When I stopped my car in front of the Pecan Grove, I could not help saying “Wow! Two Red-Shouldered Hawks were circling in the Pecan Grove, under the Pecan trees. They spread their wings fully without much flapping, flying in a big circle, using the entire space of the grove with strength and elegance. They are muscular birds compared to water birds. Their flight exhibits a natural artistic choreography. One hawk eventually perched on the trunk of a Pecan tree and other bird did the same on a tree branch near my car. Beautiful birds!
I heard voices, and the voice indicated that a Great Blue Heron was flying toward the river. The bird was busy exploring this morning.
At the boardwalk, the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron was perched on the same railing as yesterday. I noticed that a feather was dangling down from its wing.
Then, I saw a duck like bird fly down beside three American Coots. From the white patch line of its wings, bright brownish/reddish back, and distinguished orange/red beaks, at once, I noticed that it was a Black-Bellied-Whistling duck. Last summer, I saw a Black-Bellied-Whistling duck with a flock, but it was solitary this morning. The Black-Bellied-Whistling duck was friendly to the American Coots, but the coots were shy. They stopped hunting and gathered, but the Black-Bellied-Whistling duck did not mind. The bird hunted near the American Coots for a while, and then flew away towards the river.
When I was watching the Black-Bellied-Whistling duck and three American Coots, the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron flew toward the dead tree branch that is growing towards the water at the left side of the boardwalk entrance, near the Water Horsetails enclosure, and the bird perched on a branch. I was surprised to see another Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron perched on the same tree.
As soon as the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron perched on the branch, the other Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron lowered its head as if the bird was ready to take a challenge. The one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron flew up from the branch toward the other bird. The other Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron escaped the attack and flew up on the branch of the tall tree, located on the right side of the covered entrance bridge. But the bird did not give up that hunting ground easily, staying on the branch, looking down at the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron that was on the railing guarding its territory. Eventually, the other bird flew toward the Landing, and the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron followed.
I realized that the dangling feather of the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron indicated that there had already been some conflict between the two birds before I got there.
The Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron was standing at the barrier under the Bald Cypress tree near the biological experiment site, and I had a time to observe the bird. At first I thought that it was the young Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron, but surprisingly, it was a new comer. Confusingly, the new bird had one blackish dot on the middle of its forehead the same as the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron; but the feathers and beak were much shinier and neater, and the body was a little smaller than the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron. I thought that the new comer was younger than the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron.
I saw the older one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron fly down on the barrier toward the diving facility. This time, without any time, the new comer flew out from under the Bald Cypress tree toward the older one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron. The older one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron had no time to defend itself, but escaped and flew toward the Texas Rivers Center.
Watching these territorial conflicts among the Yellow-Crowned-Night Herons, even though natural, I was hoping that all birds could live peacefully in the lake.
Lower levels of the flowers were falling from the branches of the Century Plant. Curled up browned pistils caught each other and two or three flowers hung down from the branches together.
It was interesting to see that the color of the strange mushroom faded in one day. Yesterday morning, the color of the cap was dark brown with many beige dots and beige stem, but this morning, I saw the brown color disappeared, and the whole mushroom became a beige color. No birds or Squirrels were going near the mushroom, so I thought that it might be poisonous.
July 3, 2010
When I passed through the boardwalk entrance, the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron was perched on the railing and grooming. I sensed that the bird had already finished its breakfast. After the bird groomed, it flew toward the Landing.
A Great Blue Heron, that I thought that was a juvenile, passed through the feeding place flying towards the golf course along the wetlands. I am glad to see that the bird is expanding its range day by day. I sighted the bird three times during the time I was at Spring Lake. The bird did quite a long solo flight this morning.
After the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron flew toward the Landing, a juvenile Green Heron flew down on the boardwalk about 10 feet away from me. The young bird’s neck was stretched, and the top of its short black feathers all stood up towards the sky. It looked like it was the young bird’s first adventure, full of uncertainty and curiosity. As soon as the bird started walking, the standing head feathers slowly went down to cover its head. The young bird kept walking for a few more feet and stopped. Slowly the bird stretched its neck and caught a resting dragonfly.
At the exit of the boardwalk, a Nutria was busy munching a Cattail leaf in the middle of many fallen Cattail leaves. After the Nutria was done with the Cattail, it went to the Yellow-Pond lily flower. With both hands, the Nutria bent the flower down, and started munching the flower deliciously. One petal of the Yellow-Pond lily fell from between the hands of Nutria on to the surface of the water. After the Nutria consumed the head of Yellow-Pond lily, it even picked up that fallen petal.
In front of the Landing, the Chinese Domestic Geese were trying to find a resting place, but the past few days we have had rain and the grass is wet. The mother goose decided to sit on some cobblestones that lie on a short path between the Landing and the diver’s waiting place. The mother goose sat on the dry cobblestones and the young goose followed her and the two geese started to sleep. However, the father goose did not want to sleep on the cobblestones. He decided to stay on the concrete path next to his family instead. He stood with his right leg half way tucked under his belly and put his head between his wings to sleep. It was cute to watch his one leg hanging down half way from his belly while he sleeping on one leg.
I found the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron hunting on the barrier. The bird caught a crayfish, shook the crayfish with its beaks several times, and tried to swallow it, but couldn’t. The bird put the crayfish on the grass twice, but still could not swallow it. Eventually, the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron abandoned the crayfish and flew toward the boardwalk again.
I was curious why the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron could not swallow the crayfish. It was not a big crayfish.
I walked to the abandoned crayfish. It was a medium sized crayfish. I have seen the young Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron swallow big crayfish without much problem. I thought that the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron was not hungry. I already saw the bird grooming at the boardwalk earlier. May be, the bird hunted the crayfish as a game as the bird now controlled the two best hunting places for crayfish.
The pistils of Century Plant on the first and second layers were more browned, but the rest of pistils were growing longer, attracting more bees.
I noticed strange mushrooms have started sprouting around one of Sago Palms and around the bush in front of the Swiss Sky Ride.
A Great Blue Heron, that I thought that was a juvenile, passed through the feeding place flying towards the golf course along the wetlands. I am glad to see that the bird is expanding its range day by day. I sighted the bird three times during the time I was at Spring Lake. The bird did quite a long solo flight this morning.
After the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron flew toward the Landing, a juvenile Green Heron flew down on the boardwalk about 10 feet away from me. The young bird’s neck was stretched, and the top of its short black feathers all stood up towards the sky. It looked like it was the young bird’s first adventure, full of uncertainty and curiosity. As soon as the bird started walking, the standing head feathers slowly went down to cover its head. The young bird kept walking for a few more feet and stopped. Slowly the bird stretched its neck and caught a resting dragonfly.
At the exit of the boardwalk, a Nutria was busy munching a Cattail leaf in the middle of many fallen Cattail leaves. After the Nutria was done with the Cattail, it went to the Yellow-Pond lily flower. With both hands, the Nutria bent the flower down, and started munching the flower deliciously. One petal of the Yellow-Pond lily fell from between the hands of Nutria on to the surface of the water. After the Nutria consumed the head of Yellow-Pond lily, it even picked up that fallen petal.
In front of the Landing, the Chinese Domestic Geese were trying to find a resting place, but the past few days we have had rain and the grass is wet. The mother goose decided to sit on some cobblestones that lie on a short path between the Landing and the diver’s waiting place. The mother goose sat on the dry cobblestones and the young goose followed her and the two geese started to sleep. However, the father goose did not want to sleep on the cobblestones. He decided to stay on the concrete path next to his family instead. He stood with his right leg half way tucked under his belly and put his head between his wings to sleep. It was cute to watch his one leg hanging down half way from his belly while he sleeping on one leg.
I found the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron hunting on the barrier. The bird caught a crayfish, shook the crayfish with its beaks several times, and tried to swallow it, but couldn’t. The bird put the crayfish on the grass twice, but still could not swallow it. Eventually, the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron abandoned the crayfish and flew toward the boardwalk again.
I was curious why the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron could not swallow the crayfish. It was not a big crayfish.
I walked to the abandoned crayfish. It was a medium sized crayfish. I have seen the young Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron swallow big crayfish without much problem. I thought that the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron was not hungry. I already saw the bird grooming at the boardwalk earlier. May be, the bird hunted the crayfish as a game as the bird now controlled the two best hunting places for crayfish.
The pistils of Century Plant on the first and second layers were more browned, but the rest of pistils were growing longer, attracting more bees.
I noticed strange mushrooms have started sprouting around one of Sago Palms and around the bush in front of the Swiss Sky Ride.
July 2, 2010
I was glad to see the Great Blue Heron flying around early this morning. When I parked my car, I heard and saw the Heron flying over the Aquarena Office building towards the Golf course.
As soon as I went through the boardwalk entrance, I saw a Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron on the railing. I approached it. The bird was the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron. This morning, the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron acted like he was patrolling the boardwalk, behind the Landing and the barrier area between the Landing and the corner of the diving facility.
After a short time, the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron flew to the iron railing behind the “Keep Out” wooden enclosure beside the Landing. The bird flew down and started walking carefully along the waterline showing special interest in something behind a bush, left of the kayak storage closet. The bird put its head between the grasses carefully, checked inside the bush a few times, and slowly walked further along the shore. Then, it flew to the barrier, and stayed at the corner of the diving facility where it sometimes hunts. However, the bird did not stay there long and flew toward the boardwalk where I found it perched on the rail, near the boardwalk entrance.
I was sad to see the behavior of the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron. I recalled last Tuesday when the young Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron and a Green Heron were hunting together at the barrier side by side. I remembered that scene. It was so cute and peaceful.
I tried to think why the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron acted this way. I understand that many birds are territorial. However, the action and behavior of the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron indicated that the bird was trying to control two hunting places for itself. The bird arrived here last Wednesday. And now, the bird is aggressively chasing away other birds from the best hunting places for the crayfish. I was hoping that the bird would change its behavior after it got accustomed to living in this peaceful environment.
The pistils on the lowest layer of the Century Plant have turned browner, curling up, and now the second layer has also started to turn brown and droop. They grew so fast, but are ending quickly as well.
As soon as I went through the boardwalk entrance, I saw a Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron on the railing. I approached it. The bird was the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron. This morning, the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron acted like he was patrolling the boardwalk, behind the Landing and the barrier area between the Landing and the corner of the diving facility.
After a short time, the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron flew to the iron railing behind the “Keep Out” wooden enclosure beside the Landing. The bird flew down and started walking carefully along the waterline showing special interest in something behind a bush, left of the kayak storage closet. The bird put its head between the grasses carefully, checked inside the bush a few times, and slowly walked further along the shore. Then, it flew to the barrier, and stayed at the corner of the diving facility where it sometimes hunts. However, the bird did not stay there long and flew toward the boardwalk where I found it perched on the rail, near the boardwalk entrance.
I was sad to see the behavior of the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron. I recalled last Tuesday when the young Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron and a Green Heron were hunting together at the barrier side by side. I remembered that scene. It was so cute and peaceful.
I tried to think why the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron acted this way. I understand that many birds are territorial. However, the action and behavior of the one dot Yellow-Crowned-Night Heron indicated that the bird was trying to control two hunting places for itself. The bird arrived here last Wednesday. And now, the bird is aggressively chasing away other birds from the best hunting places for the crayfish. I was hoping that the bird would change its behavior after it got accustomed to living in this peaceful environment.
The pistils on the lowest layer of the Century Plant have turned browner, curling up, and now the second layer has also started to turn brown and droop. They grew so fast, but are ending quickly as well.
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