The Dog Days of Summer

For this part of Texas, early July is the probably the low point for birding. I should look back at earlier posts because I have a feeling I said the same thing about June. I anticipate a similar August. Nevertheless, up to this point I've never seen nothing.

I decreased my chances of seeing anything unusual Tuesday by refusing to travel more than about 10 miles, in order to have time to fit in some skateboarding before the heat became unbearable. The first thing that struck me was the large number of Killdeer that had gathered at this city park. I easily saw between 15-20 Killdeer speed-walking across the soccer and baseball fields.

Second, although I see turtles here always, I rarely see them past the water's edge. This Red Eared Slider was on the walking path through the park. As I got close to him he went into his shell, and after I passed by he came out and "took off" in the other direction.



I imagine this is the view the hare had at the end of the race.

As I walked back to the car two American Crows flew into the cedar trees to my right. I took this relatively poor picture of one of them.



Though it is not a very good picture, its content is one that I've been looking for and with some editing will be turned into a very different piece of art.