Just days before all of the snow fell in the Dallas/Fort Worth, TX area, we had tons of rain. The picture above was taken February 8 at Oak Point Park and Nature Preserve in Plano, TX. This pedestrian bridge stretches over Rowlett Creek, off the Jupiter entry. I have never seen the creek this high! The water was rushing so fast that big limbs kept thudding on the underside of the bridge, only to quickly be sucked under and shoot out the other side.

I stepped off the paved path to get this angle of the creek and the bridge.

I took this picture on the opposite side of the bridge. It had pretty much stopped raining, but I had prepared myself with rubber boots and a big ‘ol, bright blue rain slicker. No wonder a huge Red-tailed Hawk took off when I sloshed over to his side of the creek! Nope. No picture – just the lingering indignation he left in the air.

There was a lot of bird activity that is unusual for this park under normal conditions. I wouldn’t have even known about this if I hadn’t had a business errand to run that took me right by the park.

Here is an example of something I don’t see every day – a gull diving straight into the ground. Sure there’s a little water on the surface, but this one made me think of diving into the swimming pool and misjudging the depth.  I wonder if this gull misjudged, or just felt like ramming his beak into the mud?

Here’s another strange behavior – these Ring-billed Gulls (Larus delawarensis) were vigorously hunting leaves. Leaves? They even fought over them – can’t figure this one out. I don’t think they could possibly be interested in them for food, and they don’t nest here. I can only guess that they may have been mistaking the leaves for something edible. Over and over and over! Unless…is it possible…that gulls might “play”?

Many Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) dotted the flooded field, for once allowing me to have a look at them for more than a few fleeting seconds. (It helped that I was in my car.)

In addition to my car in the parking lot, this picture shows a couple of Mallards wading around in the flooded field. Later, from inside my car, I also got some nice looks at a flock of meadowlarks.

I chose to share this picture instead of an image showing the flock. The photo makes me think of a child who is holding her breath until she gets what she wants. Cheeks puffed-out, squinty-eyed, and feet planted wide, as if to say, “I’m not doing anything until I get what I want.”

I think I may know what the birds were after…

This is a ginormous earthworm (I think). I get some great worms in my gardens, but not THIS big (the toe of my boot is next to it for scale). Maybe that gull knew what he was doing after all?

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