I got this shot by bending over the edge of the railing on the boardwalk at Lady Bird Lake (formerly Town Lake) in Austin, Texas. I breeze by this very spot during my weekend exercise along the lovely boardwalk and hike/bike trail that surrounds the lake.
I usually see turtles snoozing on this very log, but not as many that piled-up yesterday (the Sunday after Thanksgiving) and definitely not under the precise lighting and color situation that presented itself at the moment I was there.
I’m guessing they were lined up to get a view of the relatively intense fall color that just happened to sprinkle this portion of East Bouldin Creek where it flows into Lady Bird Lake.
I don’t normally tote along my DSLR during my exercise, and certainly was not expecting any decent fall color to capture. On top of that my previously trusty Nexus6 phone cam quit working, so I got this with my even older Nexus5 phone cam, so it’s not nearly as clear as I’d like. Time to get a new phone *and* with a better camera!
If you look closely there is a white egret next to the boat and tree in the top right background. He flew away about 5 seconds after I snapped this.
Fall color (if we get any) usually does not last long in central Austin. Some years are better than others of course. I think this year seems to be better. Yesterday (Sunday) may have been the peak—and this spot was one tiny little area that was too good to pass up for a quick shot.
Pinky's Eye 