Yesterday morning I drove down to Bear Creek Park. After all the rain of the past week, I expected much of the park to be flooded and so was hoping to see herons, egrets and ibis. I was also expecting the mosquitoes to be fierce.
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As it turned out, there were no flooded areas, no wading birds and - most surprising of all - no mosquitoes. Instead, the park was busy with warblers. I saw several Pine Warblers and a Black-and-white. Worm-eating Warblers were reported earlier in the week and I'm 99% sure I spotted one. (This would be a life bird for me.) Unfortunately, it was one of those mornings where my glasses and binoculars steamed up every time that I focused on a bird. Since I can't be 100% sure of what I saw, I can't add the Worm-eating to my list.
The park produced plenty of other birds, including many Eastern Bluebirds and American Crows, plus a Great Crested Flycatcher.
American Crow
However, the highlight wasn't a bird at all. It was a raccoon. I love raccoons and I don't see them very often, even though they are very common here. This one was particularly obliging and allowed me to take several photos from just a few yards away.
If you like raccoons you should see my backyard at night. The little bandits are all over the place!
ReplyDeleteWe never see them in our subdivision, although we have seen lots when we've been camping in Texas. However, there was a possum at our backdoor last night. We used to leave our cat door open at nights but had to stop because possums (and stray cats) kept sneaking into our kitchen.
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