(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Daily Bucket - Tax Day windfall [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-17 Eastern Bluebird greeted me at the parking lot. April 15th was my late dad’s birthday. He thought it was funny that he got a gift from the IRS each year (always received a refund). Good for you dad, RIP and Happy Birthday. Before I dive into today’s topic, here is our group’s mission statement. The Daily Bucket is a nature refuge. We amicably discuss animals, weather, climate, soil, plants, waters and note life’s patterns. We invite you to note what you are seeing around you in your own part of the world, and to share your observations in the comments below. Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the phenological patterns that are quietly unwinding around us. To have the Daily Bucket in your Activity Stream, visit Backyard Science’s profile page and click on Follow. It was a partly cloudy day with pleasant temps. Storms (not expected to be brutal) were coming that evening. I decided to visit the far (North) side of the Sardis Lake dam to see what might be lurking. I have an aerial view below. A pair of Cowbirds foraged near the fence that protects humans from the perils of the Emergency Spillway. The female was a little judgemental about my intrusion. The road over the spillway is 300 feet long and 50 feet above the concrete base. The parking lot on the west side has 10 spaces for cars. I hope this gives some scale to the image. The air was thick with darting, winged bullets. Three large groups of birds were competing for the sky ways and available insects. The biggest number of aviators were Cliff Swallows. I expect there were several hundred vying for a space under the bridge to build a nest. This is one small segment of the activity. Tree Swallows were the next numerous fliers. Here is a male and female that allowed me a photo. female Tree Swallow male Tree Swallow It took longer to catch a video. Another couple spent enough time for this short clip. The last group that filled the sky were Purple Martins. I was unable to get a video because the Martins seldom lit. Here is the closest I came to getting intimate shots. Busy birds are like buckshot after it leaves the barrel. Purple Martins Calmer things were around also. A Song Sparrow mentioned there were a few blooms nearby. juvenile Savannah Sparrow Bull Thistle in full bloom I can’t seem to id this lovely flower. It happens that I will be at work all day and can’t play until later. I sure hope you have interesting additions. This Open Thread will take all comers. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/17/2164105/-The-Daily-Bucket-Tax-Day-windfall Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/