Bona Dea Update

Bona Dea today was very nice and warmer and sunny. Had the pleasure of a visit from a childhood friend and high school buddy from Memphis, TN. Photo. We parked along one of the pulloffs by Bona Dea and Lake Dardanelle. There was the dependable Double-crested Cormorant out in the water sitting on a partially submerged snag. See Photo. We walked along Swinging Bridge Tail to the bridge area. Behind us was a family with children and dog which was not good to keep the wildlife around. But we left and went to the spillway and walked across it to the deer trail over to Waldon Way trail. I thought we might see the aligator for the first time this year in BushButton Bayou but it was not on his usual log. My friend had his GPS mapping device with him and was keeping track of our journey. In this area we saw some Black-capped Chickedees. They were pretty active. We then went on around Serindipity Trail across the big bridge across Prarie Creek to a unfamiliar spot called Meadow Pond. It is all grown up there and no trail to it so we bushwacked in. There is a deer trail around it and on the farthest south boundry of the park. We saw some Robins and Bushtits in that area. We also saw a single American Crow fly overhead. We left and went across Maple Creek Bridge and on over to Bullfrog Pond. We saw some basking turtles that we startled and they headed for the water and saw their heads bobbing in the water. Also saw the hugh Walnut Tree on the East side of the pond. We then headed back to the vehicles where my friend had to depart. I then went to Old Shortie Trail by the main East parking area and saw several more Bushtits and some woodland sparrows. At the very east end of the trail there were several Gray Squirrels playing around in the trees. Haven't seen this many squirrels in one place since last fall. There were several Northern Cardinals singing away all over the park today. To say the least we had a good visit and enjoyed ourselves out in nature.