I took this photo about a month ago from Sunset Bay at White Rock Lake.

And I took this photo during yesterday’s restless wanderings.

I’m stunned by the rapid growth of foliage in the last month.  It’s like a different world at the lake now.  Lush greenery is everywhere.  The entire area is painted with verdant splashes of color.  Just weeks ago the same places were marked by barren, stark landscapes of brown.

Nature wastes no time celebrating spring.

[the first photo includes ring-billed gulls (Larus delawarensis), American white pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos), American coots (Fulica americana), double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus), and mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos); additionally, if you look at the larger versions of that picture, you’ll notice the pelican on the left edge is coming in for a water landing; I love watching them do that because they put their feet out and use them to glide on the surface as well as to brake their momentum until they settle easily into the water; the second photo includes double-crested cormorants and wood ducks (Aix sponsa)]