Great Blue Heron
The hot and muggy, tropical air mass is still stalled here. It was 80 degrees at 8:00 a.m. this morning. I decided to take a short hike here in Old Trail, and took a route that I haven't hiked in a while.
When I got to the golf course pond, I noticed water bubbling into the pond from the golf course side. I had never noticed this before, and assumed that the golf maintenance crew had been watering the course earlier in the morning, and this was water draining off the course. A Great Blue Heron flew in and landed next to the bubbling water to look for fish. I remembered that aerators in fish tanks add oxygen to the water, and fish like to congregate there, and I wondered if fish were coming to that spot in the pond?
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
Less than a minute later, another Great Blue Heron flew in, perched for a moment at the corner of the pond, and then flew towards the first Great Blue Heron and forced it to leave, and then took control of that area to look for fish. A good example of territorial rights and dominance!
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron
Before I continued on, a female Pileated Woodpecker flew across the pond.
Pileated Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
I continued on, and a short time later heard a Killdeer in a grassy field near a new construction area. I had seen Killdeer there last year, but not this year, so I went over to look for it. When I got to edge of the field, I heard the Killdeer behind me. Look what it was.
Northern Mockingbird