Revisiting Oak Point Park and Nature Preserve

Our visit to Dallas Arboretum made me realize that this year the parks at north Texas are greener and more flowery than last year due to the wet spring we had. So I proposed that we go biking at Oak Point and Nature Preserve on Memorial Day, which turned out to be a perfect day for biking, at least in the morning  - clear sky, light breeze with temperature around 72F.

 
The park was so much more beautiful than last July when we visited Oak Point for the first time. There were abundant of flowers by the oak point pound and along the trail by the open prairie. There were a lot of large, really large butterflies hopping from flower to flower.Away from the pound and the prairie, the landscape was greener than last time as well.


On the bike trail, we encountered egrets again.  Near the trail end, Lily spotted an egret in the Rowlett Creek. The accumulated trashes in the creek could not diminish the elegance and grace the egret presented. In a more beautiful setting by the Woodruff pound, another egret was having lunch with two ducks in a puddle.

As we rested at the shelter at the trail end, we noticed a sign in front of a huge tree. The big tree is 245 years old according the the sign erected by the National Arborist Association. We saw the big tree last time as well, but did not pay attention to the sign at all. What a "discovery"!

The flowers, egrets and butterflies made the biking so much more pleasing and different from a usual bike ride around the block. Changing the scene and setting does make a difference - that is why we go to different places to do the same things -  cycling, hiking, kayaking, bird watching and picnicking.

Note: I expect that the park will be even more beautiful if we visit in late April, early May.