Sunday, April 8, 2001

I got a burst of energy from the Excedrin I had taken (still fighting this migraine), so Galahad suggested we take a hike in our backyard down the canal & over to the park.  I always forget how amazing it is back there.  We saw gorgeous birds and possibly our friend, Gronk.  He's a bright orange iguana who's over six feet long.  The reason I say possibly is that he was only partially orange, possibly due to molting and possibly due to him not being Gronk. 

An anhinga was fishing in the canal, swimming underneath the surface with his snaky-neck gliding along the top.  He went underwater for long periods of time in between.  He finally speared a fish and then gulped it down.  We watched it drying his wings when he was done eating his lunch.  Galahad had his binoculars, so we were able to have quite a view.  He sat up on a rock, spread out his wings, and hung out there for quite a while.  Just then, a GIANT blue heron came swooping down the canal, its wings missing the water by millimeters.  He landed near us and then stepped quite elegantly down the shore towards the anhinga, who got a little protective of his rock but calmed down when he was left alone.

A green heron was doing some preening in his hideout along the shore.  And, then there was the requisite death that follows along with life.  A very large bloated carcass was floating in the canal.  It appeared to be a raccoon or maybe a badger (do we have those here?), but it was hard to identify since it had most likely been there a few days.