Ponds Disclose Their Treasure

Four ducks on a pond,

A grass-bank beyond,

A blue sky of spring,

White clouds on the wing:

What a little thing

To remember for years -

To remember with tears!

~William Allingham

We've been apart for a couple of days and were laying low this morning. Laundry and naps seemed in order.

It's been raining off and on and the weather reports promise more. But ever ready to avoid chores, I suggested we take a look at the ponds. We have noticed fewer creatures as the water levels have decreased. Maybe the recent rain has lured more feathered ones.

All around us the sky was dark and threatening.

The birds were grouped up at the first pond.  Forty-two Cattle Egrets stood together a bit away from the cattle. Four Great Egrets perched on the branches of a fallen tree, preening.

We moved further down the road as dragonflies (hundreds), Killdeer (2), and Mockingbirds (2) fluttered and flew about us. Some of the human residents were working in their yards and gardens. We always wave and hope they don't worry about us - as we stalk this small country lane.

Each pond disclosed some treasure. In one we found 6 Great Egrets. In another a Great Blue Heron and a cormorant. The next held 2 Snowy Egrets, a Great Blue Heron and a Little Blue Heron. The next held a duck - that disappeared as I was distracted by a flock of sparrows (25 + maybe Field Sparrows) landing just beyond the water with a number of blackbirds.

Six Great Egrets and three more Cattle Egrets in the distance with the cows.

You can tell they are "Greats" because of the yellow beak. Someone mentioned the other day that they used to just be the Common Egret. I guess that was before they were hunted (almost to extinction) for their feathers...then they weren't so common anymore.

Left to right - Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Great Egret.

Great Blue Heron.

Cormorant (Don't know what kind. I will have to get cracking on telling these apart).

Two Fox Squirrels live on this road and regularly balance on the pipe fence - racing the car for a quarter mile or so. They appeared and disappeared, giving up the race.

We tried for a few photos - the bad cell photos posted here. We mostly checked our our identification skills with a pair of my dad's binoculars.

Knowing one white blob from another is getting so much easier for me. I wonder if I will ever be able to know more birds by song, call, flight patter, silhouette and more.  For now, I memorize these few egrets and herons.* I smile at the Killdeer call I DO know and have known since childhood. I nod at the mockingbirds with their easy to identify feather patterns. My lists are boring - almost always the same birds. But I am working away at the edges.**

DH helped me juggle list and pen, glasses and cellphone. He is a wonderful spotter. "Large white bird flying at 3 o'clock," he will call. He is getting better at identification as well. "Look, there's another Great Blue Heron flying away from that pond!"

There is one pond where we rarely see birds. We have debated why. Is it inhabited by an alligator? That is not an impossibility in ponds so close to the Leon River. As we drove past the "barren" pond I shouted, "STOP!" At the far end of the pond is a fallen tree trunk with what looked like turtles lined up along the top. I grabbed the binoculars and looked. Yes, there were  turtles of varying sizes resting on the trunk. I saw few characteristics that might identify them, but I will try. I suspect one of a couple of species we see in other ponds. Barren indeed - this pond is full of turtles.

We packed up our lists and gear and headed back to town for lunch -- and that promised nap.

NOTES:

*Great Egret has black legs and a yellow/orange beak. Snowy Egret is smaller with fluffier feathers often, a black slender beak and black legs with flesh/yellow colored feet. Cattle Egrets are smaller yet with a tan Mohawk and tan back.

**With herons I try to remember size and coloring. It is easy to know when something IS or IS NOT a Great Blue. Then I go to the books, although I knew the Little Blue today (after comparing photos this week). The night herons confuse me a bit. The Green Heron I have seen twice now, but in other places. 

Three Trips to the Crossing

There is another alphabet, 

whispering from every leaf, 

singing from every river, 

shimmering from every sky. 

~ Dejan Stojanovic

Does anyone track their trips? Some friends track their bike rides, runs, states visited, and even travels around the world. It does help our memories and our tall tales. But lately our trips have been short for reasons of time and health.

We've been doing the minimums mostly with a few detours. Ours are the same detours it seems. When we are home we go once or twice a day to check the ponds a few miles away. When we journey to Georgetown we always seem to end up at the crossing. There is always something new to see (as even the neighborhood walk always discloses something different).

An appointment in Georgetown on Tuesday gave us the excuse, as did a meeting on Thursday evening. So DH,  Zelda, and I paused for a few moment in daylight and at dusk. Then my brother surprised me with a call on Saturday. He was in Liberty Hill and could meet for lunch.* I directed him to a favorite lunch spot and then invited him to see the crossing. Of course he wanted to go.

TUESDAY:

The water levels keep dropping. Have I told you the story of the low-water bridge?**

So many dragonflies on the water now.

The spiders were hard at work and webs caught all kinds of flying things, including Mayflies.

Only one Snowy Egret was near enough to attempt to photograph. At the bend further downstream were loads of other birds.

Then the egret went fishing.

It looked very awkward.

I always think of them as a bit more graceful. Perhaps this was just an awkward bird.

We may have startled it. It swooped up and flew in a giant oval upriver beyond the highway bridge and then back around to land well below where it had been fishing. It called the entire time - a harsh, but wonderful sound. [You can just see the lighter colored feet on this bird. They have lovely thing black legs and these feet that look like they belong to another bird.]

Part of the flight.

Perhaps Cowpen Daisy growing on the bank. A giant black bee landed on it (maybe a native carpenter bee).

This tiny groundcover attracts no attention unless someone mows. They took out many of the gourd plants and things we had appreciated earlier. This is Spreading Sida (sida abutifolia)

THURSDAY:

How to complain about algae growth when the river still looks this lovely

I seem to see every snag in the river as a heron.

But there was a Great Blue wading in the shallows.

We do love Williamson County Sunsets.

Buffalo Gourd is a tough old plant - this is some regrowth after mowing.

Elephant Ears or Taro grows on both sides of the river just downstream of the causeway. It is an invasive and I keep thinking we should go pull it out. However, this is private property and I am staying away.

Turkey-tangle Frogfruit. My sister told me this tiny flower was called frogfruit and I have loved knowing it. But then I discovered there are MANY kinds of frogfruit (like there are kinds of Mesquite, Oak, Prickly Pear, Bluebonnets and just about everything.). I keep hoping the need/desire/push for specificity does not take all the joy out of the looking.

My eye is often drawn to damaged trees. These holes  I suspect are from some boring beetle. I regularly see the precise lined up holes created by sapsuckers, but these look too random to me. Some day I would like to bring a chair (umbrella, water, snacks, insect repellent and sunscreen) and do a "dawn to dusk" observation of the crossing.

 SATURDAY:

I could hear my mother's warning about staying out of the sun "in the heat of the day," but that is all the time my brother and I had. So I borrowed a hat. He had cold water and sunscreen.

There was a Green Heron and a Killdeer close to the bridge and RF was able to look downriver to the bend where he could see the other birds gathered. As we talked about the bridge and where family had settled, two Snowy Egrets took to the sky, calling and making that same oval trip beyond the highway bridge and back.

We talked more about birds and then headed down CR 100 to a couple of crossings of Mankins Branch. A Snowy Egret stood just at the first bridge as if it were waiting for us. The second bridge, only one lane, shows how the water has carved into the limestone. Springs flowed into it. I would love to walk those creeks sometime.***

I still must bring my sister to see this place. I love to share it. It's magic.****

Unlike this sister, RF carries binoculars. Mine were in San Angelo with DH.

He was immediately identifying birds - like this green heron to the center left of the photo.

The egrets started their flights.

There is nothing like the sun shining off this plumage.

Bofus (It was a nice hat)

NOTES:

* DH was away - visiting a friend in the hospital way west. There were storms between us and he delayed his return as the storm the night before had been so violent. He did not want to be on the road in them. So I have had to tell him about the trip.

** http://www.williamson-county-historical-commission.org/GEORGETOWN_TEXAS/Mankins_Crossing-Historical_Marker_Williamson_County_Texas.html shares the story of the crossing and the "causeway" bridge (and how the bridge was saved by area residents) Also see - http://www.williamson-county-historical-commission.org/GEORGETOWN_TEXAS/Mankins_crossing_pdf.pdf :

"At 7:30 a.m. on November 8, 1988, a Road and Bridge crew, ordered by a county commissioner, but without Commissioners Court's approval, began to crack up the concrete of the old low water bridge. The first area resident upon the scene parked his pickup truck across the cause­way to stop the destruction. Several dozen more brought on a heated confrontation until a restraining order was signed, by a district judge.

The damage was quickly repaired and a court order demanded court approval to remove the bridge and stated that the bridge could only be closed because of high water in the area."

***But this is all private property and we will have to get owners' permission to wander.

****I knew about this place because of family lore, but I wasn't sure where it was and had no time or inclination to look before retirement provided more time than anyone needs. On a bus trip with Texas Master Naturalists I joined FUM in a nap (I NEVER fall asleep on the bus - it must have been a rough week) and woke up to the words, "This is Mankins Crossing." I looked up to see that we were stopped on the causeway/low-water bridge - in the middle of the crossing. See, magic...it just appeared!

Final Note:  I discovered another blog while looking for the "farmers' standoff" story:  https://outsidemyfrontdoor.wordpress.com/2012/07/26/the-bridges-of-williamson-county/#comment-105 I think I'll be looking at it again.

New on Saturday - someone had dumped tires.

Back Into the Neighborhood

We all have neighbors. 

Greet them on the sidewalk or in the elevator, 

but try not to peer through their windows. 

Windows are to look out from, 

not into. 

~ Alexandra Stoddard, from Grace Notes

Yesterday was one of those days you try to stay inside - 100 degrees, but so humid it feels hotter....

Zelda and I had no choice a few times. [Hey, she is a dog.]

I finished watering the entire front yard. Yes, I know what that means. It always rains after you finish watering the yard.

And so it was raining when I got up this morning.  It was early for me, but daylight. So I thought it wise to take a walk with the girl before things heated up outside (temp. and traffic). I could always go back to bed after.

Then I heard the rain.

I love walking in the rain, but Z is not a girl to get wet. She was reluctant to leave the house. Maybe  it's a result of years of living rough. Anyway, it wasn't raining hard and there was no thunder. We took a chance and headed out.

Zelda took her time. There had not been so much rain that the scents washed away. A few cars passed making strange noises on the wet pavement. The trees dripped on us.

We made it as far as a house where we have seen no movement in our recent walks (when we have made it that far). An older woman lived there who always planted things I recognized from my parents' yard. Some of those bright plants have been absent for a while - no zinnias. I had been thinking the worst.

But there she was today, with a granddaughter (who helps out). We stopped and chatted for a while. She was still in her housecoat, morning cigarette in hand.

"I lost my son," she said. And I shared my condolences. "And you know the man across the street died," she added. "I wonder when they are going to move those cars. His ex-wife and kids come over every weekend and do some work."

We both sighed and shared our schedules, or lack thereof. I complemented the perennials that still grace her yard and then begged off so to avoid the next round of rain.

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Yeah, We're Just Getting Started

 Traveling in the company of those we love is home in motion. 

 ~Leigh Hunt

  
Zip-lining, eating, exploring, wading, birding, and - most of all - celebrating filled our weekend. YC completed her program last year, but we celebrated now with each other and her advisor/committee chair.


We wandered and visited with each other, enjoying our time together in this state that is at once so familiar and so different...places, creatures, and people as my naturalist guides might say "in the family of."

That's the right expression for the weekend - in the family of. 

Here we go.

Beach:

Beaches here are special. We had a quick meal and headed to the beach for shelling and wading.

This could have been a great photo, but for that darned palm tree. The gulls were pretty brazen.

DH enjoying getting his toes wet - hard to see, but he kept his shoes on.

I am told these are NOT coquinas, but are something else "in the family." I defer to local experts.

Seaweed I do not know, but I will find out.

Kids on the beach

No, I did not pick up every shell on the beach...only a few.

Limpet. Likely a keyhole limpet that has tumbled a bit and lost more shell.

It's a busy beach...people, seagulls, vehicles...

The water was cold and surf not too rough. People were swimming.

There were birds out just past the breakers.

A Western Gull, I have been told.

 Zip-line anyone? (No, not me. Thanks!):

Driving out to Skull Canyon. Really. Not sure dried bone decor is the appropriate thing for sliding down a series of cables more than 800 feet above rocks and cactus (and rattlesnakes). Maybe it's just me.

It is quite the professional outfit. Geared-up.

DH on the "bunny" slide, actually the practice zip-line at the bottom to learn procedure and form.

We think this was our peeps on the mountain. There were a number of routes. Here I counted about 5 cables across the canyon.

A friendly race to the bottom (BR beats DH to the finish). My photos of folks higher on the hills  are either of other people (we discovered) or video.

While most of the party climbed and zipped, JBF and I stayed behind discovering birds, flowers and lizards while scanning the hills now and then for our party. He has good eyes and saw many things I missed. There was plenty to see and we chatted a bit with some of the staff.

We learned about some of the (few) emergencies they had on the mountain and their concerns about people starting late in the day, unprepared for the rigor of the hike.

It started getting pretty warm out there in the desert and we were glad to see our group transiting the final few legs of the "monster" zip-line.

Here are a few:

Large sunflowers with appropriate pollinators (honeybees - what did you expect?).

SPIDER WARNING NEXT TWO PHOTOS

 

We had a three hour wait for the team to complete the "monster" route. There was plenty of time for exploring..including these holes lined with the downy seeds of willow that was filling the air like snow and caught in the spiderweb.

I managed to trigger the alert just enough for this funnel-weaver spider to edge out and look.

 OKAY - NO MORE SPIDERS FOR NOW!

I always head to the "holes" in the ground and debate what might be there. This area is known for an endangered mouse of some kind I was told.  Here is a lizard. It's not his hole as far as I could tell. He did not take shelter there as he ran from me. He was identified as a Common Side-blotched Lizard. That's alright by me. I was just excited to observe anything moving in this desert. We saw 4 lizards and got bad photos of 3.

Here is a detail of the willow with its fluffy seeds. I read that willows are hard to identify. As a person with allergies, I would call this "hell." I was relieved to discover the floating snowstorm of seeds was from these and not cottonwoods.

One of the few "showy" bloomers was the Sacred Datura.* AKA Datura wrightii. AKA Western Jimson Weed.

It was gorgeous. Don't eat it.

I spied this vine and thought, "really? It's here too?" Yes, I discovered Buffalo Gourd has an extensive range. I searched for flower and gourd to verify identity.

I've seen Buffalo Gourd in a couple of places in Texas with this kind of growth. It is hard to miss these.

Bloom

Gourd. Don't eat this either. It is on the foraging site,** but does not sound very appetizing or good. Just because folks used to eat it does not mean it is good for you. They ate what they had.

I am usually better with wildflowers than this. I have checked a number of websites and I am still looking. No one online has provided any assistance yet. [Found it. Stayed up late one evening and found it. Actually found a cousin and the hunt was easy after that - Seaside heliotrope (Heliotropium curassavicum).

 This may be one of my best "surprises." I did not see the frog until I got back to the hotel and downloaded the photos. Do you see the frog?

This little hummingbird was very busy. I never got a good look - even through the binoculars that regular readers know I rarely have with me. [Aren't we all proud.] Them what know identified this as a Costa's Hummingbird. I thought Black-chinned Hummingbird, but I'm going to trust them.

Another lizard -  Western Fence Lizard

Little brown bird!

BEACH SUNSET

We planned one dinner at beach. It was worth the drive and wait. As we watched the ocean 3 dolphins went swimming by.

Kind of amazing. The food and company was priceless.

THE REASON FOR THE TRIP:

Bunny ears at my urging. Sometimes family tries one's patience.

Proud parents.

The work was incalculable. The ceremony? It's called "hooding." "New doctors, come forward!" was the command.

Done - heading for our ride to the party (OC, YC, LO'C, DH).

Flowers all around. Grandparents grew these. Message?

LAST CHANCE TO VISIT:

I am always glad to see yarn bombing. This rocker wears a great sweater (other chairs sported knitting too).

This gorgeous grass grew in the flowerbeds of the un-mall where we had breakfast. A sparrow flew in and ate its breakfast as we were leaving.

Maybe someone can help us with the identity of this little brown bird. I'm calling sparrow, but it could be something else. [6-19-17 I'm going to call it a Clay-colored sparrow and see what happens. OK. It didn't take long. It has been identified as a House Sparrow. Go to "All about birds" and compare the two.]

THIS AND THAT:

Funny that our trip began and ended with birds. We observed 6 Great Egrets off the end of the airport terminal.

My screenshot so that I would know where we were for future reference.

I have to give DH credit for spotting the first two birds. I was ready when the last two showed.

When we arrived at YC's complex, I navigated by neighbors' cats. This ghost was on the porch ledge and another cat was looking out a window. I knew we were in the right place.

There were funny things that happened throughout. One was being upgraded to a Jaguar.

NOTES:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datura_wrightii 

**http://www.foragingtexas.com/


[E]veryone who comes to California brings a little of his own state with him. His own old state, regardless of where or when, is always lurking in the back of his memory for comparison with what he finds here. ~ Max Miller, It Must be the Climate

I think this was the only hunde toilette we saw.