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Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Bona Dea Alligator and Yellow-billed Cuckoo Update









Bona Dea was cloudy and cool. Pretty damp after recent rains. At the parking lot I saw a fully developed weed in bloom and had to take a photo. These are 2 photos of a Queen Anne's Lace wildflower in full bloom. I roamed around the park a little bit and then found my friend hiding by the bank. Mr. or Mrs. Alligator again. 4 photos of it today. Also posted directly below is a video of it swimming off to the other side of the pond and waving its tail to swim. Then going down Swinging Bridge Trail the birds were still feeding in the trail where the seeds had washed in a clump from the recent rain. In among the bunch was a pretty male Blue Bird and then close to it and the females were the pairs of Indigo Buntings. The male Bunting is the brightest blue color you will see. Then the bright red male Cardinals there too. Quite a site really. There were other birds in there too. One of them was a surprise and this was an Yellow-billed Cuckoo. I have never seen one before and read that it is not usually seen. It kept going from the spillway to swinging bridge trail and then it landed in a mid canopy of a tree and I took these 2 photos of it. I fed the fish and the old nuisance Red Slider Turtle returned for its share. The Crows were around as usual and Blue Jays were more numerous today. I went to the side of the pond where the Gator was heading and saw where it went into a cut in the Alligator weeds close to the bank and walked through the thick woods to try to find it there. But no luck. I did find a lot of Ticks or they found me and I am still picking them off. I hope they don't go where they usually do.

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