Bona Dea Update

Bona Dea was sunny until late in the evening when it turned cloudy in anticipation of rain. It was quite a bit warmer and more people were out excercising and just doing their thing. On the way to the park, the Cormorants were still on the old snag in Lake Dardanelle. Their were 3 of them and then one flew off and actually flew beside me as I was driving. I went down Swinging Bridge Trail first and it was unusual not to see much wildlife at all. No Ducks and no Geese. I suppose the weather was too good for them. I once again tried to feed the fish but no takers again. When the water warms up they will start to feed. I hope the Musk turtles come back to the feeding area again this year. They are fun to watch and feed. They are small water turtles and really have a strong bite. They don't like competition and will bite each other when they get close to each other. An interesting fact about them is that when they get scared or threatened, they release a fowl odor from glands underneath their shells. I have picked them up and played with them but never smelled that odor. I suppose since they stay on the very bottom all the time, that is the reason algae grows on the shells. That is that green slimy stuff you see in the water. The brim.Blue Gill, fish are a lot quicker and will steal the food from the turtles. So I have to scare the fish off with a stick so the slower turtles can get the food pellets. Photo of a Musk Turtle and Blue Gill Brim fish. I later when over to Old Shorty Trail and the birds were out there. More people are out there but that didn't matter to the birds. I saw a woodpecker that I could not get a good look at. It probably was a Red-bellied Woodpecker the way it flew and pecked away. Photo of one in previous post. The Bushtits were all over the place and this time staying high in the trees. Photo in previous posts. The Robins and some Cardinals were fluttering about. I kept hearing sounds in the trees and found blocks of the black Grackle birds just sitting in the tree limbs and singing or talking or whatever they do. This is also a sign that spring is about to sprang. Some Gulls were out on the water in Lake Dardanelle across from the park close to the Comorants. They, gulls, will be leaving out pretty soon to their vacation spots on the coasts.