The Great Blue Heron who took a stroll

As I was walking along the Paint Branch Trail this morning I spotted something I hadn't seen before--a large bird walking towards the pond. I have to admit I was hoping it was a wild turkey which wouldn't have been out of the question at all because I've been hearing reports of them showing up in the suburbs lately. After approaching the pond quietly, I wasn't disappointed to see what it actually was, however, since the big herons are always fun to watch.

Given the direction the bird was approaching from, I think the Great Blue Heron had been hunting for fish in the creek and then decided to try his luck at the pond. (As a fisherman, I tend to think I understand their actions.) He decided the distance was too close for flying, so he chose to walk.

Flowering tree over Paint Branch Creek

 

Lately I've been spending more time in that section of the park.

Great Blue Heron

Has been visiting the pond lately. When I was fishing a lot I saw them often and noted that individual herons differ greatly about how close they would allow a person to get before flying away. This one is very spooky, so this was the best shot I could get.

The pond between the storms

The weather was complex today. There was constant overnight rain which had not stopped when I walked this morning. Later in the morning a storm came through with heavy rain and thunder. As the photo below shows, the sun came out afterwards:

Another storm rolled in a little later, this one even more violent than the first and tornado warnings were issued. The storm ended as quickly as it arrived, and now the sun is out again.

The Paint Branch Mills

My friend Kurt called me a couple of days ago to tell me of the ruins of an old mill he found along the creek near his home. I told him about a couple of markers that the Park Department put up along the creek. This is one of the markers:

The text on the marker says that Edmonton's Mill was built on the creek in 1763. Further upstream there is a similar marker for another mill, Snowden's Mill, which was built 40 years earlier. Neither marker was specific as to where exactly these mills were located, so I wondered if either could be the ruins Kurt found even though from his description those ruins were miles downstream.

Easter Message on the Trail

The holiday was yesterday, and someone was busy with chalk before that.

The walker first follows a trail of eggs as shown above. Then comes the big message:

Deer trio (final catch-up)

For the past few years the park authorities have been thinning the deer herd by shooting them at night. Here are three that have eluded the shooters:

A flowering tree near the other pond

Photo from earlier this past week.

The pond from the bridge in early April

Although I've taken many photos from this location over the years, this vantage point is slightly different.

Tree reflection, early April

This shot was taken at the "other" pond, and although it was taken later it's essentially a close-up of the same scene I photographed in February.

Next catch-up, from mid-March

Although I don't consider this a very good picture, I'm including it because I assume when I made the photograph I was struck by this flowering tree. Now, a month later, I have only the vaguest idea of where it was:

First catch-up, from late February

During this Covid-19 quarantine period, I've become lazy about posting on this bog, but today I'm playing catch-up. This photo of two mallards was actually taken in late February which was before the quarantine. The ducks were swimming in the small pond next to Randolph Road that I've passed by without noticing many dozens of times walking and probably thousands of times driving.