Bird migration

This is some sort of sunfish (maybe?) I leave the birds and fish to people who want to spend a lot more time on this stuff than I do... It was feeding in the same area as the small schools of recent arrivals, but had a clearly different feeding strategy, as well as being much easier to photograph...

The pocket gophers are easy to spot if you get up early and are able to hold still. This one is pushing earth out of his burrow, after he pulled a whole mustard plant into it. It looked just like a cartoon from Bugs Bunny.

This very bold turtle was one of the pack feeding on a bird. They are omnivores, and like vultures, probably need the bigger snapping turtles to get into the carcass before they will be able to chow down on the softer stuff. The younger turtles are more likely to be hunting insects, but the older ones are not the gentle plant eaters I was lead to believe. Of course, for a feeding frenzy, it was a very genteel and sedate affair...

My favorite species. He is showing off his prominent urostyle that supplies the scaffold for his huge jumping muscles. Apparently, frogs have only have one neck bone and a fused backbone. I have seen them moving their heads, and I have my doubts. Apparently swans have 27 neck vertebra, the most of any species ever living...

There is a lot of mysterious rippling in the water lately. I suspect there has been a release of fingerling catfish and the bass are feeding voraciously on them right now. These farmed catfish are skittish and very early feeders.  I haven't yet been able to see the barbels on the water surface to confirm species, however. The water is getting very murky right now.

There are a surprising number of wasp species around, this is one of the large sand wasps. Very difficult to get a picture of as they do not hold still. They are also less visible than the bright blue black wasps also rummaging around in the sand.

There is a bird migration moving north right now, they mostly fly late at night according to Birdcast and fly across either the plains of Texas, or up the chain of the Rockies. They bring us the hummingbirds, and often other birds that get lost, especially if there is stormy weather. Seabirds and occasionally pelicans, mostly.

This unfortunate young duck ended up as a feast for a group of large, assorted turtles. I spotted large red eared sliders, and a common snapping turtle. No idea what else was roiling around down in the murky depths. Many birds die is the bosque at this time. Some from depredations by hawks and owls, but also from avian flu and avian malaria. Most are just inexperienced, or tired from the long trip and parasites. Car strikes take a large toll also. The buzzards are the first to migrate, presumably to be ready for the feast that follows...