I was eager to get the boardwalk to see the new arrival of birds this morning. According to my diary from last summer, the Snowy Egret showed up at the wetlands on June 17, and the Little Blue Heron on June 18, 2009. I remembered that a juvenile Little Blue Heron appeared as having white feather with some blackish marks - no resemblance to the gray/blue color of its mother. The appearance of the Little Blue Heron and the Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron offspring was similar to the colors of the Juvenile. The grown birds looked different.
This summer, their arrival in the wetlands was delayed by nearly one month. I thought that it was due to the Algae, which grew quickly and covered the entire wetlands during the past spring.
Early this morning, a snowy Egret was in the middle of the feeding place with a Great Blue Heron, three American Coots, and several Green Herons. I saw another Great Blue Heron standing at the bank near the river, and several brownish ducks swimming on the hillside. The Great Egret and the Little Blue Heron were not there, but a Black-Bellied-Whistling-Duck was hurrying toward the river as if it was trying to catch up with its flock.
Two Nutrias were enjoying their Cattail breakfast near the boardwalk exit. It was interesting to watch them eat. Their favorite foods are Algae and Cattails, with Yellow Pond lilies for dessert. The lilies are continuing to produce flower buds, but the Nutrias do not care about those. They wait until after the buds have fully bloomed to eat the plant.
The young Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron was hunting under the Bald Cypress tree between the Landing and the diving facility, and a juvenile was next to it. I wondered whether the juvenile was or was not the offspring of the young Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron. I looked around, but did not see any other Herons nearby. I recalled yesterday morning seeing the young Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron being chased away by another Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron at the boardwalk entrance, but the bird just relocated to the feeding place and stood there for a long time. Meanwhile, I saw a juvenile at the boardwalk entrance with another bird. At that time, I thought the adult bird was the mother of the juvenile, but it may instead be the younger bird’s offspring.
The juvenile Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron was more interested in things on the land than in the water. After the young bird walked around the lawn, it flew to the Bald Cypress tree, and then to the concrete path. It was so cute to watch it stride down the middle of the walkway toward the Landing. I smiled. After the young bird got to the Landing, the first thing it did was investigate the trash bins in front of the building. After it was satisfied, it then walked to the kayak dock, where it showed more interest. It stood on the end of the barrier at the dock, moved its slim, elegant head and neck around, and looked around the area for quite a long time.
Mr. Taylor Heard, Mr. Wallendorf’s young diving partner, started the Aqua Harvester, used for removing floating Algae. First, he drove it to the headwaters in front of the Texas Rivers Center, then to the Glass Bottom Boat dock, and then to the Landing. It is wonderful to see him coming in during the early morning to clean the lake.
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