Two Outings - tired, but happy

We spent 3 hours at Peaceful Springs, part of Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge. Interesting hike. I might like to go back in the spring. Took photos. Nothing I've not seen before, and closer to home.

Our next stop was Mankins Crossing where troopers were ticketing some kids in kayaks and other kids had waded out to a sandbar to skip stones. We chose to skip observations there.

Final stop was Berry Springs Park. We were there for our monthly Amphibian Watch. We observed one Narrow-mouthed toad, one Rio Grande Leopard Frog, and two Blanchard's Cricket Frogs. We also observed one dead Plain-bellied Watersnake. I spent over an hour wandering and observing other things at 2:00 so some of these photos are going to be in daylight and others in dark. We also observed the insane invasion of hundreds of Great-tailed Grackles and tens of European Starlings.

The best part of the day was introducing 6 youngsters to amphibian watch. They were in the park for a family party, but were curious about what the old folks in the park were doing with buckets, flashlights, and nets. They got to see and touch the frogs and learned a little about why we come out to the park once a month. We plant seeds with every kid who discovers the out-of-doors...our future.

All observations from today show today's date, but I "associated" only a few from Berry Springs.

Posted on 19 November, 2018 00:45 by alflinn329