I dropped by at about 8:30 this morning (July 19th) to full sun, almost no wind and cooler, drier air (16 degrees) ... what a relief. There were 14 Mallards on the pond that were mostly clustered together just north of the pseudo-island. There were three juvenile PB grebe, two near the north end and one hanging around with the ducks. A GBH was on the east side and a second heron flew in soon afterwards. The air was busy with fly catching: maybe eight kingbirds, many swallows and lots of waxwings. A kingfisher appeared and immediately landed in the nesting tree that is surrounded by water. It just hit me. Kingbird nesting in tree + surrounded by water = castle with a mote. I briefly caught sight of a sora on muck duty on the pseudo-island but I didn't get a photo because the spot was into the sun while also in the shadow of the reeds/grasses. I also briefly spotted the gallinule again. It was 'on break' within seconds and left the scene but it called out, rather feebly, now and then. There were fewer dragonflies present than during my last visit. Also spotted two Song sparrows and one Chipping sparrow. They didn't seem pleased to see me. Reesor Rd was as noisy as ever.
