August 04, 2022

Josey Ranch – July 2022

August 04, 2022/ Gwen Morrison

I only made one early morning trek over to Josey Ranch Lake in Carrollton TX when I was there a few weeks ago but was, as usual, rewarded with bird sightings. The first bird I saw was a Great Egret fishing in the shallows.

And then I noticed a female Mallard and ducklings!

I walked around the sidewalk and onto the boardwalk which was high and dry…the lake lowered by the heat and lack of rain.

There was a rabbit in an area that had once been mud!

The many cattails were not standing in shallow water; in some areas other plants were beginning to take over. I photographed a stand that was still in mud and looked relatively health although they didn’t have as many seed stalks as usual.

The boardwalk provided a different perspective/lighting for the birds. The egret seemed to glow in the morning sun.

There was a small bump that turned out to be a Green Heron hunting for breakfast. It looked small and I wondered if it was a 2022 bird. I had seen juvenile green herons at Josey Ranch back in June 2018 and there could have been a successful nest this year too. The snag standing among the cattails that the green herons frequented in previous years was gone.

There was a Swan further away – preening.

I walked further along the concrete path to the second boardwalk for a better look at the muddy area exposed by the receding lake.

The Grackles were about…noisy. The juveniles were still squawking to be fed even though they also were finding tidbits for themselves.

There were small birds moving about…zooming in I saw that they were Killdeer! Did they nest here this year?

Further out where the water took over, the Mallard and her 6 ducklings were still feeding…and were close enough to capture in one frame. I didn’t see any turtles in the lake this time; maybe that is why so many of the ducklings survived!

I was surprised that I didn’t see or hear any Red-winged blackbirds…they are usually in the cattails…but not this year.

October 07, 2021

Patuxent Research Refuge – Misc.

October 07, 2021/ Gwen Morrison

Of course, there are other things besides waterlilies, milkweeds and goldenrod to see this time of year at the South Tract of Patuxent Research Refuge. I did some experimental photography with some grass seed heads and asters…liked the results.

The cattails are exploding with fluff. If it doesn’t float away fast enough it becomes matted around the stalk.

Many plants are going to seed in the meadow.

In the forest there are hits of color…just a few leaves at this point. Green still dominates.

There was an old jumble of trunks…some upright and others leaning over…with shelf fungus in profusion.

There is a bird blind around a collection of feeders but I wasn’t quiet enough to walk up to it without all the birds taking flight. I managed to notice finches on the feeders and mourning doves below.

Sometimes something appears that I don’t expect – like this fire hydrant in the meadow. It isn’t that far from the visitor center but far enough that I would have thought one closer would be more useful and it was surrounded by wild vegetation – a little surprise. It was rusted enough that I wondered if it was still functional.

Overall – every time I got to the refuge, I notice something that I haven’t seen before!

August 03, 2021

Josey Ranch Birds in July – 2

August 03, 2021/ Gwen Morrison

I walked around to the Josey Ranch Lake boardwalk on the other side of the cattails….and saw another kind of heron after a few steps onto it: a green heron was on the end of the boardwalk!

I had seen green herons at the lake before. Back in June 2018, I saw young birds feeding in the shallows near the cattails. This year I saw at least three birds in the same area but on snags or up in trees. Some of them were clearly juveniles based on their plumage…although further along in development than the birds in 2018. At this point the youngsters are flying like adults. The one with fuzz on the top of its head is certainly a bird that hatched this year!

As I walked back to the car, I spotted a feather in the grass. Perhaps from a Canada Goose? There were a few at the lake. They give a nice size compassion when they are on the shore with the swans (the swans are huge!).

May 26, 2021

Josey Ranch Lake After a Heavy Rain

May 26, 2021/ Gwen Morrison

I headed over to Josey Ranch Lake (Carrollton, TX) late in the day when the heavy rain finally stopped. Lots of water was still running off into the storm drains on the streets during the short drive; I avoided the curbside lane when I could. My goal was to see if the nesting mute swans at the lake had a cygnet.

When I got there, one of the swans was out on the lake – doing a lot of preening.

As I got closer to the area of cattails where the nest was located, there was a sheen of water running over the sidewalk and part of the boardwalk was under water. The white blob in the cattails is the second swan.

I zoomed in on the blob. The camera focused on the cattails, but the second swan is identifiable. There is a second bird in the picture too…more about that one later.

I walked further around on the paved bike path, stepping around the drifts of silt and trying not to splash water into my shoes. I found a little better vantage point to watch the second swan. The bird was picking up soggy sticks and dried cattail leaves…trying to pile them up again…frantically moving about as the vegetation sank into the water. Oh no! There must have been about 6 inches of water where the nest had been. The nest had been flooded. No cygnet…no egg…no nest.

The bird that had been on the lake moved onto the bank still preening. The two birds were responding to the stress of the nest flooding very differently. I wondered which one was the male and which was the female. Was it early enough in the season that they will build another nest and try again?

Now for the other bird that was near the swans’ nest – a juvenile Little Blue Heron that I had seen previously at the lake. It was standing in the cattails…observing the scene. It had more blue feathers since I saw it a few weeks earlier. The color of the beak and eye ring looks very striking on this young bird. As I looked at my pictures of the bird on my larger monitor, I wondered if the bird had a damaged wing or if it was simply wet. I’ll have to go to the lake again before I leave Texas to find out.

There were a few Mallard Ducks. It appears they already have 4 young with them….juvenile size rather than ducklings! They were on the shore rather than in the water the whole time I was there.

Rounding out the birds I noticed but didn’t take time to photograph - pigeons and grackles. There were people venturing out for exercise; some had already made it around the lake and commented about the water gushing from the dam on the other end. Others arrived while I was there. It was a quick outing. I was sad about the swan’s nest…. felt privileged to observe the birds’ response to their tragedy from a distance.

April 26, 2021

Birds at Josey Ranch

April 26, 2021/ Gwen Morrison

The day was cold and gray but there were a few interesting birds I saw at Josey Ranch (Carrollton, TX). The Boat-trailed Grackles are there every time I’ve visited. The males were constantly posturing and chasing each other. There was a female gathering nest material in front of the library.

There were not many ducks this visit but a group of Canada Geese were making their way from the grassy area to the water and they seemed to be getting drinks as soon as they reached the water (note the head tilt of the bird in the foreground…swallowing the water).

One goose had a feather sticking straight up on its back – a distinctive look!

Great Egrets are frequently sighted around the lake.

One special treat this year – last year’s cattail foliage is flattened rather than still upright which makes the Mute Swans’ nest visible right now (until the new grow gets high enough to hide it). They were both at the nest when I was there. These are not native birds to North America….but they are widespread here and have been at Josey Ranch for years.

A surprise for me was the juvenile Little Blue Heron that was just beginning to develop adult plumage. It was the most actively feeding bird while I was there, but I didn’t see it catch anything!

Another bird I have seen occasionally at Josey Ranch previously was a Yellow-Crowned Night Heron. If I had not seen it fly into the a stand of cattails, I wouldn’t have see it since it was standing still and seemed to blend with the gray of the day.

Overall – a good group of birds to see in less than 20 minutes!

March 30, 2021

Storm Water Pond

March 30, 2021/ Gwen Morrison

Our neighborhood storm water pond has changed quite a bit over the course of March. Earlier in the month a few red-winged black birds were at the pond but were not making much noise yet. The colors around the pond were mostly brown – the cattails from last season and the grass. There wasn’t much going on.

A few weeks later – the gunk has been flushed from the pond by recent rains and the cattails are still the drab colors of the overwintered plant. The grass has turned green.

Quite a few more birds were around. I noticed some crows just before I got to the pond. There were robins searching for worms in the grass.

Grackles were around the edges of the pond in about equal numbers to the red-winged blackbirds.

The male red-winded blackbirds were assertive – showing their red and yellow shoulder patches as they defined their territory.

I only saw one female, but I’m sure there were more down in the cattails where the birds make their a nest.

So - The bird activity at the pond has increased this month but I haven’t seen any turtles or frogs yet…maybe it’s still a bit too cool for them to be active.

November 16, 2020

Neighborhood Pond – November 2020 – part 1

November 16, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

I walked down to the neighborhood stormwater pond recently. There were still a few leaves that had not been swept away by the wind (or mowing or raking). I walked through drifts of leaves in the street gutter and sidewalks…crunching.

I was early enough that the light was good for reflections on the pond. There was no breeze, so the water was a good mirror.

There was a red-winged blackbird in the cattails. It moved around a bit….called to others that had moved to nearby trees as I had walked up to the pond. I sat on the bench for a few minutes, but the other birds stayed away from the immediate pond vegetation.

The sun sometimes made a spotlight on the vegetation…bringing out the nuances of fading fall colors.

The meadow on the far side of the pond has not been mowed and looks like it is being taken over by invasive pear trees. They’ll probably mow it again in the spring.

All the flowers around the pond have gone to seed.

2020 11 IMG_2883 (19).jpg — As I started back, I noticed a tree with 3 squirrels’ nests! There were other similarly sized trees near it…but somehow the squirrels found this one more attractive.

A dogwood still held its colorful leaves. The native dogwoods usually have leaves that turn early and drop; this one is probably a non-native and I didn’t notice any seeds.

2020 11 IMG_2883 (23).jpg — Most of the oaks in the neighborhood have lost their leaves completely. Maybe they have just reached the age that they don’t hold their leaves longer. Ours was one of the early droppers this year.

I checked the micro-clover that we planted in some bare spots a few months ago. It is still growing very well everywhere we planted it. Hopefully, it will help the soil improve so we won’t have any bare places next spring.

Tomorrow I will post about the high point of the walk to and from the pond.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

Crane Fiesta 2020. The virtual version of Festival of the Cranes from Bosque del Apache is called Crane Fiesta and is happening November 19-21. It is being delivered as cost-free webinars….but registration is required. The link to register is https://friendsofbosquedelapache.org/festival-of-the-cranes/. My husband and I are looking forward to the three days of virtual birding….the next best thing to being there (and looking forward to going back to New Mexico in November2021)!

November 04, 2020

Patuxent Research Refuge – Part 2

November 04, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

Continuing on about our field trip to the Patuxent Research Refuge --

The colors of fall were muted on the trees and boardwalk in the bright sunlight

But still vibrant in closer looks.

It had rained a lot the days before our visit, so the low places had standing water and the trails were muddy.

The cattails looked fuzzy from far enough away but were soggy blobs when I zoomed in for closer look.

It was mid-morning so past the time when there might have been more birds at the feeders (someone is keeping them filled). A lone red-winged blackbird was enjoying a feeder all to himself.

There was a flash of yellow near the feeders…a fall flower.

And the redbud leaves on the ground were recent enough to still be mostly yellow. I looked up to see if there were seed ponds on the tree; it didn’t have any.

The clouds were gathering, and we opted to not go onto muddy trails. The short time out and about was enough of a field trip.

I usually try to take a picture of the visitor center signage at the beginning…but it was the last picture for this field trip!

By the time we got home it was cloudy. Our timing for being at the refuge was near perfect.

Unique Activities for Yesterday:

2020 11 IMG_2751.jpg — **Sunrise on election day 2020.** Just as I was getting my 1st breakfast….noticed the good color in the sky…took the picture through a window because it was windy and in the 40s (didn’t want to go outside)…timing was critical too. It was a great start for the day.

My daughter texted a few hours later that she had gotten in the line to vote about 30 minutes after the polls opened…and there wasn’t much wait – all done in about 15 minutes. 66 people had voted before her at the polling place.

August 11, 2020

Neighborhood Pond – August 2020

August 11, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

My goal was to get to the neighborhood pond before sunrise so I left the house shortly after 6 AM and walked briskly down the street taking only one picture along the way and walking through a spider web that bridged the sidewalk between a mailbox and a small tree. I never saw the web but was brushing off the spider silk for the rest of the walk to the pond and hoping the spider had made it to a side of the web and wasn’t crawling around on me!

The pond was quieter than expected. The red-winged blackbirds are no longer defending their territory. There were some crows nearby.

And so are the milkweed. The meadow behind the pond has a good stand of healthy-looking plants…but no evidence of Monarch caterpillars that I could see without wading into the taller vegetation.

The cattails are maturing. They are expanding all around the pond…still a lot of young plants that haven’t made seed pods this year but provide plenty of cover for frogs and birds.

I heard the calls of green frogs and saw a few in the water…lumps with bulging eyes.

There was a green heron that was difficult to photograph through the vapor coming up from the surface of the pond. I saw one last month at the pond as well…maybe the same one. It would be great to have a resident green heron at the pond. There was one several years ago as well.

I didn’t see the painted turtle…hope it is still around.

I experimented with different settings as the sun came up….getting reflections and silhouettes. The silhouette image with the color in the sky is probably my favorite image of the morning.

There were more sounds on my way back to the house…the neighborhood waking up. I looked at the oaks in our neighborhood. Some don’t look so good. Our oak tree seems OK even though it has a rough time with the cold weather in late spring.

The morning sunlight shows off the fall color already developing in its leaves…although they aren’t falling yet like some of the other trees are….and it doesn’t have a lot of dead branches either…a sign that it is a healthy tree.

March 22, 2020

Filling a Day of Social Distance – 3/21/2020

March 22, 2020/ Gwen Morrison

Continuing the blog post series prompted by COVID-19….

Here are the unique activities for yesterday:

Cooking corn on the cob and hamburger patties on the grill. It was a cool cloudy day…but not too windy for grilling.

Walking in the neighborhood. It felt good to get out of the house and get some exercise outdoors. It is easy to keep social distance…even more than 6 feet! I took some pictures along my way: bent reeds and their reflections in water, a squirrel at attention, some red maple samaras that fell from the tree too early to mature (beautiful color though) and cattail stalks from last season at the edge of the water retention pond.

Catching up on the ‘Life in the Universe Pandemic Series’ from Charles Cockell

Celebrating birds finding our feeder again. They are still not back in the numbers before the seed was gone from the feeder. A titmouse is in the first video from the feeder cam. I’ve already seen red-bellied woodpeckers, Carolina chickadee, titmouse, eastern phoebe (not at the feeder…on a nearby tree branch), dark-eyed junco, and goldfinch.

Previous “filling a day of social distance” posts: 3/15, 3/16, 3/17, 3/18, 3/19, 3/20

January 13, 2019

Winter Walk in the Neighborhood - 1

January 13, 2019/ Gwen Morrison

I took a walk in our neighborhood on the warmest day last week. It was a blustery day – felt more like March than January. I walked down to the storm water retention pond first. It still looks relatively barren but there is vegetation on all the slopes.

2019 01 IMG_0868.jpg — The cattails are beginning to repopulate the shallows. I wondered if there were enough for the red winged blackbirds to come back to the pond. Maybe more cattails will come up next spring from the roots already in the mud…if they aren’t drowned from all the rain we’ve gotten.

The wind was blowing oak leaves onto the water.

Younger oak trees often keep their leaves well into winter. Or course – every breeze takes a few more leaves away but there were enough left on some of the trees in our neighborhood to still use the leaf shape to say definitively – it’s an oak. The tree in front of our house retained it leaves did years ago but is now old enough that its leaves drop in the fall.

2019 01 IMG_0917.jpg — As I looked back along our street, I realized that the general way to tell the maples from the oaks planted along the street by the builder is to look at the height. The taller ones are oaks.

July 24, 2018

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center - Part I

July 24, 2018/ Gwen Morrison

I spent last Friday at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) near Edgewater MD. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources had organized the day and announced it to Master Naturalists. It was a day well spent! When we were not hiking, we were in a classroom in the Mathias Lab Building, a LEED platinum facility complete with solar panels and geothermal wells.

The first lecture of the day was about spiders (and other creepy crawly critters) that sometimes are unappreciated or frightening to some people. I find myself being more interested in looking closely at spiders – although when one crawled across the ceiling of my bathroom there was still a cringe.