周六上午，我和LD来到市区水厂边上的一个公园。这个公园很大，密密麻麻、歪七扭八地种着些不太有人打理的耐旱的树和植物。人工挖的水塘稀稀地布列其中，平静的水面，栖息其中的水鸟，和那池塘边高高成片的芦苇，算是给人带来些生机，和视觉上的享受。据说这些水塘的植物是用来过滤水中的金属，水经过一个个水塘进行不同过滤处理，流回水厂消毒后再重新被使用。
这个公园好久没来了。四周远处新建的大楼不停地在提醒我们城市发展的脚步。我们走在土路、石子路上，沿着弯曲的小径，时而沐浴在温暖的秋阳中，时而走进荫蔽的树林里，头顶，秋风中金黄的树叶，脚下，沙沙作响的落叶，还有永远的蓝天白云。生活是美好的。
走着走着，LD突然停住，一把抓住我的手，原来前方几步之遥的浅水塘里站着一只白鸟，它通体雪白的羽毛，细长黑色的尖嘴，细长黑色的腿，专心地盯着水面。我们屏住呼吸，看着它，只见它伸出一只绿黄色的脚爪，往水塘中的泥里戳几下，然后又换一只脚再去泥里抖几下，不时，有小鱼上当，成了它的盘中餐。看来它今天运气不错，还逮到一只小龙虾，几番折腾后，吞下了肚子。我回家后，上网查了，得知这鸟名叫雪鹭(snowy egret,而且照片中的这只应该是母的)。雪鹭漂亮的羽毛曾被人风靡追逐，用于服装帽子的点缀，十九世纪差点被捕杀到濒临绝种。
拍了几张雪鹭的照片后，又巧遇大白鹭 (Great egret) 和蓝鹭 (blue heron)，都是在两个拐角处，被LD一个急刹车拦住我，才得以近距离观其美貌。想起那句名言，人生的惊喜有时就在不经意的拐角处。True.
In this ever-growing busy city, there is a park next to the Water District, in which ponds were dug and plants were utilized to filter the metals out of water before it went back to the water factory for further processing. This past Saturday, we visited again for a two- hour walk.
The autumn morning was breezy, crisp and cool. We were greeted by five or six turkey vulture circling in the sky at the entrance. It was a quiet morning, and there were few visitors. We walked on the zigzag dirt road shaded by drought resistant trees and bushes on the sides, with ponds sparsely nestled among the bushes. Birds and ducks were either leisurely resting or busily probing for food in the water. My husband led the way, and more than once he stopped me abruptly as he spotted egrets and blue heron in the front.
There, in a small shallow pond right next to the trail stood a white bird, who was attentively looking at the muddled water. My husband took out his camera, and zoomed at the bird. It was a female snowy egret, with pure white feathers, a slim long black bill and a pair of slender legs. Apparently, she was very concentrated at her food prey, oblivious to whoever was watching her only one or two yards away. The egret looked so smart, as she rotated one foot and then the other to stir up the mud for food. When the prey fell to her tricks, she struck with her long slender bill to catch it within a flash. It must be her lucky day today, as not long, a fat craw fish was flushed out of water and swam to the surface. She snapped it with its beak, and after disarming the claws, she gobbled it down her long narrow throat. She finished her meal contentedly with a sip of water, just like we sometimes end our dinner with a little soup.
When we came to a bigger pond towards the end of the walk, we saw some birds perching on the distant island in the middle of the placid pond. They must be migrating from the north for the winter. Then A big pelican caught our attention, as it hovered above the water and plummeted to catch its prey. The dive was quick, straight and beautiful, splashing the water around.
On our way back, we saw a giant beehive hung over the tree. Hundreds of bees were humming around the white beehive they constructed, creating an amazing scene. The nature is just a wonder!
