my destination.]