On a Hill Far Away....

As I've mentioned on my bird photography blog, I have been searching for the wood stork's return to our area....with no success yet. I did find myself on a return visit to Tule Lake on the other side of the port of Corpus Christi [near the oil refineries]. When I got there, looking east over the lake, I noticed the sun peeking over the horizon. Even tho, the view wasn't perfect, with the power lines crossing the whole area...I still took some photos. To me, when there are cloud formations and the colors are right, I tend to go over-board with snapping the shutter button. Even using the zoom lens, and the sky takes on a whole 'nother hue...it makes my morning all the more perfect.

At the time, I only spotted one black necked stilt, two egrets, two herons, and a few swallows came off their roost, with their curious nature, to see who was invading their territory. I left them alone to their habitat and went to West Guth Park to walk. There, I stopped by the hill, parked under the shade of the mesquite tree, and began my morning trek. My first hill climb was up to the residential area behind the park. This is where the monk parakeets nest [photos of the parakeets building the nests seen from my photo link]. When I reached the top, the palm trees were quiet. The community condos the parakeets build were empty, the nearly full moon was framed by swaying tree branches....

...but by the time I headed back down hill to the park's trail system, they started squawking loudly; telling me I was bothersome!  These monks do NOT take a vow of silence, let me tell you...they can be heard for blocks.

On flat land again, I began at my starting point, and the Long Billed Curlews began to call their mates...they were EVERYWHERE.  It was a cacophony of sound with doves singing, the curlews calling, the parakeets squawking, the grackles grackling, the ducks quacking, the mockingbirds mocking, and the geese honking.. I even heard a faint song of the kiskadee from a great distance.

... in no time, I found a SHE SHED [like a man cave, but for women only?] Bud and i don't call it a man cave, we call it a HE HUT.  But, when I saw this messy outdoor building up on a hill, my first thought was she shed. Dunno why....I think with the shape it was in and the junk seen through the windows...it's GOTTA be a HE HUT!!  [don't disapprove of me for thinking...it's a gender thing]

The park is very hilly...you can get a good workout. At least if you stay long enough, walk the trails and climb the hills. As I've said before in previous posts, this park is large, shaded well, has many amenities such as a swimming pool...a huge [new] covered BBQ pit, a senior center, a brook, disc golf, horseshoe pits, playgrounds, duck pond and meandering trails, lots of wild life, a near by school sits on one of the hilltops with a football field and track course... I only went around once...too hot.