Back at the Pond

News flash via CNN: Almost 450 birds have died so far from the BP oil spill...very heart-breaking to say the least...few are being found alive and cleaned up...  :*-(

So, what I refer to as "The Big Pond" is actually a water hole for cattle, or at least it gets used in that way...yesterday it was almost 90 (and today, down to 60's F..typical Memorial Day weekend here) so summer is arriving like spring did, in spurts...I went back to the pond in hopes of a better shot of the eared grebes plus I needed to kill some time away from the house while a realtor showed it...

The duck with interesting markings on its head turned out to be a female ruddy duck...

Just as I snapped the eared grebe (above), it dove under...below, a slightly better shot of the eared grebe than ones taken Wed. ...every time it dived, I quickly snuck closer...

A female red-winged blackbird..the nearby male had bright orange wing patches, not red...

An American coot, cruising around... 

When I drove slowly by this sunken log on one end of the pond, two painted turtles slipped into the water from their perch...I soon turned around and came back, and found this turtle making a defiant stand on the same log...

Cottonwood fluff, anyone?? I had to go check around the farmhouse where I'd seen the azuli bunting...only thing I actually saw (heard tons of birds) was the cottonwood fluff along the side of the road...the stuff sinus misery is made of...