Bird Festival Trip With Jo – April 26 to 29, 2013
Jo and I went to the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge Songbird Festival in April. We each took three classes and garnered some good information and great views of sunsets, birds, wildflowers and so much more. On the way back, we stopped at Pedernales Falls State Park and Don’s place in Smiley. The highlight of […]
Red-bellied Woodpecker Nest No More – April 2, 2013
Nature can be cruel at times. I was so excited to watch these two Red-bellied Woodpeckers toiling away to build a nest cavity in a dead tree (thank you beavers) at Lake DoLittle. I was planning to visit often and take photos hoping to catch a youngster peeking out of the hole to be fed […]
Owlet Moth – March 31, 2013
At Lake DoLittle, I saw these pretty little creatures for the first time. They were feeding on the nectar of a Hawthorne tree’s flowers. I thought they were some type of tiny butterfly when I saw them resting, but in flight, they looked more like a bee. Strange little critters and very difficult to photograph. When I looked them […]
Brazos Bend State Park – March 30, 2013
Jim Stevenson, director of the Galveston Ornithological Society and a professional bird guide, led a birding trip at Brazos Bend State Park. Jim was a wealth of information on all of the birds we saw and he managed to catch a few snakes for us to study up close. Jim quizzed us on the foot of the […]
Rough-legged Hawk – March 1, 2013
Finally on my third trip to the west end of Galveston, I spotted the Rough-legged Hawk that birders had been squawking about for several weeks. I was on my own the first trip and didn’t see him. On the second trip, a crowd of birders with their spotting scopes and binoculars were searching. We never […]
My Afternoon With the Pearland Bald Eagles
Intro On February 17th, I was fortunate enough to spend a few hours with the Bald Eagles nesting in Pearland, Texas. This is the second year for the young adults to use this nest. Last year they raised one chick and this year they have two chicks in the nest. It was quite a thrill […]
More Photos From South Texas Trip
A few more images from South Texas … Estero Llano State Park Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge South Padre Convention Center area South Padre – Gulf Side Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge
Our Birding Adventure
It's a long read - Go get a cup of coffee... INTRODUCTION My sister Jo and I packed up the truck and headed for South Padre Island for some serious birding – well, as serious as two rookie birders can get anyway. One of my goals was to see the Flammulated Owl that has been […]
Hugelkultur
What is it? Hugelkultur is a German word to describe a gardening technique that requires little to no watering and no fertilization. It also takes care of those fallen trees, branches and other yard waste. There are many websites describing the technique, but this is the one I’ve used the most: Hugelkultur Link Most websites […]
Light Up The Night
To intentionally swing burning steel wool around sounds a little like pyromania, but when it is for a good cause – Night Photography – it is perfectly okay. Well, that is if it is done with a lot of safety measures in place. The technique has been around for a while, so there are countless […]