Inside Yesterday--Had To Get Out Today

The rain and gray clouds and cold were closing in inch by inch by inch. By noon time, it was out the door with the bumper shoot  in one hand and the camera bag and tote in the other. Just at Love Field, already, we have picked up an inch and a half of rain. The snow went north to soon.So, to be positive about the matter, we got liquid snow instead.

For a bit, I had the wipers on intermittent. The drizzle was just enough to have them on. When I got to the lake, it was clear that the water levels were even higher than they had been with the most recent flooding on the parking lots and roadway. The dock at one of the boat club marinas had been smashed and rearranged by logs floating down stream and striking the under carriage, raising sections out of the water. So with that siting, it was a full sweep of the lake to see what else might be amiss, all- the- while looking for the pairs of hawks that are getting ready to nest. Not one hawk did I see. Not one. This is the second day and it somewhat worries me. The weather can cause hawks to go elsewhere.

What I did discover was that the pelican's island was totally under water for the second time in less than two weeks and what was worse was the the logs that they like to nap upon and preen their feathers were totally gone. None!! Even the ones out father into the bay area were missing. I also noted that the number of pelicans were  much less than what normally hangs out there. There were only a dozen more on the lake drifting and none down by the dam when I was there. It was on the way home when I made a sweep over the  top of Flag Pole Hill and down to Goforth along White Rock Creek when I discovered about thirty pelicans on the creek bank between Northwest Highway and the cross road that runs east and west behind Flag Pole Hill. There were even many more Great White Egrets and a few more Great Blue Herons that I have never seen all together hanging out like today.

It will be interesting to see how the return goes when the lake levels drop a bit and the creeks flood stage currents lower and slow down . Will the group of pelicans stay there or return to  Sunset Bay? The Park Superintendent told me about a month ago in his office that he can't put logs back into the water. Environmental control factors, nor can he take them out unless they wash ashore like the ones did along the lake shore and the marina docks. I fully understand that process. And there is a lot of loss limbs and branches  on the ground where the disease and rot weakened the branches to where finally, the rain soaked wood's weight pulled them down. Big ones. There is a good semi load of wood on the ground now just along East Lawther from trees down and branches down. So the hope to have nature replace the logs for the pelican and cormorants has greatly diminished after the scouting mission today. 

At least the temperatures will be normal and even well above above average for the next ten days or so. I noted a 70 degree day just a few more days down the pike. Tomorrow will be seasonal but the mitigating factor to all of this is sunshine!! Sun, Glorious Sun!!.  Annie, yes, "the sun will come out tomorrow"!

See the log on the left. It runs to the right middle of the undercarriage. That's what lifted the dock up.

Slightly blurred. I'm not a memeber of the 600mm club.

The Sailing Club Has been Around and Around again. It's the anchor of the Marina.

Saw Three of These At Three Different Lights

Went to the bank this morning. When I came out I saw this Red Tail hawk sitting on one of the new LED light poles. He had a wing span of  nearly 5 feet. He flew across the street into a wooded back yard and blocked by a Homeowners Association brick fence. Driving on, it was less than three miles when I made a turn and low and behold, there sat another big Red Tail. I parked and grabbed my camera and got a couple of shots before I saw the female sitting in  little thicket of trees along a creek. It was an amazing morning to see not one, not two, but three of these beautiful birds. The rest of the day was uneventful.

Red Tail Hawk

Same Bird

Run This Through My Herr-Voss

When you see "Run This Through My Herr-Voss" it's  a way to say that I've got something on my chest that I need to get off.

Yesterday afternoon,  with the temps going back into the triple digits again,  even the cat was trying to push me out the door for a little while. Since I had a low tire (a down side to front-end drives) I set out to see my friend,Jamal. He operates a stop and shop with gas and an air machine. Also, he had found a new Mediterranean restaurant from our visit of last week and I wanted to touch base with him as to when he wanted to go for dinner.

 On the way home, my eye caught a large ground movement in an area that is mowed regularly by the city and I slowed down enough to see a very large Red Tail hawk on its prey. I drove to the parking area, got out the camera and walked back along the road several hundred yards. This was the second big Red Tail that I have seen in as many months. Last month, I posted one on a squirrel dinner. This one had the same taste buds. One thing for sure, Red Tails keep the squirrel populations in check.

While watching this amazing bird feast on its kill, keeping movement down is always essential if you want to observe the food chain at work and learn about urban life of such amazing birds. The traffic is in a residential area but its on the edge of a popular park. Looking out for traffic on my side of the road and maintaining an eye on the bird, this one car was coming back and forth and pulled into  a near driveway. Thinking it was the property owner, I didn't pay much attention to the car beyond that. A bit later, along came a girl and two guys walking two dogs on the other side of the creek. There wasn't much concern with that in as much as they presented little disturbance with the creek between them and the Red Tail. In a split second, the people follow the dogs down into the creek and the lady in the car comes forward in a fast walk with camera in hand. Both converged on the hawk from both directions. Fear had already registered in my brain what was about to happen. Sure enough, the Red Tail stirs anxiously, stands at full tallness and the wings come out in lift-off position. Sure enough, it took flight with the squirrel that wasn't finished. It flew across another street into a wooded area that is part of a flood plane and wet land. No use looking for the hawk, I didn't feel like running from cottonmouth snakes!!

Here is the "RUN THIS THROUGH MY HERR-VOSS".
Some people are so self-centered, they have no respect for others in public areas. The lady had no clue what was about to happen. She actually thought that she was going to get as close as I had gotten to the Red Tail. And, she might have had a 60/40 chance had she been aware of the dogs on the other side of the creek.

As far as the people with the dogs, they were young 20-somethings and didn't care what a old man with a camera in his hand might be observing on the fringe of a park known for its wildlife-in-Urban splendor. The young couple and friend and the lady with her point-and-shoot in hand immediately backtracked in the other direction when the hawk took flight. It was like watching to cue ball on a billiard table hit to balls at once and one goes to the left pocket and one goes to the right pocket. They knew what they had done. People don't know how to share common space with others who might be enjoying nature  while they occupy or consume their afternoon with no purpose in mind.

Earlier, a business owner had come by, pulled off the road quietly, sat in his Jeep and watched the hawk, got out his camera and snapped a couple of shots. I walked across the road to talk to him. He lives in the area and had experienced the  same two American Bald Eagles seen in the area earlier in the year like me. The point being, you got three people stopping. One can share the common public land with another while the other two groups have no clue how to share nature and respect the observers as well as the feeding animal or fouls. That's what "ruffled my feathers" or as and old steel man would saw: "Run This Through My Herr-Voss".

Here are a couple of pictures from of the beautiful tail feathers of a Red Tail hawk.