jrb451, Yes, those were sandhill cranes and not whooping cranes, although those also follow the same migration route. However, the group of sandhill cranes appeared to be too large to be whooping cranes, as there are not that many left. There are at least 54 birds in my photo, but I cropped quite a few stragglers out. The entire population of whooping cranes was somewhere around 200 in 2006 when I took the photo, I think. I've seen them in Aransas Pass in the winter, and they are larger than sandhill cranes, which I've seen on the ground on my parents' farm, since there are ponds there.

It is a bear. Swam the whole way across the lake. Came up on the bank just down from our campsite.

Not a state park, but a state naure reserve - Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve

My walled garden patio. Not that many flowers, though, as we just had our raised beds dug out, relined to keep the invasive tree roots out of them, and then refilled with new ammended soil and automatic sprinklers added.