A report from the creek: Indian blankets

 So much is going on along Zarzamora Creek, it’s hard to keep up. So just a few notes:

• First stand of Indian blankets, Gaillardia pulchella: March 24.

• Mulberry trees on the north bank began leafing: March 25.

• Swallows swirling around under the 24^th Street Bridge, where they nest each year: March 26.

Also on March 26, there were about 20 Snowy egrets in the trees on Bird Island, a tiny island in Elmendorf Lake. Until a couple of years ago, Bird Island was the home of a big flock of Cattle egrets. They roosted there in such numbers — maybe 300 — that they destroyed the vegetation on the island. Each day they’d fly west of town to feed in the grasslands with cattle. To get west, the birds had to cross an area where the Air Force trains pilots. The authorities broke up the colony at the request of the Air Force.