In the last week I've only got out a few times. This morning I rode one of the guy's bikes down to the laundry pond. Usually it takes me about half and hour each way if I walk so it was a big improvement.

Today was overcast in the morning. It even sprinkled for a minute or so. The temperature was very comfortable in the 80's.

The pond was very quiet today only 4 ducks. 2 Garganey and 2 Mallards. A single white-winged black tern was flying over the water feeding. A pair of coots, some moorhens, a little grebe and a single Little Egret rounded out the waterbirds.

I did see four fuzzy black moorhen chicks running around amongst the reeds. That was the high point.

I saw a few other birds perched on the fence surrounding the pond. About a dozen blue-cheeked bee-eaters, a common babbler and the ubiquitous white-cheeked bulbuls.

A few days ago I stopped at my new spot, the water treatment pond. I observed a pair of ringed plovers, a new species for me, a common redshank, two dozen black-winged stilts and a yellow wagtail.

The treatment pond should be good throughout the fall and winter because many shorebirds winter in Iraq. I remember coming north from Kuwait in February and seeing large numbers feeding in the little ponds by the side of the highway.

Now that it is getting cooler some of the plants are starting to flower. One large bush I passed the other day was covered with tiny green flowers. Hundreds of tiny moths were fluttering around the bush and feeding on the flowers.