Belted Kingfisher

Today was a quieter day then yesterday. I went for a bicycle ride and Anne went out to breakfast. The park was quieter than yesterday, no eighty balloons, no 80,000 people. According to the paper, the wind had increased just after the balloons launched. They all decided to come down at the same time over about a five-mile stretch. The pair that we saw land were at the back of the pack. The bunny came down in a wooded area near the Litzinger Ecology Center, where Anne once worked and is still one of our favorite bike routes.

The picture with this post is of a Belted Kingfisher. It was roosting on one of the Purple Martin houses in the northeast corner of the park. The kingfisher represents a herald of the changing seasons. It is a winter bird, at least that’s when I see them, or more usually hear them. It has a rather distinctive call. I made the following recording of it last year.

The weather has turned cooler, as of late, another sign of the changing seasons. Unlike in the summer, we leave the windows open during the day and close them at night. I hope that this cooling trend continues, but I saw a winter forecast that sounded severe. On no, snow-mageddon II, the sequel is coming. Hey, maybe I’ll be able to go cross-country skiing this winter.

On my way home from the park, I cruised by My Daddy’s Cheesecake. Anne and Joanie were still enjoying coffee on the patio. With them at the table was Leah, one of Joanie’s UMSL chums. I guess that they had a lot to catch up on. Lea and her husband Mike own this My Daddy’s Cheesecake franchise. I swear, I know I shouldn’t, but I swear Joanie knows everybody who is anybody in town. I once went to the symphony with her and at intermission she pointed out Stan the Man to me in the lobby.