I parked at Auditorium Shores, which is a good place to walk around and look at the ever-changing skyline except for the fact that the whole area smells like dog crap. Why can’t people just pick up after their dogs?
Avoiding the mines, I walked to the Stevie Ray Vaughn statue where I took this obligatory Austin photo.
Hard to believe I’ve been here longer than that statue and I’m only just now doing the Stevie-Ray-and-skyline shot. Maybe there’s something to be said for leaving things for oneself to do.
Red-winged Blackbirds
After the statue, I followed a small flock of Red-winged Blackbirds west for a few yards trying to get a closer shot of one.
I was pleasantly surprised to see them as I had hoped to see more than just the one at Hornsby.
Red-winged Blackbird
Then one came right at me!
Red-winged Blackbird in flight
Aside from the red-wings, I also saw some Gadwalls, American Coots, Great-tailed Grackles, Rock Doves, and a Yellow-crowned Night Heron fishing on the far shore.
High above the night heron, one of the new condos was also visible.
I left early this morning hoping that it wouldn’t be raining at Hornsby Bend, and despite a few quick showers on the toll road, it turned into a nice day with overcast skies and a steady cool breeze.
The egrets, herons and other waders I’d watched over the summer had all moved on, but the ponds were filled with ducks.
A clusterduck, mostly Northern Shovelers
I saw hundreds of Northern Shovelers as well as a few Blue-winged Teal, Ruddy Ducks, and some Lesser Scaup. Along with the ducks, there were numerous American Coot and even a couple of Least Grebes.
Northern Shovelers
I drove along the ponds, studying the ducks. The male Northern Shovelers are transitioning into their breeding plumage, which they do in November, so some of their breasts were a bit streaky.
American Coots
Other than the ducks, I saw some flocks of some kind of sparrows (I think) that I couldn’t ID and a single Red-winged blackbird, which surprised me after the huge flocks of them I had seen over the summer.
Eventually, I decided to hike down the river trail to the lookout over the Colorado. I could hear Northern Cardinals and Carolina Chickadees, though I didn’t see either.
River Trail
Walking along the trail, I spotted a few Carolina Wrens and a Northern Mockingbird as well as small brown birds that darted about, defying easy identification.
I watched the sky for hawks and eagles, but saw only vultures, both Turkey and Black. When I reached the river, a Double-crested Cormorant noisily flapped off away from the bank.
I didn’t see many more birds, but the trees looked especially good. There are three amazing trees that I always have to stop and look at and today, I had all my gear so I took a few pictures.
These are some of my favorite trees in Austin.
Tree at Hornsby BendAnother tree at Hornsby BendYet another tree at Hornsby BenCloser to the previous tree
After taking this last picture, the wind picked up along with the kawing of a crow. I listened and a few more crows picked up the cry. I watched the sky and saw 3 American Crows hurrying towards a spot behind the tree I had been photographing.
Assuming they were mobbing, I looked around for a hawk and sure enough, I caught a fleeting glimpse of a hawk’s silhouette as he swooped out of the tree and towards the river.
By the time I got back to the car, the wind had picked up and it looked about to rain so I called it a morning and a good one at that.
It never ceases to amaze me that even after four years, I’m still discovering little things in our neighborhood.
Over the summer, I stumbled upon a side trail leading to the small creek that feeds the nearby pond. A wooden footbridge connects our neighborhood with the one next to ours.
In the summer, it was a good place from which to spy hummingbirds and woodpeckers. Now that it’s the season that passes for autumn around here, it’s a good place to watch the leaves almost change color.
There’s nothing like the morning clouds after a good cold front. Especially nice because of the fall back from Daylight Savings Time, the sun is in a slightly different place when I get to work.
Those changes affect seeing and so the ordinary jumps out unexpectedly making it all seem new.
When the typical turns atypical, the camera comes out and something as fleeting as clouds and sky is suddenly frozen.
I’m still kind of at a loss for words other than ‘wow.’
I doubt I’ll ever forget the moment they called Ohio, and we knew it was all over as soon as the west coast polls closed. We ate the cupcakes we’d been saving for the first state to flip after we finished cheering and jumping around.
Watching the returns come in, the country slowly turning blue, reminded me of the scene in Lord of the Rings when the Ents destroyed the dam on the Isen, and the water flowed down into Isengard washing away the monstrosity of warmongering and environmental destruction that Saruman had wrought. There was still a lot to do, battles to be fought and rings to be destroyed, but you could tell things were changing.
Everything yesterday was the same. Kids to teach, dishes to do, dogs to feed, and errands to run. But I caught myself grinning like a fool when I heard the words on the radio or saw a newspaper.
President-elect Obama.
Finally, on Tuesday, the good guys won, and though everything is the same, it’s a bit different too.
I feel like our country answered to the better angels of its nature in electing someone competent, smart, and decent. A combination that’s been missing too long.
My dad has said several times this year that he hasn’t felt this way about voting since 1960. For me, this was the first time I was able to vote for a politician in whom I truly believed.
It felt good and for once I feel a little less cynical about politics than I always have. I hope Obama exceeds expectations, but his work will certainly be cut out for him. There is much to do. Many wrongs to right.
Still, for the first time in a very long time, I suddenly feel good about where our country can go. It won’t be easy and it won’t be perfect, but it’s a start and it feels good.
Once again, I feel optimistic about our government.
I saw this bird on my walk the other day. It looked like a flycatcher, and something told me it was an Eastern Phoebe, though I wasn’t certain.
According to my Sibley guide, the Eastern Phoebe is a 7-inch bird. I compare everything to the Northern Mockingbird to judge size since I see them all the time and they’re a handy 10-inches or so, thus half the size of a mockingbird is roughly 5 inches.
As I was watching the suspected phoebe, a mocker conveniently landed a few feet away, and I could clearly see that he was about 2-3 inches longer. After studying the picture I took and comparing it to other pictures online, I’m pretty sure that this is the Eastern Phoebe, which isn’t really all that exciting since they’re pretty common birds, but it’s nice to know what I’m looking at.
While searching around, I stumbled upon these bloggers who also found themselves confronted with the Eastern Phoebe and a bit of uncertainty: Nature Tales and Camera Trails, Birding Girl, and At the Water. Their pictures helped my with my ID, which I hope is right. I also discovered SE Texas Wildlife, which didn’t have a picture of the Eastern Phoebe, but still looks like a cool blog to explore.
Much easier for me to identify is the Western Spotted Couch Phoebe, caught here in her natural habitat:
