Preserve life in mid-summer is far from over. A young Killdeer was on the trail, his mom calling over and over, while she flew off to feign an injury and distract me. The little guy scampered off the trail into the growth at the edge of a pond. She lost track of him and he never came out as I waited farther on around the bend to see what would happen. She was pretty distraught, but I had to keep going and never saw how long it took her to find him.
The butterflies are out in force as well as the dragonflies. The crawdads are running out of water and wandering on the trails. When you approach and they see you, they rise up on their back legs and tail and put their claws up menacingly. Pretty fun to see and shoot.
The grasses are super high, with very little wild oats as in previous years.
Visiting before 9:00 a.m. in the summer is the best time for hiking, but still bring lots of water.
