Sunday, October 7, 2007

Change of Seasons

Today was my last chance this year to try out the one Odessa Water Trail route I hadn’t been on yet – Goose Trail. This one isn’t accessible during low water and most of it will close for the duck season starting October 20.

Though it was hot, there was definitely a sense of autumn in the air. There was a pretty strong breeze and it was the first day I’ve really seen lots of leaves falling.

As I paddled through “Lateral Ditch” the first thing I noticed was how the lotuses have changed since my first paddle on Odessa this year. The leaves are all but gone and the beautiful, exotic flowers have transformed into odd-shaped pods (yes if you’re wondering these are the same ones used in flower arrangements).

Goose Trail is a neat route – at this time of year its a series of narrow channels connecting open ponds and then into water filled with wild millet. The millet has been growing all summer on mud flats left by the lower water. It’s flooded now and though it was green just a few weeks ago, it’s now standing ripe and ready for the fall migrants.

Rails are already in there foraging for insects. Throughout the fall ducks will use the plants for cover while they eat the seed. A variety of song birds will also feast on the seeds to store up energy for the long trip south. Even hatchling fish use the millet – it’s full of the invertebrates they munch during this stage of their lives.

Just as the plants are changing, the list of critters I saw today is different, too. I saw only a couple of herons and no egrets or pelicans (though they are still around using different areas now). There were ducks, geese and cormorants, blackbirds, a few hawks, a bald eagle and a kingfisher.

The best wildlife encounter of the day was with a barred owl. As I was putting my camera back inside my lifejacket, I drifted toward shore and an owl that was sitting in the open on a fallen log. It watched me float closer but didn’t move, letting me get within about 10 feet. You’ll have to take my word though because I couldn’t the camera without spooking it. We just sat and stared at each other until he/she got tired of looking at me and flew off.