July 7, 2026
Tuesday morning, after an oatmeal breakfast, Patty and I headed out to Ward Bayou one last time before her trip. We wanted to see if the gates had opened and the flooding had subsided. Sure enough — it was gorgeous out there. Plenty of water, but the road was clear, and the waders were out in force.
Click any image to view full size and browse the gallery.
Alligator
We saw two fare sized alligators this morning
water lilies
Mourning doves on the maintenance antenna
Ward Bayou – the mist is from the moisture evaporating, left from the flood
Aligator
White Ibis
Great Egret
White Ibis
White Ibis
White Ibis
White Ibis preening
White Ibis preening
Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga)
Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga)
Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga)
Great Blue Skimmer mummy
“Take a closer look at this Great Blue Skimmer—it’s not shedding, it’s a mummy! When dragonflies die on a perch, their legs naturally lock into place. This empty carcass has been baked by the sun and battered by the wind, leaving behind brittle, shattered glass wings and a hollowed-out skeleton. The coolest macro detail? That bright red dot on its back is a parasitic water mite that hitched a ride from the water and dried in place alongside its host.”
Great Blue Skimmer mummy
Great Blue Skimmer mummy
“Take a closer look at this Great Blue Skimmer—it’s not shedding, it’s a mummy! When dragonflies die on a perch, their legs naturally lock into place. This empty carcass has been baked by the sun and battered by the wind, leaving behind brittle, shattered glass wings and a hollowed-out skeleton. The coolest macro detail? That bright red dot on its back is a parasitic water mite that hitched a ride from the water and dried in place alongside its host.”
juvenile Green Heron with what I think is a small catfish
Green Heron
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juvenile Green Heron
A Little Blue just coming into it’s color
A Little Blue just coming into it’s color, bottom, top is White Ibis
“By forces seemingly antagonistic and destructive Nature accomplishes her beneficent designs—now a flood of fire, now a flood of ice, now a flood of water; and again in the fullness of time an outburst of organic life.”
John Muir