Bona Dea Update

Bona Dea was sunny and warm and a little windy today. First off at my home I heard a strange sounding bird. I looked around and saw it was a Brown-headed Blackbird. Photo is it in the tree. Also I took a photo of the Northern Cardinal nest in the holly bush in back of the house. Down by the pumping station at Bona Dea there was a very pretty fully developed Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. It was on a high line wire. This photo really shows the bird in detail. Down swinging bridge trail I saw a family of Canadian Geese. Mom and Dad and 5 little ones. These are not the ones nesting on the island. That mother is still on her next. These came from somewhere else. Notice in the photo the identification band around the males neck. The government does this when they release them in a new location. Down at old swinging bridge, I had a surprise and a good one. There was a very large Common American Snapping turtle close to the bank but submerged. This photo shows its large head and feet and tail. I also took photos of 3 wildflower types that I hope to ID soon and then post. There were fox sparrows in that area and American Crows around. Of course the Robins were over at Old Shorty Trail. Also here is a photo of a Dandelion Wildflower showing its yellow flower and 2 seed pods. These burst when the wind blows and fly all over. They also have very deep tap roots for such a small plant. These were all over the picnic area at the park. Also saw a Downy woodpecker in this area. Boattailed Grackle blackbirds were fly around there. At the spillway there was an unusual duck that flew in real close but left after I went to get my camera that was hanging in a tree. But it was a medium sized duck that had the outstanding characteristic of having long feathers in the back of this head that would stand out whenever it moved fast or changed directions. Will try to ID it later. This fish were feeding well today but the stupid Red-eared Slider turtle came back and took a lot of the food.