An advantage of having a pond behind our house is that I can spend ample time observing the wildlife that comes here, and there is plenty to learn from them! I am featuring the Green Heron (Butorides virescens) this week. … Read More

Lens-Artists Challenge #350: Zooming The featured image is one of the first images I captured using the zooming ICM technique. That was back in 2022. I really enjoyed the results I obtained. From time to time, it’s fun to get … Read More

Just as I did a year ago, today it’s time to shell-ebrate World Turtle Day (May 23). This year, I focus on the Red-Eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) or Red-Eared Terrapin. These are a subspecies of the pond slider (Trachemys … Read More

The Black-Necked Stilt (Himantopus mexicanus) is an elegant aquatic bird in the Americas and Hawaii. Its bright pink legs are proportionately longer than any other bird except the flamingos. They measure around 13 to 17 inches (33 to 43 cm), … Read More

Lens-Artists Challenge #349: The First Thing I Thought Of… I did a double-take when I first saw this scene at the Leonabell Turnbull Birding Center (Port Aransas, Texas). Does the duck think no one sees it? Well, maybe so, as I … Read More

On one of my recent bike rides along the Brushy Creek Regional Trail, I enjoyed the results of some rain we had. Besides the creek having plenty of water (see a previous post), there were also several wildflowers. One, in … Read More

A common perennial shrub in Texas, the Texas Sage or Cenizo (Leucophyllum frutescens) is known by many names, including Purple Sage, Silverleaf, Texas Ranger, and the most unusual name, Barometer Bush. That last name comes from the fact the bush … Read More

After so much rain in our area this week, when the skies cleared, I took advantage of the perfect weather to bike in one of my favorite new trails, Brushy Creek Trail East. Watching Brushy Creek flowing strongly was my … Read More

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center created the National Wildflower Week back in 1987. It is the first whole week of May celebrating “the beauty and importance of native wildflowers across the United States,” as the Center writes. Although several … Read More

Today’s forecast looked alarming and included a tornado warning all day. Fortunately, there were no tornadoes reported in and around our area. However, we did get plenty of rain and some early fog. During a short break from the rain, … Read More