It’s sure starting to feel like peak summer…

The heat dome is back, with temps well into the 90s this afternoon, and it was already warm enough during our weekly wildlife walk this morning, for this great blue heron on the river to be demonstrating its gular fluttering to keep cool. The recent high water from heavy rains up north, which was justContinue reading “It’s sure starting to feel like peak summer…”

Several nice surprises…

It was a dark morning in Estabrook Park, but the predicted storms never materialized, though it did sprinkle a bit, and the air stayed pretty still, so it was a nice enough time to look for wildlife. My first surprise was finding this young-looking great blue heron with a crayfish just below the falls, andContinue reading “Several nice surprises…”

A few holiday surprises…

The first fun surprise today was finding a quartet of least sandpipers on the exposed river bottom around the upstream island. We haven’t seen them since last spring, and they must have been quite hungry because they were hustling around much more than the spotted sandpipers or killdeer usually do. Luckily, I was able toContinue reading “A few holiday surprises…”

Day 2 in D-town…

The human-powered vehicle competition got underway on the Dallas College, Richland Campus yesterday morning, but before the students all arrived with their contraptions, I had a couple hours to myself to see what wildlife might also be making their home there. They have a nice water feature running through the middle of the campus, soContinue reading “Day 2 in D-town…”

The fog thickens…

Man, if I thought yesterday was foggy, I hadn’t seen nothin’ yet. Here’s a picture of a least sandpiper, who was kind enough to visit again, that I think best captures the mood in Estabrook Park this morning. Fortunately, the fog eventually dispersed a bit, so I was able to get a picture of ourContinue reading “The fog thickens…”

Lots to see, despite the rain…

It was raining this morning when the sun came up, but that wrapped up by around 7 a.m., and I hustled into Estabrook Park soon after that. My first big surprise came early, and I could hardly believe my eyes when I turned my binoculars to a dark shape, which I thought was probably aContinue reading “Lots to see, despite the rain…”