Bastrop State Park

I went to the park this morning to do some birding.  It was a good morning starting with three Bewick’s Wrens and Chipping Sparrows.  Eastern Bluebirds and American Goldfinches with a couple of Pines Siskins mixed in were next.  The small lake near the cabins produced Eastern Phoebe, a pair of Pied-billed Grebes, a Mallard and one Belted Kingfisher.  The trip also produced Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, Red-bellied Woodpeckers and Pine Warblers.  Yet, as you can see the picture of the day is not a bird at all.  The sumacs have donned their winter color, and it is good.

Something You Don’t See Everyday

I remember as a young boy watching Roadrunner and Wylie Coyote chasing around.  Wylie always got the worst of it.  In one such episode, the roadrunner ran straight up a very tall cliff.  I just didn’t think that could happen even then but laughed all the same when Wylie suffered his fate.

I have learned otherwise since.  A week ago, we visited the reopened Bastrop State Park and there found a roadrunner.  While we were trying to take a picture before he scurried off, he ran straight up a tree and onto a limb!  It was amazing to see it do so—run up the tree, bark clips flying while the bird did not.  So, there he is sitting pretty with dinner in his beak.

Sure Sign of Spring

Flowering Dogwood in Bastrop State Park

Bastrop, TX