Back Along the Creek - Back at the Ponds

 ... the basins of her collarbones collected water.

 ~ Jeffrey Eugenides, The Virgin Suicides 

It rained while I was away - more than 6 inches. The ponds are back along Witter Lane. The creek in the park is flowing - and clean. After stalking both places for almost a week, I was blessed by a few birds (and turtles - always turtles).

Due to unforeseen obligations, there will be no stories (well few tales). I should call this a little old lady with bad cell photos, but I did take the camera on a couple of days and got some bad (but better) photos with it. So there you go...

Along the creek: I was afraid the herons would be gone when we came back. After almost 4 weeks the Green Herons and Yellow-crowned Night-herons had found someplace else to be. But there are still two (maybe three) Great Blues at the creek.

I love these birds.

At one of the "rapids" this heron waits for fish.

Look at that focus.

This heron is at the old low-water crossing.

There was also a Snowy Egret kicking at the rocks on the creek bed. I've never seen one stirring up breakfast in quite that manner before.

 The park cats were out, but we haven't seen "feeders." Because we are losing the light, we are coming almost an hour later than before. Perhaps the feeders are less afraid of the dark.

And there were other birds in the park as well. Two hawks flew into the trees and down along the grass. One of the Red-shouldered Hawks we have watched all summer appeared on Tuesday and showed off how grown-up he is.  Then a Cooper's Hawk appeared. We were not sure what kind of raptor he was, but the experts confirmed our guess.

Our Red-shouldered Hawk is still here. We watch it hunting in the fields and perched on light poles, the basketball goal,  and the pecan limbs.

The crows and pigeons remain. A blue jay called in his noisy way. Bluebirds lined the baseball field fence. I never recognize Bluebirds. I do not see the "blue."


At the ponds:

Again and again I drove down the lane and strained to see the water through the tall dry grasses...no birds. Really. It is so strange for there to be nothing.  Finally a Great Heron showed up in one pond. It startled and flew, but not before I captured it in flight. A few days later there was an Eastern Kingbird at the top of a tree, a Scissor-tailed flycatcher on the fence and, in the turtle pond, what else - turtles.

Great Egret escapes...

You would have to know how much I blew this photo up to understand how great the new camera is. It is good enough to show that this is an Eastern Kingbird.

I so love these birds.

This is taken through my dirty windshield.

About to fly.

TURTLES!

They are pond sliders.

Red-eared Sliders in all likelihood.

And it is fall...the Bois d'arc drops its fruit..

Horse-apples, Osage oranges...

What were the storms like? Was there flooding? I don't know how wild it was during the storms and DH did not go out to to take photos,  but I can tell by the piles of driftwood still in the creek that a great deal of water was moving - fast. The algae and scum have been washed away for now and the creek looks refreshed.

Driftwood gathered at the Main Street Bridge.

Here is a pile gathered at the old one-way bridge.

The high water mark is on the right. By the time we got home the silt had been shoveled from the sidewalk.

This is my favorite shot. No one will be using that inner tube (2nd Street Bridge).