On the way home last night I was so tired I was dizzy. But as I passed one of the ponds in the park I heard the sound of hundreds of red-winged blackbirds- it seems they had stopped for the night in the rushes and cattails surrounding the pond, on their way south. Immediately I felt better- those things just feed my soul. What a nice counterpoint to a day spent in the strict confines of scientific writing.

Here is their sound-

Later- took a walk and I saw an American egret and bunches of goldfinches chattering and eating seeds of the late-blooming yellow flowers. I thought egrets and finches alike had mostly passed through by now, but I was wrong. And a big slider turtle out sunning, on my way back around the lake there were several smaller turtles with him. And a great blue heron sitting by the lake. Beautiful colors. I do love the fall.