I saw the parent bird of the chunky Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron on the railing, same as I did yesterday morning. I thought that the bird had claimed that area as its territory. Dull white with brownish/blackish matted spots on its forehead and a faded beak, I could tell that it is not young. From the railing it watched with its reddish sharp eyes every move I made. If another bird had come into its territory, it would feel threatened and lower its head and look with its sharp eyes at the other bird to show that it was ready for confrontation. Its strong, defensive attitude makes it seem more like a male than a female.
As I was watching it, something moved near the left side of the bridge. I was surprised to find an Opossum! Its head was white but the rest of it was unkempt-looking with patched white and gray fur. It walked under the bridge and disappeared into the tall grass that grew in front of a tree between the covered boardwalk bridge and the Aqua Harvester. It is supposed to be a nocturnal animal, so I was glad to get a glimpse of it this morning.
When I tried to enter the boardwalk entrance this morning, I noticed that small feathers were scattered on the grass and dirt path between the boardwalk entrance and the Aqua Harvester. After the Opossum had disappeared, I thought that I might have known what happened.
When I walked to the middle of the boardwalk, I saw the chunky, juvenile Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron perched on the railing and looking around. It flew under the Cottonwood tree to the railing, a little further away from the place it had previously been standing in. I could tell that it was hungry by the way it was flying up and down along the wooded bank and the railing, but had trouble hunting due to its lack of experience. It seemed to be full of desperation and uncertainty.
I walked toward the barrier and saw the young Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron hunting without its offspring. I thought that her juvenile bird was probably exploring a far off area this morning.
A large Nutria was walking slowly to the resting Chinese Domestic Geese family as if it wanted to join them, but the father goose was standing beside his two sleeping family members. The Nutria stopped and remained in the same spot, as if it was resting, too.
I was happy to see a beautiful, bright green Anole on a leaf of the Sago Palm. It saw me and quickly hid under the leaves, which were not dense enough to hide it, so it remained visible. It was cute.
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