ADVENTURES IN NATURE

LOTUS IN BLOOM!

2010-09-11T18:18:00.000-07:00

I told you in my last post that I would publish some LOTUS pictures in BLOOM if I could get back out there and get some. Well, I DID get back out there and I DID get some great shots of beautiful LOTUS flowers in bloom! It is interesting to note that all the while I was wading and shooting (you see, it is quite difficult to get out to these particular Lotus so I had to wade waist-deep out to them!) I kept hearing these 'bleating' noises all around the pond area. I recognized the sounds as something frog-related, in fact, green tree frog-related to be exact. Well.....I took this shot (above) and I didn't realize until I downloaded the picture that there was a GREEN TREE FROG sitting right there inside that bloom looking out at me taking his picture! This was a great surprise to me and it really made my evening to see that little frog peeking out at me in my picture. I had no idea he was in there. This of course is now my favorite of all these LOTUS BLOOM pictures, and maybe even my favorite plant picture of all time. Anyway, here are some of the others pictures too. Isn't the AMERICAN LOTUS a beautiful native Texas plant?!!!

2010-09-08T07:42:00.000-07:00

Wow. Well I haven't posted an entry on my blog in a really, really long time - too long! And so I'm sorry to any of my loyal followers out there (!) It isn't that I haven't been having any fun adventures or exciting nature trips,- just that time and activities have pulled me away from my logging duties and I've neglected to share with my followers, whoever they may be! Anyhow, it is way past time for an adventure update so lets get back to it!

I have to share one of my most recent kayak excursions with you.....on a hot, sunny day in August I decided to grab my kayak and paddle out to see one of my favorite lake spots and check out what nature was displaying. Summer was just starting to wind down and the plants here in central Texas were finally starting to breathe a little bit with the (slightly) cooler weather and ever so little bit of rain. They were finally starting to show some signs of life after our (typically) brutally hot, dry, and crackly-crunch summer! One of the neatest native Texas aquatic plants (in my opinion) is the AMERICAN LOTUS (Nelumbo lutea) and on this day I got to see them ALL OVER the lake!

Lotus plants seem to hide inconspicuously under the water all year long and then in the late summer - boinggg! They pop up all over the water's edge! They have great big, full, flat leaves, that are round and velvety green. They bob on top of the water or they poke straight up on a single central stem, but either way they are impervious to water as you can see from this picture of a water droplet on a leaf.

Apparently, one of the differences between a Lotus and a Water Lilly is the 'crack' along the topof the leaf. A Lotus is completely round without any break on the leaf and Lillies have that pie shaped section
removed.

The shallow lake water was also filled with some sort of aquatic plant that looked a lot like 'Anacaris' which is a Texas native, but I am not positive of the ID. Anyway, it made for some thick paddling at times, but the little fish I saw seemed to like it just fine - they were scurrying around in huge schools just under the greenery and flashing their white bellies with just about every paddle stroke.

Lotus plants seem to have 3 growth stages. First, they pop up with that big, beautiful green leaf, and then an awesome bloom comes out! Lotus have a most exquisite white flower. You might be able to see one of the creamy, white blooms in this mostly camouflaged, green shot I took (!) These Lotus were just going into bloom and it was really tough to get close enough in a kayak to get a picture. And believe me, I had my snake eyes open! I am actually surprised I didn't have a visitor while I was snapping up shots (!) but no snakey adventures on this day :) I'm hoping to get back in a few days and get more bloom pics, if I do I will try post them in a follow-up.

For the final stage of growth, after the blooms are finished, a brown seed head appears above the water with tiny seed 'container' holes. These seed heads are really beautiful and they make excellent cut flower arrangements too. They are great for decorating - last a really long time.

I wish you could see how beautiful this day was! The wind so calm, the water so still. The air was just barely moving - I even had a dragonfly stop to keep me company.....!

Anyway, it was hot, hot and hotter, but the Lotus didn't mind and a quick dip in the lake now and then was sufficient for human cooling too. It was lots of fun on this day and a pleasure to share some AMERICAN LOTUS pictures with you - Enjoy and Happy Nature Adventures!

ANIMAL TRACKS & SIGNS

2009-08-25T19:58:00.000-07:00

I've been slowly learning more and more about tracking over the past several years and I really like it! I recently attended a short tracking seminar and so I thought a few tracks would make a nice nature adventure post! Here are some pictures of tracks & signs that I've collected fairly recently and a few pictures from a local seminar. I think tracking is a really amazing 'hobby'. Once you start paying attention to the little subtleties found on the ground, on branches, or in the brush, a whole different world is revealed to you. You really start paying attention to little things that you might easily have overlooked before. You start searching around for evidence that something was there and you want to know more about what it was doing, where it was going, and what it was. Tracking makes it all possible!

I've read a few books on tracking and listened to a couple of speakers talk about the 'spiritual' nature of tracking and the more I get into it, the more I understand what they mean. The tracks, the scat, and all sorts of other signs left along a trail or in the dirt are the remnants of the presence of an organism without necessarily having any physical parts of the individual remaining at the spot. Tracking reveals the 'essence' of the being. You can see what was there and how it moved, and if you are really, really, good you might be able to tell how much it weighed, whether it was sick or well, or maybe even the specific variety of a certain species. I'm definitely not a very good tracker yet, but I can tell a deer track from a raccoon from a opossum and think thats a fairly good start anyway! Oh, and I do find it harder and harder to look up from the ground when I'm walking!

So I guess I've got the tracking bug and I can't imagine not stopping to take pictures of good tracks, scat, and signs of wildlife - because it is just so cool. I love to learn about it. Here are some pictures taken at our local wildlife association meeting last week where the subject was - you guessed it - TRACKING!

Some raccoon tracks taken down by the coast last spring:

And some sort of Heron tracks were there too:

Deer tracks from the trails near my house:

Cheating by leaving a little snack out to collect some more deer tracks!:

Domestic animal tracks.....! Here is an unshod horse:

And Homo sapien (wearing shoe) over mountain bike!:

Deer Scat (which is a nice way of saying, "Poop"!):

And some evidence of antler rubs:

HAPPY TRACKING!!!

SHANGRI LA BOTANICAL GARDENS & NATURE CENTER

2009-06-17T08:47:00.000-07:00

In late May 2009 I made a trip to the new SHANGRI LA Botanical Gardens & Nature Center in Orange, Texas to see what it was all about. Orange Texas is situated just a few miles west of the Texas Louisiana border in the far southeastern corner of the state of Texas. The Shangri La facility sits on 252 preserved acres and is now run by a non-profit organization. There are educational boat trips along the Adams Bayou to view the interior of the bayou preserve from boats and boardwalks. I didn't take the boat trip on this visit but I did walk the garden trails and I was significantly impressed enough to blog about here on my nature forum. Shagri La had been listed as one of the field trips on the Texas Native Plant Society's 2008 symposium. Since I missed that event I had promised myself to keep the listing of recommended sites and visit at least some of the areas they highlighted when I got a chance. Upon arriving I was surprised to learn they had recently been chosen as a Top 10 World Green Project by the American Institute of Architecture. I'm not usually too impressed by man-made garden centers as I prefer natural and wilderness settings, but I was pleasantly surprised when I noticed their main focus was on wetlands conservation and education and a native bayou experience. It was really refreshing to see this new nature center incorporating the existing wetlands on the property and preserving the wildlife habitat already there. They pretty much built this facility around a preserved bayou area and one of the main focal points was the walking trail out to the bird observation blind. Nice!
The natural landscaping began right from the parking lot area where the short stroll along the walkway led past native beds of woodland plants and leaf litter providing an example of native piney woods this area is known for.

After the visitor entrance and main educational buildings there was pathways through various themed gardens like the Children's Garden, Line Garden, Color Garden, etc... Even for adults a walk through the Children's Garden was pretty impressive. This area was all about sensory gardening! Little handmade signs encouraged younger visitors to see, touch, smell, listen, and even taste a variety of botanical friends growing in raised beds at perfect 'kid height'. Really spectacular rows of blue bottle trees with hanging bird house gourds were amazing and they just burst with color everywhere! Martin house condos were erected in a long line suspended high overhead on sturdy support structures. Even on this overcast day it was quite a sensory experience to stroll through this section and it was definitely not just for children!

...we passed through an Epiphyte greenhouse with Spanish Moss draped down from tree branches and a curvy path leading past some gorgeous specimens of orchids and other tropical bloomers....

...A couple of frog lily ponds.............

...and the interior of the courtyard which was made up of WETLAND squares! What a unique concept! Right next to the picnic/concession areas were square pockets of wetlands with native wetland plants growing in them! How's that for an intimate experience with a wetland environment?...

...In fact, I think the central theme here was wetlands, bayou country, and waterways and I can see how it earned the respect of the architectural community. They had these cute little flowing water trough canals connecting one garden section to another throughout.....

...many native Texas plant selections and adapted plants as well along the pathways...........

...but the best part came at the HERONRY!....

...After turning down the path away from the garden areas, the trail veered off through more natural terrain and past more mossy-covered bayous and Cypress trees with their knobby knees jutting out from watery depths. Even before reaching the 'Heronry Blind' sign I could hear distinct sounds of water birds - and it sounded like there was A LOT of them in there somewhere!

We headed past the sign and into this little outpost building which was really a specially designed observation blind! You could gently lower certain board slats in order to observe the nesting birds out in the bayou without disturbing them too much!

I thought this was really cool and I'd never seen anything like it set up for the public to observe bird behaviors in a natural setting before. I was pretty impressed with this part and it really stole the show and sold me on this new Shangri La nature education facility.

This seemed to be a very popular part of the tour as there were people in and out of the blind cabin commenting on how beautiful the birds were the whole time I was there. This was part of the old bayou that had been here for years and served as a hatchery and nesting area for several species of heron. The nature center had now acquired the land and preserved the existing bayou, incorporating it into their exhibit! Neat huh? They made this section into a birding observation and education area for the public! What a great way to help local residents realize the importance of something they might see right in their own backyards everyday, and a great way to help visitors from other areas understand and experience the coastal bayous of south Texas up close and personal!

I don't know if I've ever been as close to a Roseate Spoonbill in the wild as I was here, and I'm sure I've never witnessed the nesting behaviors as closely as I was able to do on this day. A Snowy Egret carefully pruned while the nestlings sat patiently waiting in the precariously balanced bundle of twigs for a nest. The Roseate male defended his mate sitting on the nest from other birds and the constant chatter of bird communications filled the air as we all watched in awe of these magnificent creatures and wondered how those big birds managed to successfully nest on those skimpy bare branches. With the small slats in the cabin only occasionally opening and closing, the birds didn't seem bothered at all by the human presence close by. I hope they can keep it that way as more and more people travel here to visit the gardens. It certainly looks as if they are on the right track and I would recommend a stop here if you are traveling the I-10 corridor between the Louisiana and Texas border. It is only a short 2 or 3 mile drive off the hwy. and well worth the effort. For more information you can visit their website at:

http://www.shangrilagardens.org/

UPPER TEXAS COAST - POST HURRICANE IKE

2009-06-14T14:15:00.000-07:00

Finally I got back down (or up) the coast to Crystal Beach which lies on the Bolivar Peninsula to see it after hurricane Ike came through and devastated the whole area. It has been about 9 months since the storm of the century came through and wiped most of the beach homes and businesses right off the island. My friend had recently purchased a beach house and surprisingly it was one of only a handful that made it through the storm still intact. So we were invited up for a party weekend and of course I couldn't refuse!

While I was there I heard talk from a local who said there were about 250 homes pre-Ike and 28 left post Ike. I don't know if that's fact or not, but I can say first-hand that it isn't anything like it was out there before the hurricane of Sept. 2008. Pre-Ike Crystal Beach used to be filled with beach houses on both the beach and bay side and Hwy 87 which runs right down the center was fairly packed on both sides with a good assortment of businesses ranging from hardware stores to gas stations to tourist traps and a good splattering of bars and restaurants to boot.

Post hurricane Ike is quite different now. I had already seen pictures and heard the stories so I was pretty well prepared to see it first hand. It is still a bit traumatic when you see it especially when you remember what it was for so many years before the storm. The last time I was there pre-Ike I can remember the out of control development along the waterfront and how I hated to see the coastline taken up by private houses blocking out the view of the water. I can remember being in college and driving this area in the late 80's when it was just a sleepy little vacation spot but it had become a mecca for weekenders and the real estate business just kept on coming right down the beach, row after row, house upon house. It is a very different scene today. One day and one storm took out at least 80% or probably more of all that development which took literally YEARS to get that way. When you look down the beach now you see the Gulf of Mexico on one side and what used to be the 2nd or 3rd row of houses - now beachfront property! The 1st row of houses was basically completely taken out. The locals say it was the huge storm surge and the water that rose - it popped the houses right out of their foundations. (Of course, I'm sure the winds didn't help any either!)

They are re-building it all as fast as they can but even 1 year later there is still so much damage evident and so many houses that either have only the pilings left or nothing at all, just bare sand. I heard the estimated number of human casualties was finally totaled at 70 with 20 that are still unaccounted for. Looking at the scene, even post 9 months, and knowing the estimated numbers of residents who chose to stay here and 'ride it out' one would think there were really more lives lost than have been officially reported.

I've included several pictures of the beachfront as it looks today because I think it is just amazing what they are trying to do right now all along the Crystal Beach portion of the peninsula. In Texas you cannot build beyond the line of vegetation because from the veggie line to the water is public beach access. In fact, your home needs to be several feet back from the veggie line and I think 4 feet above sea level as well. The storm took out the first row of beach houses AND their property basically because it moved the veggie line back into the 2nd row of houses all along the beach and the water is also now farther inland than it used to be. Well. The people who had front row now have a partial lot (if any at all) of sand where they can no longer re-build. The government will buy them out for something like 75% of the value minus any FEMA money they happened to get, or they can keep it and pay taxes on it hoping the beach will return, but they can't rebuild that close to the water on public beach access. These people have been allowed (somehow) to come in and push the sand around, bring in hay bales and start building the vegetation line back out to the water so they can re-build out into the beach!!!! Can you believe that???? I could not so I got several pictures of it to prove it to you. I don't know how they are being allowed to grow grass out on the public access beach front but they are doing it, all the way down the beach!

Not only that, but a local politician (who lost his beach front home) has so far succeeded in getting some legislation passed that allows for an exception to the Texas Open Beach Act so that he can re-build his beach front home out in front of the veggie line! He is fighting with the Land Commissioner right now who is trying to uphold the rights of the public. WHAT A MESS! If he gets his way I give up on obeying the laws because poor people (or less than rich) are the only ones who seem to have to follow them anymore. The rich (or those with the political clout) just seem to get the laws changed to suit their needs.

But politics aside, I had a fun weekend, the water was spectacular and the beach, the bays, and the peninsula, in my opinion are more beautiful than I've seen it in over 20 years and possibly than I've ever seen it, post-Ike. It really did a cleansing. The beach sand has been taken from the bay side (where much of it ended up), cleaned, and replaced along the public beaches and it looks great right now. I do feel sorry for those who lost their homes and businesses, but I also realize that if you buy anything that close to the coast you know you are taking a risk. The storm of the century just might come your way - eventually.

SAVING THE PRAIRIES Part II

2009-05-30T13:46:00.001-07:00

The thing that strikes me most each time I return to the prairie is the diversity of grass and forb species in any given section. Just looking out over the land and casually glancing, one might think, "Well, there is a grassy field", and not consider it anything special. But when you actually get out and walk around in a native prairie, when you look closely at the ground and the plants growing there, you find quite a selection. These pictures were taken right at the end of May, 2009. Many of the grasses were starting to put on seeds and most of the spring wildflowers had already bloomed, gone to seed, and died back for the summer. One thing I've learned about prairies from this year-long adventure is when one species puts on a display, the others retreat, but it's never overpowering. It seems to always be extremely subtle and blended. The plants take turns throughout the year, some species popping up and shining and the others resting until it is their season, and on and on, season by season.

On this particular day in May the early summer bloomers were showing their colors, like Texas Thistle (pictured above), Rudebeckia (Black-eyed Susans), the double-tiered Bee Balm (that bees seem to crave), some little white prairie flowers, lots of yellow sun flower-like plants, and a few more that not only could I not name, but I didn't recognize at all (!), like the fuzzy cream colored species with the fern-like leaves (pictured below) -what the heck is THAT?!! In addition to the flowering species and the plants with only dried seed heads left on shriveled stems, I must have counted at least 6 or 7 different species of grasses within my sight, all healthy and bunched up, ready to bloom soon and produce more seeds for the fall. I am sure I missed more than I counted in both grasses and forbs, but that's still a pretty good diversity in just a few short steps into a field. I contrasted that with the two fields of Johnson Grass that I passed on the way to get here today - which basically held 1 species of grass and no other plants.

That gentle blending that I've referred to in a native prairie is really a different sort of plant community experience than you get from other natural settings. From my experience observing this particular native Texas prairie over the past 8-10 months, the beauty isn't so obvious that it jumps out at you from a distance. It is so unlike a typical planned garden in a landscaped scenario, where you see large groupings of plant monocultures, all in bloom together at one time. Admittedly, that can be breathtaking, really getting your attention and making you say, "Wow!" But a native prairie is more like observing a whole, balanced, ecosystem, most of the time on a rather small scale, and you almost need to understand a little bit about what you are seeing to appreciate it. And you definately need to get CLOSE if you really want to observe and learn more about it. When you do that you can no longer ignore that what happens there is really is special, natural, and beautiful. And it doesn't happen in very many places anymore either.

So in a few more months this year's prairie adventure will have reached full cycle and my personal prairie observations of fall, winter, spring, and summer will have come to an end. Soon the fall maintenance cutting will take place again. I know without a shred of doubt, that I have only barely scraped the surface of 'prairie-ology' and that in turn has only fired up my desire to know more about these unique plant and wildlife communities. I hope by sharing my prairie adventure with you I have sparked your interest to explore some native prairies in your own section of the world and help to preserve them, wherever you may be!

SAVING THE PRAIRIES - PART I

2009-02-22T19:29:00.000-08:00

I have been learning more and more about the great North American prairies and what a treasure they are to us all! I have known for a long time that prairies are special. They host a diversity of plant and insect species. But I don't think I ever really understood the true significance of a prairie nor had I ever really learned much about them until just last year. I feel like I am only beginning my submersion into native prairie education and I am learning interesting facts with each passing season. In my first post I want to share with you some pictures and clips of my first introduction to a native prairie. This fall and winter I was able to experience what it feels like to stand there, all alone, and just listen to the grasses sway. The opportunity came my way when a local resident invited us over to see her prairie remnant. The "Quebe Prairie" as it is called, is a beautiful piece of land maintained and preserved as a native prairie. It is located in Washington County, Texas, just about 1.5 hours west of the sprawling metroplex of the city of Houston. We are lucky to have several remaining prairie remnants in this area and luckier still to have gracious land owners who invite us over to experience them!

I had originally planned to do this prairie post all in one section, but as I started gathering photos, I thought it would really be nice to see the prairie in all different seasons throughout the year. Thus started my prairie posting adventure! It has taken about 4 months so far to gather 2 seasons of pictures! So here are fall and winter pictures, I should have spring and summer pictures soon for Part II. As an added bonus, you simply must check out the 3 links at the bottom of my post. They are short videos about local prairie projects that are currently underway. You just have to see these. I can't say enough about the people who are out there working to save our prairies. I just wish more people knew more about prairies so that we didn't have to fight so hard to protect what is left.

OCTOBER 2008 - QUEBE PRAIRIE

Big Bluestem, Little Bluestem, Indian Grass, Lobelia (wildflowers), and lots of other assorted grasses that I am still learning about....

WINTER 2009 -QUEBE PRAIRIE

This prairie gets mowed once per year as part of the maintenance plan. In winter the native grasses and forbs stay low to the ground and wait for the spring weather. If you look closely you can find all sorts of little native plants bunching up and putting on green growth in anticipation of the springtime show! If anyone wants to identify any of these plants for me, or correct anything I might have misidentified, feel free to help me out here. Like I said, I am in the learning stages!

The prairie in January, 2009. It was cut in the fall and doesn't look like much, but when you get down in the dirt and look around......! Lots of things going on down there!

I think this is a nice bunch of either Big Bluestem or Little Bluestem above and Mexican Hat wildflowers coming up in the picture to the right. The bottom plant I didn't recognized, maybe one of you know? It looks a bit like Penstemmon but I'm not sure.

My experiences on this local prairie are just beginning and I hope you can get some idea of just how beautiful it is through my pictures and clips. But it isn't enough to just post about one local remnant prairie. Through my involvement with prairie groups and native plant societies in Texas I am finding out that there are lots of other people out there who also understand how precious and unique these ecosystems are - and they are DOING SOMETHING to save them as I write. The following links should open up a few video clips that are ABSOLUTELY INSPIRING to me - I hope they will do the same for you. I had no idea that people out there are sacrificing so much of their own time and energy in order to save portions of native prairies here and there for us and for future generations as human development keeps plowing them under. They deserve to be recognized but they do it as a labor of love and without recognition, without any payment at all except the deep gratification they find in knowing that they might make a difference, little by little. They are at least DOING SOMETHING to try to save the prairies, and working against all odds to educate others before it is too late. Without their hard work and dedication the prairies would surely be gone from us all forever, and forever is a REALLY, REALLY LONG TIME.

So to all of these people in the following video clips, I say "THANK YOU" from the bottom of my heart. What you are doing is truly awe inspiring...

Texas Coastal Prairie - Saving Saums Prairie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj_H0kJMIKg&feature=related

Texas Coastal Prairie - Volunteers Seed Saving:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI6jLeob5dM&feature=related

Katy Prairie Conservancy - Native Prairie Nursery

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RJ3R4P6ReY&feature=related

BATHING BIRDS AND HUNGRY HONEYBEES

2008-12-14T15:22:00.000-08:00

OK, the animal life around my home has now successfully trained me to 1) wake up, 2) feed domestic animals, 3) feed wildlife, which now involves, a) add food to (what has now become) a various assortment of wildlife feeders, b) rinse and fill the bird bathing area with clean water, c) put out some deer chow around the trails, and d) (as of today) tend to honeybee feeding stations! I have to admit, this is getting a little bit ridiculous! I feel like the local Mother Nature sanctuary! But I have brought this on myself, the wildlife is not forcing me to do it..... :)

I am totally sure that anyone who is not a nature nut like me would undoubtedly think I was CRAZY if they followed me through my winter morning routine! We actually have metal garbage cans set up along the front porch containing all of the various feeds and scoops and buckets and whatever else needed to accommodate a host of feathered, furry, and other assorted flying, buzzing, or crawling friends. It is a lot of extra work everyday and the money expenditures add up, but it makes me happy to see the wildlife eating, and bathing, staking out territory and vocalizing to each other all over the place everyday! So while I know it probably seems nutty, I still keep doing it and when I'm done I sit back and reap my reward by watching all of these totally neat and unique species display their exquisite behaviors for me!

This morning was no exception and since it was a fairly nice day all of the resident birds decided it was BATH TIME!!! Now, I don't mean that only one bird or one species gets cleaned up on bath day around here. THEY ALL LINE UP (!) in the trees, or on the ground, or somewhere nearby and take turns! I can sit and watch them through the window as they go in some sort of pecking order that only they understand. The Cardinals are usually the ones to go first, male before female, and they can usually kick the smaller birds out if they want to get in. Sometimes a different species will share the bath, but they always keep a respectful distance from one another.

Pretty much all of the different birds have a similar ritual of; sit on the edge and look around a bit, take a few sips to quench that thirst, hop to the rock or just jump right in if feeling brave, sit a bit, and then get TOTALLY WET! before anyone catches you!

Hop out when done and the next bird waiting takes your place! I was able to snatch pictures of the Cardinals and a Titmouse bathing, but I truly have a steady stream of different species that come to the communal bathing pond including; Chickadees, Inca Doves, Savannah Sparrows, wintering Pine Siskins and Finches - all taking turns!

It's a great source of amusement to watch them flitting and splashing around, trying to get clean, ever mindful of who or what might be watching or lurking just around the corner!

Well, having finished my morning entertainment session at the bathing station, I hadn't expected anymore wildlife chores for the day - until I just couldn't ignore the activity going on at the hummingbird feeders any longer.

Now, I have been trying to keep at least one feeder up for the hummers this winter because I have heard them buzzing around so I'm fairly sure we have at least one or two that are still hanging around. They haven't been using the feeders at all, but the HONEYBEES sure are!

Soooooo......just in case you didn't know, this is not a good thing, to have honeybees desperately trying to suck sugar water out of the hummingbird feeders. Because, what actually happens is they crawl into that tiny hole (believe it or not) and they DROWN in the water basin! I unfortunately found at least 20 of the little guys dead as a doornail when I emptied it. Well, I can't have that, and I know they must be really hungry for that sugar water so I decide to try out some homemade "HONEYBEE FEEDERS" made from assorted shallow pans that I find out in the shed.

This, of course, takes up another hour of my time, but again - it is all worth it to me! So I get out my makeshift pans, add some lounging rocks to it (so my little buzzing friends will have a way to crawl out), and look up a honeybee sugar water recipe on the internet. I don't know anything about feeding honeybees so if any of you have advice, please help me out here. I read that they prefer a higher sugar to water ration of 1:1 instead of the 1:4 ratio for hummers. So I made that up and divided it into my pans. Just for fun, I left the red dishes with the 1:4 ratio and added 1:1 to the new dishes to see which they preferred.

And then I waited to see how long it would take them to find it again. It was not very long, immediately 1 or 2 sniffed it out and started drinking and in about 30 minutes I had a whole pack hanging around fixated on the mixtures in the pans!

I joke around a lot about how much work it is to provide food, shelter, and water for the wildlife (and it IS work and it CAN BE costly), but for me it truly is gratifying to watch these creatures and to learn from them everyday. So there you have it, the crazy nature lady is now not only feeding horses, dogs, cat, birds, squirrels, deer, rabbits, hummers, but (pause for breath here), she is now feeding the HONEYBEES TOO!!!

BUTTERFLY FALL

2008-11-23T08:26:00.001-08:00

OK, I had to post a few pictures of the butterflies and moths that have been congregating outside my front door the last several weeks. The weather down here in south-central Texas has been fabulous, I don't know if this is our prelude to major global warming trends or not, but I must say for right now I am enjoying it. Usually our area of Texas gets about 3 or 4 weeks of beautiful, perfect weather in the spring and the fall and then it either slips into hot, humid summers or cold, damp winters but this year is certainly an exception. Our summer gradually faded into cooler nights in the 40's and 50's and gorgeous fall days in the 70's and 80's - and it has stayed like that for the longest period of time that I can remember. It's been like that for months now! I think we only had about 1 or 2 real cold fronts so far this fall and even then no freezes that killed off anything. The butterflies and moths are taking advantage of the climate and they are collectively habitating my fall orange Cosmos, which are still in bloom by the way - at the end of November! I have soooo many different species of butterflies and moths right now, there is no way I can identify them all. Several of them can't sit still for pictures either, so you are getting the click and post for the few that did. I am not a butterfly expert by any means, so those of you out there that are, please correct my identifications if I'm wrong so I can learn more. Also there are at least 2 pictured below that I would love to ID so please help if you can! Here they are:

These, I believe are called 'QUEEN' butterflies. They are really beautiful! They're about the size of a Monarch. And I have TONS of them flying around right now. They outnumber the other species by at least 2 to 1. They seem to be torn between visits to the Cosmos for nectar or hanging out on the Milkweed/Butterfly Weed plants.

I think the butterfly pictured to the left is called a' GULF COAST FRITTILARY'. These guys all seemed to be going crazy over the orange Cosmos. In years past it seems like I had a lot more of them but this year the numbers have been slimmer. I still have plenty of Passion Flower Vines for the larva, in fact probably more than previously, but this species has not been out in full force like in years past. I don't use herbicides or pesticides, only organic materials in my gardens so I don't think that would be the reason. It remains a puzzle to me. Any ideas???

Now these two guys I think are called 'VARIEGATED FRITILLARIES', but that is just a guess based on what I see in my butterfly ID book. They look very moth-like, but I do think they are classified as a butterfly. I wish the pictures were better because they have awesome color variations on their wings. Hopefully you can tell from my shots. Someone correct me on the ID if I am wrong.
OK, here we have 'BUCKEYE' which has the most unique large spots that look like eyes staring back at you on the wings. I have several of them flying around right now and they are actually kind of easy to photograph - I just didn't get a good one! There is a video clip with Buckeyes at the end of this post, maybe you can get a better view that way.

OK, now this one really has me puzzled and this is a really neat little guy! I think it is a moth because of the hooked antennae but I'm not sure. He has this awesome long, straight tail (wings actually) and a big white stripe on the underside of the wings. It's hard to tell his size from the pictures but I'd say it's about the size of a medium butterfly like a Fritillary, it's not a little thing by any means. What is it???!!!! Please help me ID I can't find it anywhere in my books and it's driving me nuts to find out what this is. Even without a positive ID, it's a pretty species to watch.....!

Here we have the dependable yellow butterfly, of which species I am not sure. Is it a 'SULPHER'? I don't know, but one thing I am sure of is they are usually the first ones out in the spring and the last ones to leave in the fall. Even on those days when the butterflies are are nowhere to be seen, I can usually spot some species of yellow around somewhere! ID please....thank you!

And for my last unidentified species that had assembled at the nectar feast, here you go.... Moth? Butterfly? Whatever he is he has spectacular coloration and he was different then all of the others. And he held still long enough for a picture - any ideas?

Below, Buckeyes at work....(or play?!)

MONARCHS & MIST FLOWERS

2008-11-01T19:26:00.000-07:00

I have been totally enjoying myself this weekend at the local Fall Festival at the Antique Rose Emporium! Every year they hold this event and every year I can't wait to go again! The gardens out there are spectacular and they have speakers presenting throughout each day on a variety of plant and nature topics. This is a free event, open to all and it is exciting to see so many new faces each year as people from the community and from afar gather to hear about and discuss plant topics! This morning we were all greeted by throngs of Monarchs and other assorted butterflies and moths as we passed by a long row of White Mist Flower (Eupatorium wrightii) in full bloom. It will be hard to convey the full effect of the onslaught of butterflies, moths, and assorted bees that were attacking these white flowers through a video clip, but I assure you, no one passed without taking notice and at least saying, "Wow!" If you live in the south and you want a great butterfly plant, try White Mist Flower planted in masses!

9 BANDED ARMADILLO (Dasypus novemcinctus)

2008-09-23T18:39:00.000-07:00

Well I don't have all of the pictures I'd like to post, but I couldn't wait any longer to share these video clips with you. The Army Corp of Engineers has cleared a new hiking trail through the woods by my house and of course I couldn't wait to check it out. More pictures from that to follow, but for now, here are 2 videos I just had to post because - Armadillos are just SO CUTE! This one ventured close to me on the trail and as I stood very, very still I was able to get some shots. Armadillos can't see very well, but they can hear a little better and once he sensed my presence, he took off running through the woods!

While I had him in my sights, this guy exhibited typical Armadillo behavior, rooting around in the soil and under logs searching for a meal. Yes, they do dig around with their noses and look for grubs, worms, and other insects to eat. And yes, they do leave fairly large holes in the soil, which a lot of people with formal gardens seem to despise. I don't understand this adversity toward Armadillos at all. They are most excellent soil aerators, and they control the soil dwelling insects that destroy plants at the same time. From my observations, they do not uproot established plants, instead, they move the soil all around the root balls and provide a 'tilling' function that is better than any plow I have ever seen. All that is needed after an Armadillo comes through is a soaking from a water hose to flatten the mounds back down and the garden looks as good as new, but much healthier! Unfortunately, the way most people experience an Armadillo (besides seeing holes in their gardens and yards) is by passing them by in cars, lying 'legs up' alongside the highway. The poor little guys, like so many other animals, do not have a chance when it comes to vehicles and they experience a huge amount of highway mortality.

One very interesting fact about Armadillos is that each female bears 4 offspring at a time which are exact clones of each other. Apparently they are the only mammals which do this consistently and that makes them extremely unique! If you have some time and you want to read more about Armadillos, here is a link:

http://www.flex.net/~lonestar/armadillo.htm

WHOOPING CRANES IN TEXAS!

2008-09-05T07:13:00.001-07:00

WHOOPING CRANE (Grus americana)

(Photo credit Luther Goldman/US Fish and Wildlife Service)

Well, actually they haven't quite started their annual migration yet, but a prior comment on this blog prompted me to post about Whooping Cranes. They are an example of one species of beautiful migratory birds that us northerners and southerners 'share' during the year. Mid-October through March is prime Whooping Crane season in Texas - which should give me ample time to plan and execute a trip to see them first hand (stay posted!) I thought it would be a good idea to post some 'whooper' information in case any of you happen to be in the western or eastern flyways. That way you can be on the lookout for these magnificent creatures as they take to the skies! Fall migration has started and here in Texas we are noticing our skies dotted with more and more varieties of avian flocks as they head toward winter destinations. If you look up and see some very large cranes with all white bodies and black wing tips you just might be viewing some endangered Whooping Cranes.

Down here in Texas we have an extensive Whooping Crane project aimed at helping this most unique species survive and thrive. Whoopers stay north in the hot summer months and then migrate down south when those cold northern winds start to blow. The population counts reported over the last several years seem to indicate an increase in individuals so hopefully all of the effort is making a difference.

Whooping Cranes (Grus americana) are the rarest of all crane species and only found in North America. Our western inhabitants spend the winter months in Texas and summer months in Canada. The primary wintering grounds for the western 'Whooper' population are the coastal areas of the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge located a little bit north of Corpus Christi near Rockport. Here is an informative link which also has an audio of the bird calls:

http://www.fws.gov/southwest/REFUGES/texas/aransas/whoopingcranes.html

Although Whooping Cranes can be found slightly north of the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge or even slightly inland on private lands, the winter range for this population of birds typically only covers about 35 miles of this unique and pristine coastal habitat in Texas!

Whooping cranes are listed as a USFWS Endangered Species. In 1979 there were only 56 known birds in a wild flock that wintered in Texas and nested in Canada. In Dec of 2007 the count was up to 257 birds wintering along the Texas coastline. The 2007-2008 count was 266! So they do appear to be making a come back - slowly but surely. Whoopers are now federally protected from hunters however, their main threat continues to be the loss of coastal wetland habitat.

There is also lots of hard work underway to re-establish an eastern population of birds which will winter along the Florida coastline and spend the summers somewhere near Wisconsin. So far the Texas/Canada population has been the most successful as far as numbers.

SO - if you come to Texas - especially during the fall through early spring - don't forget to plan a trip to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge for some most excellent biding adventures! And keep your eyes peeled - you just might see some rare and endangered Whooping Cranes!

These video clips were taken by BILL BEASLEY / TAILFEATHER PRODUCTIONS and reproduced with permission – Thank You, Bill for sharing your clips of these beautiful and rare birds in the wild!!!

FAYETTE POWER PLANT LAKE

2008-08-24T17:01:00.001-07:00

Opted to stay closer to home this weekend and still get some kayaking in so I went to Fayette Lake (which lies in Fayette County Texas) to see what I could find. This particular lake was constructed here for a coal-fired power plant that was built to help supply the city of Austin with power. They built the lake for cooling at the power plant. This is supposedly one of the better lakes around central Texas for bass fishing because of the warmer year-round water temperatures. We tossed a few lures and didn't get a bite today although I'm sure it is probably great for fishing at the right time and in the right spots. It's also not bad for hanging around and nature sightseeing, (as long as you don't mind looking at a coal-fired power plant on one side of the lake).

I shouldn't rag on the energy companies, I know. At least they let us come enjoy the lake they built so I guess it's not all bad. I was here on a weekend and the lake was fairly busy with boaters and families swimming and enjoying the water. Even with the fair amount of human activity I managed to slip away along the banks and find some peace and quiet among the reeds.

The herons were out today, wading and sunning. I saw a very large Great Blue Heron as he dodged into the woods along the shoreline narrowly escaping the wrath of my camera. I had better luck with the next bird. A brave little Green Heron stood his ground on a tree limb as I floated past. He kept a close eye on me while defending his territory from that strange looking yellow vessel in the water. He waited patiently as I took my pictures and finally moved on. A Great Egret also allowed me to get in a shot.

I

Did I mention how much I love kayaks for nature watching? They are quiet and peaceful and they meld into the environment without causing a ruckus. Not at all like a stinky, smelly motorboat or jet ski, which are really annoying when you think about it, and can be quite a menace to everything on or near the water. (And half the time they don't work right.) It's always amusing to me to see a packed boat ramp, everyone jockeying for position to get that boat in or out, struggling with their trailer gear, hoping those motors start up and run this time - cause you know at least one of these times they are guaranteed not to! And here I come, gently and quietly sliding my kayak out at the nearest bank, loading up just like that - and I'm gone! No fuss, no mess, no yearly license and registration fees to pay, no maintenance to keep her running. Notice my obvious satisfaction as I stand with my kayak loaded and ready to leave and a full boat ramp behind me in the distance. .... It's good to be a kayaker....

They have done a fairly good job of making this a nature-friendly lake. In addition to the water activities, they have a 3 mile bike/hike trail through the woods and along the lake which joins two campground areas. They also have a shorter hike/birding trail that runs about 2 miles in total length, meandering in and around the woods next to the lake which is really quite nice. As it got closer to sundown we hiked into the birding trail to check it out for ourselves. It was mostly crushed gravel and dirt with several exposed tree roots in places. There were interesting bridges to cross and even a staircase to climb leading up to a pond which happened to be dry on this visit. All in all, it made for a nice day trip and conveniently located within 30 minutes or so of home. I'm not complaining............until next time! Happy adventures!

ROSEATE SPOONBILLS - MATAGORDA COUNTY

2008-07-12T12:54:00.000-07:00

I was really lucky this week to get some awesome shots of one of our Gulf Coast's prettiest wetland bird species - ROSEATE SPOONBILLS!!!

South-Central Texas holds some treasures as far as wildlife viewing if you know where to go. There are still some pristine wetland habitats here that haven't been developed for, ugh(!)...humans and their beach condos, but the money keeps pouring in from everywhere and the future remains precarious for these small yet fairly isolated stretches of coastline. The ROSEATE SPOONBILL (Platalea ajaja), I think you'll agree, is a beautiful wetland bird species. I happened across a whole flock of them this week and I was able to get some video clips of a pair who were wading and fishing!

Roseate Spoonbills can be found in the U.S. along the Gulf Coast from Florida to Texas. They also occur in South America and the Caribbean. We are very lucky to still have them here as they were hunted close to extinction during the 1800's for their beautiful pink feathers. Thankfully the populations have rebounded since then, but of course they now face threats from the continued loss of wetland habitat along the gulf. They require shallow, brackish waters where they use their unusual spoon-shaped bills to sweep back and forth gathering small fish, shrimp, snails, insects, or other crustaceans for food. They are indescribably unique the way they use that big flat beak to sift the water for food! They almost look prehistoric or something! This is the first video clip I've ever gotten of these birds feeding so I was a very happy birder on this day!

The coastal areas of Matagorda County, Texas still provide many opportunities for these big wading birds to breed and nest. Spoonbills can get fairly big at 32 inches with a 50 inch wingspan and they are very dramatically colored with bright pink feathers - you will know it when you spot them!

CRYSTAL BEACH AND HIGH ISLAND

2008-06-30T20:07:00.000-07:00

Had time for some birding between High Island and Crystal Beach this past Friday afternoon before meeting up with friends. High Island is about an hour northeast of Houston and an hour southwest of Beaumont along the Texas Gulf Coast. The Pelicans on this particular day were in rare form and groups of 30 or so of them were flying down the coastline, drafting in each others wake, moving along in wave-like fashion. They were really cool to watch! This went on for quite awhile so I decided to hang out and enjoy the show!

The waves were up at the beach and it was fairly windy. The water on this northern Texas coastline is much browner than the water farther south due to the influence of the Mississippi River which drains into the Gulf of Mexico near New Orleans. The flow of sediments from the midwest and all points south mixes into the gulf water near the mouth of the Miss. and flows to the Texas/LA side causing muddy waters. The muddy water is nutrient-laden which in general provides good food sources for fish and other aquatic creatures, but a big problem that we have in this part of the country is the DEAD ZONE. This is a large area of water in the gulf which becomes devoid of oxygen and causes massive fish kills and other marine life die-offs. When the dead zone starts to expand everything in the water has to either leave in a hurry or succumb to suffocation. The cause is now known to be too much nitrogen and phosphorus in the river waters deposited way upstream. These rivers (such as the mighty Miss.) travel hundreds of miles through the U.S., collecting runoff from farms, towns, commercial areas, before spilling their contents into the Gulf of Mexico. Excessive nutrients are added to the rivers and these deposits have a direct influence on our waters along the Gulf of Mexico, especially from the mouth of the Mississippi westward to the south of Houston. As you travel farther south in Texas, the water becomes clearer ever so slightly until you reach South Padre Island where the waters are blue!

SO....if you live 'up there' please remember us 'down here' and try to limit the use and over-use of chemicals and fertilizers on the land because they end up in the rivers and eventually in our beach water too!!!

DOWNY WOODPECKER VISITS

2008-06-30T19:54:00.000-07:00

Thursday I came home and found a DOWNY WOODPECKER entertaining himself on one of our pine trees. My husband has seen many of them in the woods in Northeast Texas where he was born and raised but I had never seen one down here. This is a first for me! Cute little bird, isn't it?

BIRDS, REPTILES, AND AMPHIBIANS

2008-06-26T13:58:00.000-07:00

Tell you what, I can hardly get out of my yard without something new popping up in the way of wildlife or outdoor amusement. This afternoon I had 2 different snake species, a frog, and a bird feeding chicks all within 30 minutes of each other! Of course, I had to grab the camera and get some pic's for the blog! First of all these sweet, little, insect-killing Carolina Wrens have been raising their second batch of young this year in my hanging gourd. She (and he) seem to be taking pretty good care of their brood and putting a dent in the insect population for us at the same time. It seems like they bring back a new morsel every 20 minutes or so, pretty much round the clock. You can hear the parent birds chattering nearby and then they sneak up to the gourd as fast as they can, deposit their catch, take a look around in there to be sure everything looks OK, and then off they go again!

After wren watching for awhile I lowered my attention back down into the garden to finish my chores and turned to come face to face with a cute little Leopard Frog staring at me from beside the patio. Yes, we have a few frogs and toads in this yard.............but I'm thinking we should actually have a few more.......

Because we all know what frogs and toads attract......

SNAKES!!!

Actually, a Texas Rat Snake showed up first. He must have been offended by my garden watering and he crawled up onto the front porch. Well, we can't have that so we caught him with our snake tongs (modified from garbage pick-up tongs), and put him in the snake transporter (garbage can w/lid) to relocate him a bit farther from the house. We had no sooner started walking toward the truck when we saw a large Yellow Bellied Racer head across the walkway. Now I am thinking, "What is this, snake day or something????!!!" Anyway, YB Racer's are really beautiful snakes and non-poisonous. And they don't call them a 'Racer' for nothing! They can really scoot and they are very hard to catch and even harder to videotape! Tx Rat Snakes are also non poisonous, but they are kind of ugly (to me), usually get really BIG, and they are also very common here - so common that we get tired of seeing them. Neither snake is venomous. I have read that a rat snake can bite pretty good, but a YBR doesn't have the teeth to do much harm to a human (at least I'm hoping not).

Well, we couldn't catch them both as I only had one snake transporter and it was in use at the time. So.....I grabbed the camera again instead and got a video of him! Hopefully this guy will take off now that he's been spotted near the house (but I doubt it). I don't want to have to change my blog sight to 'Adventures in Snake Bites' if you know what I mean! :) Until next time, I'll keep those tongs handy......

STANDING CYPRESS!!!

2008-06-25T18:45:00.000-07:00

This summer has been pretty darn good for surprising me with large stands of wildflowers and today was no exception!!! First it was the Bluebells popping up all over the countryside and now I have come across this huge stand of native STANDING CYPRESS just growing away and blooming it's heart out right next to the highway on my drive to work!!! This is definitely the largest stand of this plant that I have ever seen growing out in the wild. I was blown away by it!

The pictures don't do it justice, but I hope you can get at least some idea of how magnificent this plant looks en masse in the wild.

The blooms appear on top of a single rigid stem and line the top of the stalk with multiple tubular-shaped scarlet red flowers. And they are SCARLET RED too! Very brilliant in the sunlight and will certainly catch your eye. The plant stalks are really tall, over 5 feet easily, and the stems are covered with these thick, green, fern-like leaves that just beg you to reach out and touch them to make sure they're real! I was very surprised to see this plant growing like it was because although it is listed as a Texas native variety, I personally have never seen it growing here in central Texas. This was a first for me!

According to the literature, it's easy to start and establish from seed that can be purchased from native plant suppliers. It is listed as a biennial though, so you would have to re-seed a second year in order to have year-round plants. Apparently, it comes up as a rosette the first year and then in the second year it sends up that tall shoot to flower in the middle of summer! I can't wait to try some in my own garden!

YOU KNOW IT'S HOT IN TEXAS WHEN......

2008-06-22T14:45:00.000-07:00

THE BLUEBELLS ARE IN BLOOM!!! And they are really showing off their stuff right now! They are right on time. It is about 100 degrees outside today and dry, dry, dry. If you are reading this from a cooler, wetter climate - please send us some RAIN!

Bluebells (Eustoma exaltatum ssp. russellianum) are a native Texas wildflower species. They bloom during the hottest, driest times of the year, typically right in the middle of summer after most of the other wildflowers have gone to seed. They aren't as abundant as they once were due to over-exuberant wildflower fans who just had to have them in their home gardens and dug up too many! They say they don't transplant well so it is best to purchase seeds if you want to try them, or just settle for pictures.

I saw these out in the pastures today and managed to snap a few photos. They are really something to see and will take your breath away as you come up over a hillside. Whole sections of bluish-purple can cover a field! They should not be confused with 'Bluebonnets' (which are also awesome) but which bloom in the spring. BlueBELLS are a much more purple-looking wildflower with a big, papery flower-head and yellowish dot in the center. They don't really look anything like a Bluebonnet and they don't bloom at the same time either.

Central Texas has an ice cream company named after this wildflower. Blue Bell Ice Cream got it's name from this beautiful summer-bloomer! The story goes that the Bluebell was always in bloom during the best months for ice cream sales (hot, dry, hot, dry) and thus they named the company after the wildflower. I must admit Blue Bell Ice Cream is pretty tasty, but it still doesn't compare with this hardiest of the hardy Texas inhabitant!
Yes, I know the video is shaky and the wind was blowing (just turn the volume down and you won't notice!), but you really need to view the live action clip in order to get a sense of just how FAR and WIDE these wildflowers can spread out and cover a field!

BOBWHITE QUAIL!!!

2008-05-28T07:47:00.001-07:00

Early in the month of May we woke up to an old familiar sound, but not one that we expected to hear out here in our location in central Texas! Just outside our window, calling in the early morning hours, sat a BOBWHITE QUAIL on the fence rail!!! He was sitting very near the bird feeders and just calling out for a mate!

In our area of Washington County quail are considered a very rare find. They used to be abundant at one time (in the very distant past, like 30 years or more ago!) but over-hunting, the introduction of fire ants, and loss of habitat all contributed to a severe decline and now they are considered extremely rare and hardly ever found in our county. Whether this was an escapee from someone's quail pen, or a wild version I guess we will never know. But it did peak our curiosity enough that we went hiking into the woods to see if we could find any of his friends, or if we could see him again..., AND WE DID!

Now this could be the same bird, or a different one, we couldn't tell. My husband (and wildlife adventure partner) is able to imitate a female quail call pretty well and this guy showed up within minutes of the second set of calls. We were about 10 acres away from the first quail sighting in our yard when we called this one up in the woods. I was able to get a video clip of the bird as he moved around us looking for the female - and a clip of his BOBWHITE call.

If you've never heard quail calling, the male has a distinctly different call from the female. The voices sound similar but the pattern is unmistakably different. This is the call of the male.

I have heard that a male quail will call until he locates a female to pair up with for mating and raising little quail. After about 4 days of hearing male quail around the property we heard a female call one morning. Since hearing the female call we have not seen or heard from our male quail friend. I am hoping they found each other and are happily roosting somewhere out in the woods! Until next time..............!

TRES PALACIOS BAY AND SLOUGHS - CENTRAL TEXAS GULF COAST

2008-05-11T08:53:00.000-07:00

Had a chance to visit the Texas Gulf Coast last weekend and this weekend for some rather rural coastal adventures. Kayaked, bird watched, alligator-watched, fished the brackish sloughs and the salty bay, bird watched some more, and enjoyed the gulf breezes. Both weekends it was fairly hazy along the coast making for slightly overcast days and cloudy weather. Several fronts have been coming in one after the other and the weather this spring seems unusually cool for Texas. The areas to the east of Tres Palacios Bay are sparsely developed and much less touristy than other Texas coastal towns making for a peaceful, more primitive experience along the waterfront. Lots of wildlife here!

In the bay a large group of Black Skimmers were congregating on the oyster beds along with some seagulls and American Oystercatchers. The Black Skimmers are very identifiable shorebirds because they are the only species in which the lower bill is longer than the upper bill. When they fly low over the water, they dip the longer mandible into the water and skim the surface to pick up small fish, snapping the bill shut on them! They are the ones with the orange and black bills.

One of the neat things about this area is the multiple brackish water sloughs that wind inland from the bay and provide a perfect habitat for all sorts of marsh critters and birds. This place is excellent for seeing a variety of birds and not too shabby for other wildlife forms too. It seems like there is always something new and different moving around in the water or back in the weeds to get your attention!!!! While I was kayaking a local fisherman pulled in an EEL on his line! That is a first for me, I didn't know we had eels in the bay!

A little later on in the day I was kicking back and enjoying fishing and bird watching near one of the sloughs when I noticed that a small 'gator had approached to "human-watch" me! He wasn't particularly scared (which did make me just a wee bit nervous) and came within 5 or 6 feet of me! A sudden movement from me sent him reeling back underwater with a large splash. I decided to find some higher ground with maybe not so many of his friends wading around- just in case they hadn't eaten in awhile!!!!

Spider Lillies were in full bloom along the slough banks.........it is a little hard to see in the second picture, but they line the banks of the sloughs and basically anywhere there is shallow standing water. Those little white specks in the second picture are the plants in full bloom. This is definitely a wetland loving plant with an exotic-looking bloom!

Most of the land on this coastal peninsula is wetlands with shallow sloughs slicing through and winding around the area. Any of the slightly higher ground is occupied by cattle ranches and fish or rice farms. Later on in the evening on this day I crossed paths with some coastal deer just browsing with a cattle herd. They weren't very skittish which allowed me a short photo session and video clip before moving on. Until next time - Happy trails!

ROSE BREASTED GROSBEAKS!

2008-05-01T12:53:00.000-07:00

WOW! Look what showed up today at the feeder!!! A male and female ROSE BREASTED GROSBEAK! They are obviously migrating through on their way to northern destinations and just stopping in to catch a bite! This is our second year for a male sighting, but our first female......

They are really neat when you observe them, they act a lot like a parrot the way they turn their heads from side to side and look around. And those BEAKS! They could probably break iron with those things. They seem like pretty calm, subdued birds but they are fairly skittish and private - at least in our yard. I got these shots through a window (ugh!), so the quality is pretty poor - sorry! Hope you enjoy anyway, especially if you've never seen RB Grosbeaks!

PUFF ADDERS AND INDIGOS!

2008-04-20T16:05:00.001-07:00

Was lucky enough to find a gorgeous specimen of a PUFF ADDER (or HOG NOSE) snake in my backyard!!! These snakes are really neat! They are non-poisonous and basically harmless, but they can look really mean when threatened. This one is demonstrating for us how they puff out their heads to look like a Cobra. And they HISS a lot too!

The funny thing about them is that after they show you how mean they can be, they proceed to

flop over on their BACKS(!) and pretend to be dead! If you try to turn them back over they will re-flip themselves and keep faking it, writhing and gasping just like they are dying! They are something to see. Of course we didn't harm this little guy, (who was actually quite BIG) but we did move him to a less traveled area of the property. Yes, he lived to hunt another day!

......On a milder, somewhat sweeter note,

the INDIGO BUNTINGS have returned to central Texas!!!! Yea! They are migrating through and we, of course, are lucky enough to get them stopping over on their way to wherever they go for the summer months. They started appearing yesterday, (April 19, 2008). We hope to have them for at least a few more weeks. This is the second year they have visited our feeders and they are welcome back anytime. They really add a splash of color don't they ??!!! And if you are ever privileged enough to hear them sing to you, you will hear this delicate yet somewhat complicated finch-type song that is pretty extraordinary. It is hard to describe but when you hear it, you will know something special is going on up in the trees! I managed a video clip for your viewing pleasure. Until next time, enjoy your adventures in nature!

GOOD BIRDING!

2008-03-09T18:44:00.000-07:00

Today was a good birding day! The weather was still pretty cool for early March in Texas, hovering around 60ish degrees and partly sunny, but not too cold for more outdoor adventures and some good birding! The first exciting pictures are of a PINE SISKIN, a cute little member of the finch family that is a newcomer this year at our bird feeders. A small flock (around 8-12 of them) has been hanging around the cedar trees and eating at the feeders on a daily basis for the last few months or so. They are friendly, talkative birds but somewhat skittish and it has been hard to get a good picture of them. I finally got one to sit still for a photo today, so here you go!

Also. several weeks back I was lucky enough to get some good sized flocks of CEDAR WAXWINGS hanging out in Post Oak and Live Oak trees near my feeders. They seem to like it around here this year and so far they have stayed for several weeks now. I have counted sometimes 25-40 at one time! If you have never seen a Cedar Waxwing they are absolutely gorgeous! They are a grayish colored bird with a striking black mask around their eyes, a yellow tipped tail, and yellow and red streaks along the bottom side of their wings that can be seen when they are roosting. They also have a tuft at the top of their head which is very distinguishable. These pictures were taken at the end of the day and from below the Post Oak tree where they were roosting, so it is difficult to see their unique coloration. But trust me, they are spectacular looking birds! Enjoy!

Winter Kayaking Day 2

2008-01-27T18:56:00.000-08:00

Any day kayaking is a good day so I took advantage of the weather once again and headed out on the lake for the second day in a row. Today I paddled a much more inhabited section of the lake and saw bass fishermen, sailboats, a pontoon boat, and some noisy, disruptive 4wheelers on land in the 'not-far-enough-away' distance. As a matter of fact, they were tearing up the rocky hillsides next to the coastline on the lake (where they are not supposed to be) instead of staying inside their free 4 wheeling area that is clearly fenced far off from the water. Since it had rained recently and the ground was saturated and muddy, 4 wheeling all over the no trespassing areas was especially damaging on a day like today. I am sure they did their part today to contribute to the already occurring coastline erosion.
But even with all of the human commotion going on nearby, I was able to hang out with some of the local fauna and relax. A Great Blue Heron let me slip on past and I hung out a while with a group of White Pelicans who allowed me to take pictures as long as I didn't get too close.

Toward the end of the afternoon while I was hauling my kayak out in one of the local parks, some young deer came out to graze near the shoreline. What started out as 2 or 3 became a whole herd and when I finally left at sundown I had counted 56 in all! I must admit, thats the most deer I've ever seen in one place at one time!

As evening closed in the sun set across the lake. Another perfect ending to a perfect day.

Winter Kayaking Day

2008-01-27T09:16:00.000-08:00

It was another great day for kayaking today, Jan. 26, 2008. The wind was calm and the water was too! Those two factors don't happen often so I like to take advantage of it when I can. The temperature was right around the upper 50's which was a bit cool, but the sun warmed everything up. Paddled to a lesser-visited portion of the lake usually only accessed by boat. It was so quiet and peaceful! Only the sounds of a few birds singing and some shorebirds crashing the top of the water now and then diving for bait fish. There were plenty of deer tracks along this sandy beach and tons of flint rocks piled up for arrowhead combing. No humans around at all (except for me of course). Did I mention how nice that was? Peace and tranquility was really the theme out here today.

Hiking / Jogging Sam Houston Nt'n Forest

2008-01-18T21:47:00.000-08:00

January 11, 2008.
A beautiful afternoon in Central Texas and a chance to hike/jog the Chinquapin trail in Huntsville State Park! It is located in the beautiful Sam Houston National Forest. This is one of my favorite hike/mountain bike trails in East Texas and also one of the first places I ever mountain biked (so I am partial)! The piney woods are spectacular here, and a mecca for birds. The Red Cockaded Woodpecker lives in
these woodland areas, and although I did not see one of them today, I did get a visit from a Yellow Bellied Sap-Sucker and a few Goldfinches. Here is a picture of the Sap-Sucker from afar......

The sights and sounds here are a welcome escape from the all too close metro areas of north Houston and I-45. Even in all the glory of these preserved forested areas you can still hear the faint drone of road traffic and the airplanes cut into the peaceful silence of this sanctuary way too often. Regardless, I still love this place with its sandy soils, hilly terrain, and piney woods smell. An afternoon in paradise......