Day Trippin'....One Way Ticket, ya...

It was in the mid to upper 40s one morning as I drove up the interstate to my exit ramp for Pollywog Ponds. After I arrived, and opened the trunk of the car to get my fleece jacket, vapor was coming from my mouth; damp and chilly -blue sky with patchy clouds- with a slight breeze coming in from the Gulf about 25 miles from where the ponds are. I climbed the small incline to get to the gate and crossed over, on my way to the water and river's edge. The grassy trail was covered in early morning dew. It didn't take long for my shoes to be soaked. The birds were just coming awake, the first one I spied was a Myrtle Warbler [commonly called Butter Butt or Yellow Rumped -aptly nicknamed because of it's yellow spot on it's backside, near the tail feathers]. Cardinals were soon singing, woodpeckers were calling. My second bird seen was a Cooper's Hawk high on a tree branch, and before long it flew off into the distance as I continued on my walk. Reaching the ponds -one vacant while the larger pond had grebes, scaups, egrets, blue winged teals, and a solitary sandpiper [its name, not solitary as in alone]. Woodpeckers and sparrows were flitting around. A new sparrow species for me, a song sparrow!  But, for the most part, it was a beautiful, quiet and peaceful, morning. A fork in the trail veers off toward the densely wooded area and for about a year's time it has been bordered off with no entryway. On this day it was open. I took off in that direction and entered the isolated quadrant of the park system. It was quite a weedy shambles and a muddy trek, but I continued through, taking twists and turns to avoid the overgrowth, to come back out where I parked my car. Sticking in the mud several places, I got a good workout. Even in the chilly air, I was sweating before I finished, climbing DOWN the hilltop, back out in the open land...







When I pulled out of this area to drive about 5 more miles up the interstate to the Calallen, Texas exchange, the highway's side banks were all abloom [very early this year!] with Texas State Flower, the bluebonnet. Naturally, I pulled over, got out of the car and took some photos, then headed to my 2nd stop; another park.  The bluebonnet photos will be in upcoming post.