Rain!

What a difference a week makes! I spent the week of Labor Day in Big Bend National Park and came back on Saturday to a very wet and much cooler Austin. That night I got an email from Marie Jackson that the rain had clogged up Lake Creek's drainage by the last dam on the hike-and-bike trail with debris. In the past Marie and her husband Miles have cleared this out themselves, and I greatly admire their attitude of stewardship over their corner of the trail. But now Marie and Miles are hoping that Williamson County can help. If not, we will try and organize a group effort this Saturday morning.

I got out of the house late on Sunday to bird and see effects of the rain. Here are a few pictures of all the debris that needs clearing. It's located near the end of Saddlebrook Trail. (The picture below is a link to a set of pictures on Flickr.)

Even in the early afternoon the birding was good! I found 38 species, including interesting migrants like Baltimore and Orchard Orioles, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Bell's Vireo, and Yellow Warbler. On the creek I estimated there were 40 Snowy Egrets. All those white birds made an impressive sight. And I was excited to see the first migrant sparrow I've seen this fall, a single Clay-colored Sparrow just downstream of the T&C playing fields. Here is another Flickr set of pictures I got, starting with a Pied-billed Grebe that was in the Parmer Village drainage pond.