Post 366, for lack of a better name

Yesterday morning was so foggy that I decided to wait until this morning, and guess what. Today was just as foggy as yesterday, so I waited for the sun to burn off the fog and finally headed to the park.

When I got to the pond, there were a couple of green herons chasing each other around and a few ducks, but no great pictures, so I headed to the river, and look who I found there.

It looks as though our family of wood ducks, the five nearly-grown-up ducklings and their mom, all flew down to the check out the river. Good for them, and no wonder the pond seemed a bit empty this morning!

I also saw a bunch of mallards, at least one goose, and a blue heron fishing on the river, but too far out for good pictures, so I headed back to the pond, and look who I spotted along the way. Another fledgling, still in its spots, out looking for breakfast in the grass with the rest of the robins.

At the pond, there were a couple of mallards relaxing in the shade up on the west lawn so I stayed back a bit as I surveyed the scene, and look who walked across the path and right over to me, probably to see if I had anything good to eat.

Meanwhile, the two green herons were still there, and I headed south to see if I could get close again to the one fishing there. I did get one picture, but as I inched closer, it soon objected quite noisily, and that session was over.

So I headed north along the east side to see if the one in the northeast bay would be more tolerant, and look who I saw along the way. It looks like another cardinal with feather issues, but I can’t tell if they are still coming out or already growing back in.

Anyway, the green heron in the northeast bay was very accommodating, perhaps the same bird as on Sunday, and we got right to work with the sun at my back.

Lastly, just as promised, here’s the first aster of the season, most likely bigleaf aster (Eurybia macrophylla), growing beside the parkway.