Lens-Artists Challenge #379: Favorite Images of 2025 Here is a selected, small sample of photos that show the diversity of wildlife at Berry Springs Park & Preserve. They were all captured in 2025, but I never posted them previously. They … Read More

And the Oscar for Best Fake Injury goes to: Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus). These are not your typical shorebirds, as Killdeers can also be found in parking lots and golf courses. This is a very artistic bird. When a predator is … Read More

Earlier in December, while chasing fall colors, I spent some days at Garner State Park. While hiking the White Rock Cave Trail with another master naturalist friend, we found ourselves photographing the flora and fauna we saw along the trail. … Read More

Home Outtakes Here we are, barely two weeks before Christmas, coming to our final Lens-Artists challenge of the year. As is our tradition, today we focus on photos we did not include in any of the challenges or other posts … Read More

The wait is over! It has been three years since I wanted to photograph a kingfisher. I had chased one near a pond close to our old house, but all I heard was its call. This month, I got a … Read More

Lens-Artists Challenge #376: Wings Beth is the Lens-Artists host for this week’s challenge. In her opening paragraph, she wrote, “I am challenging you to feature anything with wings.” She offers excellent examples that will certainly help you if you’re unsure … Read More

A spring hike at the beautiful Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge’s Doeskin Ranch trail often leads to unexpected photo opportunities. This wildlife refuge is just outside the Austin city limits and offers a nice view of the Hill Country and … Read More

Lens-Artists Challenge #375: Where to Find the Mysterious “Darkness falls across the landThe midnight hour is close at handCreatures crawl in search of bloodTo terrorize y’all’s neighbourhood.” Vincent Price’s words at the end of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” After an unanticipated … Read More

Whenever I think of butterflies, some words come to mind: ephemeral, graceful, fragile, and colorful. The Checkered white (Pontia protodice) certainly checks three of those qualifiers. To say they are “colorful,” however, may be a stretch. They are not bright … Read More

Lens-Artists Challenge #372: Ephemeral What a wonderful challenge Tina gave us this week: Ephemeral. Here’s her prompt: “I will start this week’s challenge with the dictionary’s short and simple definition of the word ephemeral – ‘lasting for a very short … Read More