Birds Flying North For The Winter With Incoming Freezing Rain In Fort Worth

I do not know if it is another sign of Mother Nature running amok, or what, but this morning, while I was doing my usual pool/hot tub routine, I saw 4 large herds of birds flying in formation overhead.

Three of the four formations were flying north, while the fourth confused formation was flying west.

In the Fall it is quite common to see large formations of birds of all sizes flying south, to the birding zone of South Texas or into Mexico.

I do not recollect seeing big formations of birds flying north this early. Something seems amiss.

Did the birds miss the news that Winter is not over? And that the forecast for Friday is snow, again, in North Texas. What are all these birds going to do as they fly over Oklahoma or Kansas and realize this is way too cold? Do they make a U-Turn and head back to South Texas?

I just went to get the Fort Worth forecast, for any of you birds reading this, and I see our Friday forecast has been changed from snow to freezing rain & freezing drizzle. I'm not sure what the difference is. I am not a big fan of freezing rain or drizzle. I prefer my rain to be thawed and lukewarm.

A Post Brush Bash Hike Over The New Tandy Hills Prairie

I was pleased to learn that almost 8 dozen Brush Bashers showed up on Saturday to Bash Brush on the Tandy Hills as part of an ongoing effort to remove invasive non-native, non-prairie type vegetation, and to rid the Tandy Hills of litter.

I made it to the Tandy Hills today around 3 in the afternoon. That was a very pleasant time to be there. Perfect temperature, no wind, nice blue sky light.

I was amazed at all the bags filled with litter that await removal. I thought Don Young might be exaggerating, a bit, when I read thousands of pounds of debris and litter were removed. I'm guessing multiple tons would not be exaggerating.

And all this was done in 3 and 1/2 hours, including a lunch break!

Tandy Hills 2010 Brush Bash Part II is scheduled for Saturday, February 6. Today I didn't see a lot of brush still awaiting being bashed to the main trail, compared to what I saw, pre-Brush Bash, but there is still a lot of work to be done, hence BBII.

The above picture shows a large section of the newly restored invasive species-free Tandy Hills Fort Worth Prairie, returned to its historical glory.

I learned today that one definitely needs to be wearing work gloves if you want to Bash Brush. I thought I'd drag out what I think was a chunk of Mesquite, today. Big mistake, whatever it was that I tried to drag, it had a thorny aspect to it that was not pleasant.

See you at the Tandy Hills Brush Bash Party February 6.

Another Car Hits A Tree By The Handley Post Office In Fort Worth

I have no clue about the details. All I know is I saw a strange scene this afternoon when I pulled into the Handley Post Office to mail some important documents to the Queen of Wink.

8 or 9 Fort Worth police cars, a couple emergency vehicles, a lot of flashing lights and one dilapidated looking car slammed up against a tree.

That is the tree and the car you see on the right.

I saw no tasering or any other Gestapo-type Fort Worth police behavior, which is why I referred to them as police, in case you were wondering.

What appeared to be a blanket was covering the back of the wrecked car. That seemed odd to me. There was no rush by the emergency vehicles to take anyone to a hospital. Was this a police chase that ended badly? This is the third wreck-type incident I have seen while at the Handley Post Office. Nothing seems unusually dangerous about the road in this location.

It's very perplexing.

2010 Tandy Hills Brush Bash I Huge Success, Brush Bash II February 6

This past Saturday multiple events conspired to keep me from being able to join the Manly Men and Wild Women bashing brush on the Tandy Hills of Forth Worth, Texas.

I've heard from Don Young that the bashing was a huge success, with Brush Bash II scheduled for Saturday, February 6, 2010.

The Brush Bash Report---

About 90 dedicated boys, girls, women and men showed up on a chilly Saturday morning to help restore the prairie at Tandy Hills Natural Area. This diverse team of individuals from all walks of life and throughout the Fort Worth area worked hard and did so cheerfully and with gusto. There was a sense of community and coming together to make a difference in this special place. The transformation of Tandy Hills Natural Area is well underway.

A huge swath of endangered Fort Worth prairie has been cleared of undesirable and invasive plants. Several large trucks hauled it away for composting. Thousands of pounds of trash and debris were removed. The rain forced us to stop at 1:30 pm so there is more work to be done this season. Please join us for round two.

The 2nd annual Brush Bash succeeded with help from the following groups:

--- Friends of Tandy Hills Natural Area

--- City of Fort Worth Parks & Community Service Department led by, Michelle Villafranca, and crew

--- Polytechnic High School Key Club, directed by, Mike Beaupre (highly disciplined and motivated group)

--- Boy Scout Troops 12 and 180 (the future leaders of Tandy Hills were well represented)

--- Tarrant County Sheriff's Office, Labor Detail

--- Don's Dawg's owner-operator, Mindy Billings (hot dog's never tasted so good)

A very big Thank You to all!

DY

Another Stunning Scrabble Victory Over The Scrabble Queen Of Washington

Tuesday is off to an auspicious start. I have had another Stunning Scrabble Victory over the Scrabble Queen of Washington.

This now gives me 3 wins over the Scrabble Queen, with around 120 losses. So, in the bigger picture I'm a big Scrabble loser. I don't mind being a Scrabble loser, it's good exercise for my frequently dormant thinking mechanisms, even if losing is my norm.

If only this Stunning Scrabble Victory were some sort of omen of wins to come on other fronts. Sadly, I suspect this win is just an isolated fluke.

Speaking of isolated flukes, today I return to the location of last week's first flat tire. I am hoping to avoid any punctures.

I saw bad news whilst reading the local papers online this morning. Winter is about to return to North Texas. It was in the high 30s when I went swimming this morning, so, I suppose, winter's return may already be here.

Express Energy Pumps Not Sucking Trinity River Water At Gateway Park Trinity Trail Location

I'm often surprised by what I see when I cross the Trinity River, heading north on Beach Street. Today there were no white Express Energy Services trucks to be seen.

Maybe because, except for cleaning up after themselves, their water sucking operation, at this location, seems to have ended.

The pumps have been drug up from the river's edge. I assume this means they are done.

I could tell that the Express Energy Services trucks had not driven on the paved trail. All the orange traffic cones were knocked over and scattered, but there was no fresh mud on the trail.

I can't help but wonder how it came to be that the Express Energy people were told to quit driving on the paved trail?

A "UTILITY WORK AHEAD" sign remains up, with no utility work appearing to be happening.

It will be interesting to see how well the muddy, rutted mess on the Trinity River levee is cleaned up. Then again, this may not be the last of the water sucking from this location. This had been the second iteration of a pumping operation at where Gateway Park meets the Trinity Trails.

In the second picture you are looking south, towards the Trinity River, from the east side of Beach Street. You can see the Express Energy pipelines on the left and right.

This is the access point for what I was calling the White Darth Vader Trucks. A little bridge took the trucks over the pipelines, then, before they were stopped from doing so, they'd take a left on to the paved trail, quickly having it thickly covered with mud.

That mud was cleaned up when the "Utility Work Ahead" first appeared.

Below are most of the links to the bloggings about my experiences with Express Energy Services. I hope that subject is at an end...

Mess of 6 Pumps Getting Ready To Steal Trinity River Water?

Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief Or One Of His Lackeys Thinks I'm A Clueless Reactionary

The 2010 Cold Orwellian World Of Fort Worth Texas

I Have Had Me An Orwellian Big Brother Encounter With Express Energy On The Trinity River in Fort Worth

More Questions In The Increasingly Orwellian World Of Fort Worth Texas

West Texas Chief Operative CT2's Report On Express Energy Services

A Sunday Surprise At the Fort Worth Beach Street Trinity River Gas Driller Pump Site

Another Visit With Express Energy Services At Gateway Park Where Water Is Now Being Removed From The Trinity River

A Saturday Shootout With Express Energy On The Trinity River In Fort Worth

Checking On The Turtles and Ducks At Fosdic Lake & Burning CDs

It was back to Fosdic Lake to check on the turtles and ducks at Oakland Lake Park today for my doctor ordered aerobic stimulation.

I figured my prefered aerobic stimulator, the Tandy Hills, was likely still a bit muddy from Saturday's rain.

It is a little cooler than yesterday. But for some reason most of the Fosdic ducks were not doing their huddling and circling to keep warm routine. And I only saw one turtle on a log.

The wind was doing a lot of blowing. I think that may have had the ducks having a tougher time huddling in a circle and the turtles not liking the wind chill factor, sending most of them back to hibernate mode.

It was 44 when I did my morning pool dipping. Three cycles of in the cold and then in the hot tub. It's very refreshing, but like the turtles and the ducks, I was not liking the wind.

I got a call on the way to Fosdic Lake. Someone I made a website for, years ago, wanted an auto-run cd of the website, so he could make a lot of copies for a convention. Years ago I figured out how to make auto-run work, but never used it. I figured I must have kept the information somewhere on this computer.

It took a bit of hunting, but eventually I found the info I needed and got the master cd made. I've not burned all that many cds. The first attempt today I messed up. But, I got it done on the second attempt. Now it'll probably be another 5 years before I burn another cd and will have forgotten how again.

Prison Break, Sona Prison & Fort Worth's Stockyard Ruins

You're looking at Panama's Sona Prison in the pictures. Sona Prison is located in the ruins at the east side of the Fort Worth Stockyards.

The Stockyard Ruins were used as a set for the defunct FOX TV show called Prison Break.

A long time ago I'd made a webpage about the Stockyard Ruins. I'd never seen such a thing as the Stockyard Ruins in a city. Visually the ruins are very interesting, as if you're looking at a WWII bombed out city.

Recently there has been talk of fixing up the Stockyard Ruins and turning them into some sort of mixed used development, making the ruins stable and safe. I really can't see that happening.

So, this morning I got an email from a Fort Worth native named Hailey. Hailey, bless her heart, had seen my webpage about the Stockyard Ruins and she earnestly wanted to let me know that the Stockyards Ruins weren't really the site of a Panamanian Prison.

Below is Hailey's email....

Hello,
My Name is Hailey and I am a local resident of Fort Worth [born and raised]. I came across your webpage about the ruins of the stock yards, particularly the ruins of the swift and armor meat packing plant. "And now rumor has it that the Stockyards Ruins are being used as a prison, housing mostly Panamanian prisoners and a few Americans. The prison is called Sona. We discovered the prison on Thursday, November 1, 2007....."

I just thought that you would like to know that this rumored information is completely false. In 2007 The hit TV show Prison Break used the ruins as a set for several episodes, in fact the guard towers that line the edge of the property were erected by the set crew of the TV show and are not actually an original part of the property. The Prison Break producers also used locations in Decatur, Texas, mainly in the old town square. I just though you would like to know that what you saw was the filming of a TV show, not an actual secret prison. =)

-Sincerely
Hailey

Thank you very much for being sincere, Hailey. I appreciate it.

Today At Fort Worth's Fosdic Lake The Turtles Were Not Hibernating But The Ducks Were Huddling

Yesterday when I blogged about finally finding out where the turtles go when it gets cold, future Texas governor, Jovan Gonzales, asked if I knew what ducks did when it gets cold.

I told Jovan, aka Jovo, that I'd seen the Fosdic Lake ducks huddling in a circle and assumed it was to keep warmer.

Well, today, when I went for a much needed walk, I went to Fosdic Lake at Oakland Lake Park and saw 4 groups of ducks doing their huddle thing, even though it was not all that cold, as in the 50s.

When something startles the huddling ducks, they quickly disperse, like they did when the fisherman, in the picture, moved closer to them. But then the ducks seem to simultaneously realize there is no danger, after which they quickly come back together in their huddle, as if drawn by some magnetic power.

As soon as the ducks get huddled, the group starts to rotate. All the duck huddles I've seen rotate counter-clockwise.

It may have been cold enough for the Fosdic ducks to huddle, but it was warm enough for some of the Fosdic Lake turtles to come out of hibernation mode to get some sun on a log.

I only saw 5 turtles that had de-hibernated. The others must not have yet gotten the word that it was no longer freezing.

Today, Fosdic Lake was being home to more birds than I've seen there before, as in 100s of various types of birds. I think word must be getting spread in Bird World that Fosdic Lake makes a good winter home due to all the people who come with bird food.

I Am To Blame For The Gar The Texan Blog But Not The Huffington Post

The 4th Sunday of the new year has seen a return to blue sky, after yesterday's wet unpleasantness, here in my zone of North Texas.

The Sunday blue sky is matching my blue mood.

Yesterday's gray, wet Saturday was one long day of one thing after another. The day started with strange explosive noises I later learned were coming from my noisiest neighbor, that being a Chesapeake Energy gas drilling site.

By mid morning I found I had another flat tire, the second in a week.

The flat tire kept me from the Tandy Hills Brush Bash.

Before I found the flat I'd talked to my mom and learned she'd broken a bone in one of her feet. I got emails from 2 Washington friends telling me about friends with bad cancer, with one of them having the same type brain cancer that killed Ted Kennedy.

Tootsie Tonasket called me around 5 so I could hear her drunken son having a drunken fit, trying to get into her house. I told Tootsie to call the police. I don't know if she did.

Around 7 last night I tripped and banged the top of my right hand against a wall. This morning that hand looks as if I've been in a fight.

A couple days ago Gar the Texan blogged about blogging, the first paragraph of which said, "Durango somehow convinced me to start this little escapade into pain and suffering. And after almost 2 years, I continue to do so (suffer pain)."

So, now I have to carry that on my guilty conscience, that somehow I'm to blame for foisting Gar the Texans' misanthropic ramblings on the world. I feel terrible about this.

And then someone calling himself Whited Sepulchre commented saying, "Gar, The Huffington Post doesn't post as much as Durango. Just thought I would point that out."

Now, that's just not true. I only post about 90% as much as The Huffington Post.

My therapist, Dr. L.C., seems to have gone missing. And right when I need her. So far, even though the sky is blue, Sunday is looking to be another bad day like yesterday. Maybe I can make an effort to turn it around.