Kudos to Sallie for leading this hike! Five of us (Sallie with Maggie and her new friend Shaundra, plus Jacque with Sheba Diva) met at the swan pond at River Place Nature Trail.
Our hike started with a bit of high energy as there was a missing 15 year old young man in the area. Sallie helped by calming his mom. The emergency services folks arrived to assist. When we finished our hike the emergency vehicles were gone, so we assumed he was located.
We hiked the Lower Panther Trail, continued on the Canyon Trail, then returned to hike the Fern Trail. We ended by exiting via the maintenance trail. We walked 4.25+ miles with 10,000+ steps in about two hours. The creek is, of course, higher than usual and moving fast. My socks did stay dry. We had a pleasant breeze to reduce the humidity a bit.
We identified: plants (American beauty berry, Lindheimer silktassel, inland sea oats, four-nerve daisy, cottonwood trees), birds (northern cardinals, wrens, swan), spiders (deep funnel variety), dragonflies, butterflies, etc. The final challenge was to identify what variety of fish makes large circular sandy egg nests. Nests appeared to have a 2-2.5 feet diameter. Fish remain on the circle to protect the eggs. If you have suggestions for identification, please share with me.
We had a fun time, walking and talking. Join us next time!
Jacque