There I was, checking out what I missed the last couple of weeks. Water Levels again had dropped
considerable – in some parts water receded up to 300 feet (70m). True that it was pretty shallow
to begin with – however it’s a lot of water that’s gone.

Animal Life was pretty quiet – no wonder with the heat and humidity these days. Rain of the last days
accelerated growth and I ran into a couple of Wildflowers, that I couldn’t find in my Fieldguide.
So if you have an inkling – let me know!

Dragonflies were out and about, and I also ran into a group of Killdeer – a first for me!
Passing some of the spots where I saw Ospreys having nests last time around – they all were abandoned. My guess is that the Bald Cypress trees the nests are built on no longer stand in the water, thus given additional natural protection.
One good thing however did the receding shoreline have – I could venture in areas, that were
entirely inaccessible before. And there I found the Ospreys again – including at least 4 nests,
that I could make out.
And while there, watching them yelling at me ( They didn’t like me being there) I encountered an oddity. Looking up I saw a Red-shouldered Hawk soaring over the tree lines together with at least 5 Ospreys – as if he belonged. And to add to this a Swallowtail Kite joined the group and far above a couple of Black Vultures soared. So 4 species of Birds of Prey in one spot – I’ve never seen anything like it. The picture I took truly is not good by any means – and I could only manage to get three into a picture – the Vultures were too far off at that time.
Here you go. The panorama by the way is taken from the area I set foot in for the first time, and I was probably the first in a long time, too!

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