Bona Dea Update

Bona Dea was cloudy early and mostly sunny later and mild. There were 3 Cormorants on the snag in Lake Dardanelle. Their were Robins all over town and for some reason the Fox Squirrels were all over the home neighborhood. The Gray Squirrels stay in the woods out in the open country and not usually in neighborhoods. On Swinging Bridge Trail there were some Turkey Vultures flying overhead and of course the usual American Crows. I heard a mourning dove calling out for the first time this year eventhough I have seen them around. The Brim fish were fed at the spillway but not very much as I forgot to refill my containers. There were Carolina Chickadees around again today. Also a pretty red male Northern Cardinal was eating tree leaf buds off a tree directly above me. No snakes seen today but someone I talked to said they were out on the trail in the back part of the park. Will have to check that out in a day or so. Also will look for the Aligator back there as that is where it starts out moving around in the park at the end of winter. There is a photo here of a tree that had been peeled at old swinging bridge. I said in another post I thought it might have been a deer but not deer tracks and a close up look as shown in the photo shows it might have been a beaver as you will notice at the bottom of the fresh peel that there seems to be teeth marks and before the fresh marks are older marks the same way. Any ideas?? Also a photo of a rotton log close by that appears to have been mauled by a critter. May have been an Armadillo looking for insects. In Goose Pond there were some freshwater plants that I took photos of a few days ago but could not ID. I have since done so and they are Red Water Primrose. They have yellow flowers later in the year. The photos shows them clumped in the water then one of a closeup of their stems and leaves. Back at the spillway a flock of blackbirds were in several trees and flying around the lower bushed by Prarie Creek and then on the Waldon Pond side. They would fly down to the water and play in it and walk around the muddy banks and then fly in the trees to preen themselves. After looking at the All About Birds Website and listening to the sounds of the blackbirds and the photos, I think they were Rusty Blackbirds. They are not supposed to be here in the summer but do winter around these parts. I think there were a flock that were late migrating through. Because otherwise by this time of year they would have left the flocks and paired up to nest. A photo of a single bird and one of part of the flock. Eastern Starling blackbirds, the shorttailed kind are still all over town. Hope they stay away from my birdfeeder.