Rainy Days and Sundays...

The day before, it was warm, dry, bright and filled with sunshine.  Then...

Early in the morning, I woke up to another Texas Springtime rainstorm. Heavy amount fell in a short time. It was a predicted forecast, so no surprise to me. Altho, the ground is saturated to the surface, flooding came easily. Thankfully, the storm was a fast moving front, so it didn't last all that long-a-time.

To keep from being stuck at home all day, I hopped in the car and drove across the harbor bridge to Indian Point, Sunset Lakes, and then into the outskirts of Portland, Texas to a bird sanctuary. Mostly, knowing that not too many birds would be out in the storms, I just wanted to get outdoors. I walked the trails, and kept an eye on the sky above for more storms moving in....by mid-morning, it was still dark, quiet, and yet ominous-looking; quite eerie.

Still, the cloud formations were extraordinary. I couldn't help myself from aiming skyward and snapping the shutter button on the camera. Shadows everywhere, a dark ambiance in the stillness of the morning. I was alone on the path, enjoying the solitude...

Very little numbers of wildlife. A few birds braved the stormy morning, frantically feeding...

...it began to sprinkle on me as I made the 1 mile marker on the path, so I turned around and headed back to the car to head to Portland...

Driving the country roads from Portland, Texas to Fred Jones Sanctuary, I encountered some heavy rainfall at one point. I figured I was safe from getting too wet, in arriving to my destination, since there is a covered area to sit at the benches out of the rain and look out to the wooded area and 'soak' up the peace and quiet of what was left of the morning. Upon arriving and getting through the closed gate, I was greeted with a field of beautiful wild flowers. A hint of the wet soil was a fresh scent. Birdsong in the woods could be heard ever so faintly. Thunder in the distance.

A lone peach tree had a few small early fruits hanging on the barren branches. After enjoying the calm before the storm clouds began to pack a punch of intense roiling and color change.  I left the sanctuary and headed back home. At the county road intersection where I turn to head back to Portland, Texas, several wind generators waved hello as I stopped before turning....

...heading back, I saw ahead of me the direction I was heading...I drove into another weather squall before getting on the freeway to Corpus.

[birds seen here today in sequence:  TriColored Heron, Great Blue Heron, Black Bellied Plover, Lark Sparrows, Ruddy Turnstone -in breeding plumage-, and Laughing Gulls in front of Wind Generator with use of zoom lens]