ILOVETHISPARK! [With Special Guests -- Black-bellied Whistling Ducks!]

We abuse land 

because we see it as a commodity belonging to us. 

When we see land as a community to which we belong, 

we may begin to use it with love and respect. 

~ Aldo Leopold

Yesterday,  5 Black-bellied Whistling (Tree*) Ducks flew off towards the west as we began our walk. I knew them by their weird shape in the air and their crazy whistle/call.** I had never seen them in this park before. Today we were early to start the walk and HEARD them before we saw them.

We walked well into the park along the creek-side path. I kept searching the trees as I have seen them in the trees about this time of day in other locations. As we came around a curve we saw them. Two groups (numbering about 13 birds in total) were  wading and feeding in the shallow creek.

Clearly NOT Mallards or other ducks that frequent this spot.

They are strangely upright and slim.

In the right light you see their pink bills and pink feet (and black bellies with what appears to be a white strip, but in flight is  a large white patch on its wing.

I love these ducks. They are so goofy looking and make such an unusual sound. I cannot help but smile when I hear and/or see them. We watched them feed for a while until the dogs grew restless. I could have watched them all day. 

This time they flew south/southeast away from the park. We are going on a different walk in the morning, but I may just have to drive over and see if the "whistlers" are there before heading out. 

We saw the remaining cast of characters these past two days. The Great Blues towered over every other bird. The snowy egret has been present all week. A few Yellow-crowned night-herons skulk around the edges of the creek. They seem to startle and fly the quickest...squawking all the way. The Green Herons are fewer than last week, or maybe we just miss them in our effort to finish the hike before we "fall out" from the heat. They seem to shy away, sinking into themselves. Only rarely do we get a good view of one stretched out to its full height. They are a lovely blue/green with a russet chest - really beautiful birds, but our views in the dim morning light, followed by sun-in-our-eyes brightness is  much like a black oval rock. Identification is almost always by size and shape.

Oh, I almost forgot the humming bird. We saw it yesterday (have you ever tried to photograph a hummingbird with a cell phone in dim light? Blurry at best) and then saw it again today. It stopped and almost posed. There is no telling what variety it is, but there is also no question that it is there.***

As we approached the footbridge in the northern-most part of the park we could see one of the Great Blues was fishing in this deserted stretch of the creek.

The Great Blue moved upstream and a Green Heron quickly took its place.

We saw this little fellow yesterday, but couldn't get a shot. Today the planets aligned.

See? A hummingbird

Yeah, yeah - I need a better camera

But this is good enough for here...for now. Somehow captured in mid-flight.

We usually see at least two Great Blues. Sometimes they are fishing in such lush sites.

This looks like the wild - but it is only feet from houses, sidewalks and parking lots.

A giant pecan lost a giant limb yesterday. The fall blocked the sidewalk and we worried about others that have been weakened by the drought. On our way back to the cars we talked to the city employees who were planning the clean-up. They too expect more damage before the year is through. These trees have been weakened. With the weight of the pecans and any good rain and we will see some devastation. I guess it is too much to wish for weeks of slow/gentle/intermittent rain?

We mourned the damage yesterday. We would have missed the location of this tree had there not been markings on the sidewalk and a small pile of branches waiting for pick-up. The city crew works fast.

 More photos of our park...we often forget how lovely it can be:

Waterwillow still blooming at the edge of the creek.

Other locations where I usually see these blooms have dried up, but this sweet flower graces our little creek.

This cliff creates one side of the walk as we move towards the college. Here the vines mingle. My eyes picked out the Buffalo Gourd and Mustang Grape. VM noticed the Poison Ivy. "Don't let GG get into the Poison Ivy" she asked. I stayed back with the dogs - already done while she continued on another few hundred steps and back.

"Who walks fast enough to need a curve warning," I wondered. Then I remembered that people use these trails for bicycling too.

I only noticed today that these "Mallards" may actually be of mixed heritage as their plumage doesn't run true to the Mallard. {And how do I know this? Only a year ago I am not sure I would have noticed.]

Today this GBH fished well towards the south/southeast section of the park.

The pecan trees are "loaded" with nuts in the park. There is still water here and their roots go deep. Still, this will be a hazard if and when it rains.

NOTES:

*The whistling-ducks were formerly known as tree-ducks, but only a few, such as the Black-bellied Whistling-Duck actually perch or nest in trees. They look most like ducks, but their lack of sexual dimorphism, relatively long-term pair bonds, and lack of complex pair-forming behavior more resembles geese and swans.  (Yeah, I had to look up "sexual dimorphism" too. Here it means the males and females look and behave similarly unlike other duck species where males and females have very different coloration and often shape).

Anyway, the ones I see are the TREE dwellers and so I still like to include "tree" although it's no longer "proper." Sue me.

**https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-bellied_Whistling-Duck/sounds  You will want to listen to all of 'em. They are hilarious.

***I will post as "Hummingbird" and drive the curators crazy.