Bona Dea,snake,insect and duck Update

Bona Dea was sunny and warm and humid today,Saturday. The water had receded quite a bit today. I walked on the previously flooded Prairie Creek bottoms by the Old Swinging Bridge. And guess what??? I almost stepped on a Cottonmouth snake. Yes, they are Poisonous. Here are 3 photos of it. I looked at me as if to dare me to step on it. Really glad I didn't. I went to the spillway and fed the fish and the water was still real muddy. While there I looked on some leaves and saw this strange bug walking around on them. I took these 2 photos of an Assassin Bug-nymphal Sinea. I am also glad it did not assassinate me. That was 2 close calls today. Over on Beaver Trail I saw this female Wood Duck standing on a log. I thought she might have babies near by but did not see any. The vegetation at the park is really getting lush. It looks tropical. The Blue Jay birds were around a lot. Also Northern Cardinals. I saw a Brown Thrasher down low in the bushes but could not photo it. That was the type of bird that was singing like a mockingbird I talked about and photoed in previous posts. I also jumped a deer on Beaver Trail yesterday and took a photo that turned out bad. That is probably because it actually jumped me. They tend to do that a lot. They don't give you warning. They just jump and run and scare you to death when it is so close.