Great Trinity Forest

I'd hoped to shoot wildflowers at the Big Spring area of the Great Trinity Forest this morning with the local NANPA group.  The weather had other plans, as a wave of heavy storms started rolling through the around sunrise.  The latest round of rain knocked down the wildflowers, further drenched the already soaked landscape and kept everyone away except me and the two organizers.

Undeterred, we waited out the rain and decided to check out a couple of other spots in the area just in case there was anything worth seeing.

First stop was a boat ramp off of Loop 12 that was the former home of the Sleepy Hollow Golf and Country Club before the City of Dallas used eminent domain to take over the land in order to change the flow of the Trinity River back in 2003.  The recent floods had apparently claimed a recycling bin somewhere upstream, as empty bottles and basketballs littered the remaining high ground.

The sky still looked angry, but the rain had actually stopped and the clouds were starting to break up.

Next we headed to Trinity South Central Park, home to some wetlands that are currently
just part of the swollen river.  We did see some wildflowers in bloom here, including Englemann's Daisy ...

... Lemon Beebalm ...

... and Yellow Coneflower.

The highlight of the morning was some extended time with an Indigo Bunting, who seemed to have a small territory he didn't want to abandon.

We didn't try to approach too closely, and in return he stayed within shooting distance for a while.

Definitely a "making lemonade" kind of morning.  But any time spent outside shooting nature is better than most alternatives!