I arrived at 7:40 a.m. and began to bird on my own. Soon I saw a Painted Bunting singing in a tree. I loved to be able to get a good look as it sang.
Ranger Danielle arrived, as did a mother and her grown daughter. The five of us began to bird. The morning went well. We got a good luck at two White-Eyed Vireos. We saw a Yellow-Billed Cuckoo. A father and his young son joined us. We saw more Painted Buntings and a lovely Indigo Bunting. The capstone experience happened when a Mississippi Kite, a raptor who flies high, searching out insects, landed on a bare branch near us. The Kite stayed on the branch for some ten minutes, as we all watched and took photographs.
When we finished at 10 a.m., I saw my cell phone had a Facebook Messenger message on me. My young friend whom I used to mentor in Big Brothers/Big Sisters suggested we get together. He is now in his early 20s and works a full-time job. My afternoon was clear, so I suggested I take him to lunch. I drove from the state park to pick him up at Noon. Then we headed to Spice Thai, where my pad broccoli with shrimp tasted great. We visited a Best Buy in Garland, where my friend used a gift card he had on hand. He got a CD, and we headed to nearby Firewheel Coffee. I am not a fan of iced tea, but my iced organic tea with mandarin orange flavoring tasted great. We each got things done on our respective laptops. I processed the best of my pictures into Flickr as I sipped my tea.
I drove my friend home, and stopped by Brockdale Park for one last walk. I saw yet another Painted Bunting. This proved to be a colorful day. I headed home, after stopping at Kroger for Powerade Zero and bananas.
At home, we dined on sandwiches we made at home. The day was a good one.