Brunch? Shopping? Even so, We're for the Birds

The world belongs to you for a season...how tragic it would be if you were wasted. For there is such a little time that your youth will last. The common hillflowers wither, but they blossom again. The laburnum will be as yellow next June as it is now. In a month there will be purple stars on the clematis, and year after year the green night of its leaves will hold its purple stars. But we never get back our youth. ~ Oscar Wilde,  The Picture of Dorian Gray

After a long and lovely brunch with J and B, we headed to the discount store for printer ink and other things we forget when we don't make a list. I wandered the aisles (a C note worth) and checked out at a machine that kept double and triple reading the bar code. The clerk was frustrated, but efficient. All was sorted out and I left with no plastic bags.*

We were in such good humor that we were willing to take two short detours. The first was back down the egret road where the cattle egrets were no where to be seen (it was getting warm and was windy - all cows were lounging under the trees). There were at least 7 Great Egrets wading in the ponds.

As we continued down the road we found a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher perched on the fence. "Slow down," I called as we tried to coordinate car/window/camera/radio, but failed in our first attempt. Then it stopped on a small limb just ahead. I flipped the radio off as DH again drove slowly down the road.

I remember driving with my daddy and him drawing my attention to these lovely birds.

This flycatcher clearly had nothing better to do on a Sunday and waited while I took multiple shots (a few of which were adequate for our purposes).

Emboldened by our success I requested a short stop in the neighborhood park to see if the purple leatherflowers were blooming. We saw another Scissor-tailed flycatcher. This one was so still on its perch, we might have missed it.

It's a terrible photo, but there is not doubt about the identity of the bird.

DH stopped the car so that I could check for leatherflowers. Their general location is bounded by a couple of signs and I walked past them to what we now know is the edge of the park (since the adjoining property owner has warned us). Disappointed at first  - finding only a few buds - I walked about 10 feet along the edge of the woods and was pleasantly surprised by this abundance of blooms.**

I love these flowers. I was afraid the park employees had cut them completely back.

 
NOTES:

*We reuse them and recycle them, but still hate them. Resolution - start bringing bags! In this case I hauled everything in the container I purchased to use as the home for the "amphibian kit" for teaching young naturalists. I'm working on two units -  amphibians and reptiles.

**I am supposed to write an article on clematis. Seeing them is a reminder. <sigh> Maybe this evening will bring inspiration.

Final Note:

All of these photos look a bit alike. I could so easily be fibbing. But this photo is different - note the cows napping beneath the trees.

Not sure about the bird in the background. It could easily be a Cattle Egret. But the one in the foreground is a Great Egret. [Perhaps someone needs to remember to bring some binoculars when they leave the house. Today I forgot my purse - so even had I packed binoculars they would have been left behind.]