When walking toward the Glass Bottom Boat dock, I saw two Red-Shouldered Hawks perched on the electric line above the Century Plant. The hawks were very still. I felt it was a special morning at Spring Lake, as I stood in front of the Century Plant with two hawks, and the distinguished low voices of the Great Blue Heron in the background. I saw that all the flowers of the Century Plant had grown much taller toward the sky; it is surprising how fast they grow. The flowers made the thick green stalk much taller, but so many branches holding several flower clusters on each branch are making the stalk lean towards the lake. Several bees were busy collecting honey, and I was happy to see a Blue-Throated Hummingbird collecting honey along side them.
Yesterday, I searched for information about the Century Plant, and found an article which said: “Century Plants bloom only once in their life, the blooming spike is so large and grows so fast it saps all the resources of the plant, which then dies, leaving a tall wooden seed stalk.” The article also said that the average life span of Century Plant is 25 years. As I was reading this article, I felt that I was lucky to observe the growing flowers of the Century Plant. On the other hand, I felt sad to know that that gorgeous plant eventually dies after producing the seeds.
I looked on the other side of the Glass Bottom Boat dock and saw a Great Blue Heron walking along the lake toward a tree which was located on the right side of the old viewing deck. The trunk of the tree is crawling toward the water, touching it. The branches are producing leaves creating nice shade on the surface of the water. The Great Blue Heron walked to the end of the trunk and looked under the water for a while, then flew off toward the river.
When I went through the covered bridge toward the Pecan Grove, a deer was grazing peacefully in the middle of the Pecan Grove, and there were two other deer in the parking area. The two deer eventually disappeared, but the solitary deer did not care that I was walking along the path beside the Pecan Grove. A red-Shouldered Hawk flew down on the picnic table, then to the lawn, and the bird started picking at something next to the deer.
When walking back to the boardwalk, three big birds were making big circles above the edge of the lake. From their voices I knew they were the Great Blue Herons, but I was surprised that they were flying high above the trees. I used to see them flying very low. It was my first experience to see three Great Blue Herons together, circling many times like the Black Vultures do, and flying so high in the sky. The Great Blue Herons are the biggest birds around here, but they are shy. That scene was like a special exhibition or they were showing off.
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