Count your chicken! We're taking over!

These clouds will suffocate you

2012-01-17T10:54:00.000-08:00

Updated Website

2012-01-08T21:36:00.000-08:00

(Juvie Red-tailed Hawk )

Oh hey. I updated my website. Took a while (mmm, like more than a year). But check it out if you so desire: Jill Wussow Photography

Shorebirds, more of 'em.

2012-01-05T16:10:00.000-08:00

(Above: Sanderlings; Below: Sanderling and a Ruddy Turnstone)

This may be the last blog for a little while, not sure when I'll have ample internetwebs again. So soak it all up! More shorebird buddies from Anahuac NWR. (Below: Black-bellied Plover stretching it out; Western Sandpiper; American Avocet)

Shorebird friends

2012-01-03T15:32:00.000-08:00

These guys are from Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. They've got things to do, people-birds to meet, places to go... (Black-bellied Plover, American Oystercatcher, and a disheveled Willet)

Last Four (2011 Best of- Part III)

2012-01-02T07:59:00.000-08:00

Okay then, here's the last four chosen ones. I figured 10 was an appropriate number, no? Hope 2012 is a big fat fancy happy year for everyone!

1. Female Painted Bunting, Leakey, Texas. She posed real nice. Real nice.

2. American Lotus in Northern Mississippi. I could take photos of these things for hours.

3. Texas coast sunrise. So it's really not all that spectacular, the photo I mean. But it was a pretty fantastic sunrise. On the Texas Coast. Not often that I see pretty landscapes there, so this was a little exciting. (it was also absolutely freezing!)

4. Green Anole, Eastern Mississippi. Glamour shot! I love finding these guys and they love having their photo taken. It works out well for all of us.

Salamanders Smile! (2011 Best of. Part II)

2011-12-31T07:53:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah, here's three more of my 2011 favorites.

1. Marbled Salamander from Eastern Mississippi. If you don't smile back at him, I will question if you have a heart. Because he's smiling. At you.

2. Milkweed Pod from Middle Tennessee. Action pod. Kinda cool.

3. Magnolia Warbler from Middle Tennessee. I realize it's a bit of a flat photo, but when a warbler sits three feet in front of you snarfing bugs and posing like this - well, it's kind of exciting for a bird photographer. Kinda.

Stuff I like. (2011 Best of. Part I)

2011-12-29T16:12:00.000-08:00

Yeah, get on outta here 2011. You go now. Am I supposed to be doing the whole 'best of 2011' thing. I think so, the blogworld tells me so. Though I don't really like being told what to do. So here's three of my favorites for now.

1. Yellow-rumped Warbler. From Concan, Texas. This is possibly one of my favorite bird photos I've taken, errr, ever. Because lookit. Just look at him. A soaked, fuzzy ball of bird, doesn't really get a whole lot cuter than that.

2. Shiny shit. Or rather, bubblets. Bubbles? Leakey, Texas. It makes me happy.

3. Tiny monster. In the Saturniidae family, I know that much. Also in Leakey, Texas. He will haunt you in your sleepy and confused times. Also looks like a phallic garbanzo bean, which totally freaks me out.

Northern Parula

2011-12-26T15:16:00.000-08:00

What a fancy lad.

This was a lucky, lucky photo. I was taking pictures of some other warblers (Magnolias, Black-throated Greens, Yellow-rumped, etc) and was a bit overstimulated. This guy landed about 7 feet from me and I swung my fat lens around and took this one and only shot before he booked it out into the wide open world. It's one of my favorite warbler photos. World Bird Wednesday

Whooping Cranes!

2011-12-25T10:07:00.000-08:00

Check it out. I saw some Whooping Cranes (one of the rarest birds in North America) at Aransas NWR, they're awesome. (!) I had seen two last year but they were so far out I had to hurt my eyes to get any kind of look. I saw 17 total this time, a few flyovers and the rest were foraging. Cool stuff. I finally spotted a family group not too far from the road, in the recent burned area (think they burned it just 10 days ago or so). The photos aren't great but I was just happy to get to watch and admire these guys for thirty minutes with no one else around. (Nice!) Also happy you can actually tell they are Whooping Cranes and not little blobs. Pretty sweet. The juvie (with the brown) was adorable. And you'll notice they have no leg bands. I love them. Oh yeah - happy holidays and all that jazz, eh?

It's surrounding us. It's everywhere.

2011-12-21T20:10:00.000-08:00

Oh geez, quite the sky there over in East Texas, eh?

Tern my way

2011-12-17T10:00:00.000-08:00

It sings because it has a song.

2011-12-16T14:51:00.000-08:00

Above: Forester's Tern dabbling with something kinda creepy (not a sharp shot, but cool pose)
Below:Tri-colored Heron and a not-so-sly Seaside Sparrow

Did you wonder of my existence? Cause I'm still around, it's magic. Here's some more from the recent Anahuac-ing. Below: a really orange female Vermilion Flycatcher and some snuggly White-winged Doves

There's some birds. Here's some birds. Birds.

2011-12-01T08:36:00.000-08:00

Took these a couple months ago. A month ago? I dunno. Sometime in the recent past. All from Middle Tennessee. (Black-throated Green Warbler, Black Vulture, Northern Flicker, Eastern Bluebird)

Tern 'tude.

2011-11-29T12:16:00.000-08:00

(Royal Terns)

Maybe god is god, maybe the devil is me.

2011-11-28T22:12:00.001-08:00

I kind of want to stick my head into this agave and let it consume me. Let it suck me into it's realm. Destroy me. While I'm busy doing that, you should check out this link: Salt in the Wound. My facebook friends, I know, are probably completely sick of me mentioning this song but I can't help it. I'm into it. And by into it, I mean ridiculously in love with it (and Delta Spirit themselves). I will watch it/listen to it for hours on end and be equally as moved as the time before. I ran 14 miles the other day with this song playing for I think 6 of them (seriously). If you get bored (lame) go to 5:09 and especially 5:32. If you don't get it, I'll probably be offended. But maybe this doesn't speak to you like it does to me. Oh yeah, I sound crazy and I don't really care. Pardon my non-teenage angst.

Some of this. A bit of that.

2011-11-28T10:51:00.000-08:00

Pretty things happen in the Hill Country. It's true.

More from Anahuac

2011-11-24T19:31:00.000-08:00

(Above: Forester's, Royal and Caspian Terns. Below: Black-bellied Plover)

Yeah, Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge is cool. Probably you should check it out if you haven't already (Tucker? Duh?). Although, I guess, really, not all of these are from Anahuac itself. Close enough though. I'm not gonna sweat it. If you haven't had the glorious chance to hang out on the Texas coast, well, you'll be disappointed. I mean, the birds are good, yes sir, yes ma'am. But you'll be terrified, horrified, maybe mesmerized in a twisted sort of way by the amount of gross you are surrounded by.

(Above: my tent and Vladimir, my badass civic who knows how to get stuff done. Also, a juvie Brown Pelican embracing it all)

But really, let's not get me started on that right now. I'm already looking for a fight. The birds are totally cool and the beach is a total disaster. I'm trying to be positive. (Also, sorry i've been out of the loop in checking out your blogs lately. Haven't really had internet access the last couple weeks!)

(Above: Neotropic Cormorant, Ring-billed Gull and Sanderlings being all cute and stuff)

Shrike Monsters

2011-11-21T18:35:00.000-08:00

I finally managed to snag some photos of a Loggerhead Shrike recently. I went to Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge (on the Texas Coast) a couple different weekends in the last few weeks and there were quite a few of these guys hanging around. They had taunted me in the past so I was kinda happy to get some sharp photos of 'em.

Found some of their gruesome food caches too (a fresh vole kill and an old one, yikes). I saw one snag a wasp or two and cache it in an old snag, kinda cool. World Bird Wednesday

I'm around(ish)

2011-11-20T21:56:00.000-08:00

I'm still alive, people. More or less. I've been hanging out in the Texas hill country for a bit. It's been needed. This is the mighty Guadalupe River near Hunt, Texas. One of my happy places.

Cover Shot

2011-11-04T10:32:00.000-07:00

Yes, this is me patting myself on the back. This photo of the Tufted Flycatcher (from Big Bend last December) made it on the cover for the current journal, Western Birds. I'm kind of pumped about it, not gonna deny it. Just a thumbnail size shot of the cover so there's a little bigger version above. Sweet! (by the way, i'm not really 'of' starkville, ms, just so you know)

Daily dose of cute

2011-11-02T10:31:00.000-07:00

I know Yellow-rumped Warblers aren't terribly exciting to birders, but I don't care. This one looks especially cute and he makes me smile.

One two three go.

2011-10-28T08:44:00.000-07:00

Okay, here you go, in case the snake eating a frog wasn't the first thing you wanted to see...

World Bird Wednesday

Hey, there's a frog in your mouth.

2011-10-26T14:30:00.000-07:00

Whoa. Kinda gnarly, huh? Forgot about this guy (Texas garter snake, I'm pretty sure) - found him in South Texas in May, working hard to get his meal down. It was a little difficult to watch, but he's gotta eat. By a "little difficult" I mean really rough. The frog was alive the entire time, which was about 20 minutes, eyes open and making noises. Oh boy.

I'm a wandering soul

2011-10-24T07:16:00.000-07:00

Listen to this song, it may be my new theme song.

People C'mon by Delta Spirit

Butter Butts (II)

2011-10-22T16:32:00.000-07:00

Been a while since I've posted these guys, eh? So here's some Yellow-rumped Warblers for you. Back in Tennessee for a bit and found these guys over at Radnor Lake. They weren't too obliging and were staying pretty high up snarfing the crap out of the sugarberries. Mmmm, what a tasty treat. World Bird Wednesday

Over there

2011-10-20T11:54:00.000-07:00

Been thinking about Southern Utah a lot lately...this is from a while ago (summer 2008). Maybe I'll head out that way to play soon, hmm...been East of the Mississippi River a little too long. Skywatch

Tennessee Warblers . . . in Tennessee and Mississippi

2011-10-17T22:47:00.000-07:00

These guys are everywhere right now, everywhere! You know, they've got places to go. World Bird Wednesday

I crave the desert

2011-10-16T08:34:00.000-07:00

Mix and match

2011-10-14T07:52:00.000-07:00

A puddle full of good stuff.

Weekend Reflections

Hey look at me, I'm a Magnolia Warbler and you're not.

2011-10-12T09:45:00.000-07:00

I was in the Nashville area the last week and while walking around my parent's lake stumbled on a mixed warbler flock. It's been a little while since I've geeked out on birds, so I did a little of that. There were seven different species in the tiny woodlot - Pine, Magnolia, Tennessee, Black-throated Green, Nashville, Northern Parula, and Yellow-rumped.

I managed to snag some pretty good shots but got a little perturbed when the battery died...meh. The flock seemed to be a decent size and I was surrounded by warblers for a while. They were at eye level and only a few feet away a lot of time, but behind really brushy stuff and crazy hyperactive. There were some bugs that just seemed to have hatched and the birds were going to town, snarfing them up.

So here's some Magnolia photos (couple different birds I think) who were strutting their stuff in between intaking hoards of buggers. (you can see the bugs stuck on the bill in that second photo). Below was the spot this one kept going back to - lots of bugs in that spot). Here's a link to another post about Magnolia Warblers - got pictures of the 3rd country record for one in Trinidad and Tobago a couple years ago. Sweeeeeet. Nature Notes

What's that coming over the hill?

2011-10-06T07:11:00.000-07:00

Camera Critters

Western Scrub Jay

2011-10-04T10:43:00.000-07:00

World Bird Wednesday

Yo, bee.

2011-10-02T15:47:00.000-07:00

What do I have to say here? I can't identify bees, who do you think I am? An entomologist? No, I am not. Macro Monday

Daily Dose of Cute

2011-10-01T09:30:00.000-07:00

From Mono Lake last summer. These Belding's Ground Squirrels offered up some way too cute photo ops. (There are more of these guys if you search for them in the sidebar).

My happy place

2011-09-28T20:24:00.000-07:00

Mushroom Rock! Frio! The ranch! I miss you!

Skywatch Weekend Reflections Weekend in Black and White

Yellow-throated Vireo

2011-09-26T19:06:00.000-07:00

Here's another buddy from Texas, a Yellow-throated Vireo. He's all fuzzy and smooshy and stuff but check out the photo where he's ripped that bug in half and is in the process of snarfing him. So vicious! I still love 'em. World Bird Wednesday

Look at the tiny.

2011-09-25T10:22:00.000-07:00

I come across the little guys pretty often. The gecko is from the Texas Hill Country. I initially thought he was a baby Texas Banded Gecko but I guess he's a Mediterranean Gecko. Either way, he's my buddy. I found him in the sink at this cabin we were staying at for field work. It was one of those big industrial sinks and he couldn't get out. I helped him out (and he dropped the end of his tail, oops) and then he jumped out of my hands.

I couldn't find him and figured he'd jumped on the ground and could find his way out (there were a lot of holes in that kitchen cabin). About an hour later, in a different cabin, I was getting my stuff ready for work the next morning and felt something crawling in my dress. The gecko was on my boob. That's right, on my boob. I almost squished him (yikes) cause he felt like a spider or something. So once again, he jumped off me and he booked it underneath my bed. There was no way to get him but again...lots of holes and I assumed he'd let himself out.

The next morning, I got dropped off at my field site (about a 30 minute drive on rough roads). I got out of the car and bent over to put my boots on and said: "What the hell, there's a scorpion in my boot!" The scorpion turned out to be the freaking gecko - again!

Obviously, he's my new spirit animal. Or at least my spirit gecko. I mean, COME ON! I finally was able to get some pictures of him with my point and shoot and found a rocky outcrop for my gecko friend to make a happy new home.

So the other guy...I don't know what he is other than a miniature and adorable dinosaur. I stumbled on him while mountain biking in North Carolina. I stopped for water and found saw this guy nearby. He ran up my bike tire and on crawled up my arm eventually. Super cute. I like cute stuff.

A black hallelujah split the night

2011-09-22T17:34:00.001-07:00

(More Mike Scott words)

Weekend Reflections Weekend in Black and White

Baby Snapper

2011-09-20T14:02:00.000-07:00

Wordless

Oh. zarks.

2011-09-19T12:43:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, spent a couple days in the Ozarks (Missouri part, not Arkansas). While they were certainly pretty, they didn't make my jaw drop. There was a pretty massive storm that started the second we got the tents up, which kinda sucked.

The next day was nice though. Went for a short jaunt in the woods and then I took my car and bike in search of some mountain biking trails. This didn't work out quite as planned. Luckily I didn't get too lost in the sketched out boonies (some serious meth labs happening, nothing different than Mississippi though). Though the Ozark Trail information is full of shit! I asked a few of the local inbreds (no offense anyone) for directions and was invited into a couple uninviting situations ( I declined).

Yeah, anyway. Eventually I ran into a law enforcement guy on a dirt road I shouldn't have been taking Vladimir (my ancient, beloved civic BEAST) on in the first place and he was nice and helpful and gave me useful directions. So, finally I found a bike friendly (uh, kinda) trail and hit it up. Pretty sure no one has been on that trail since it was constructed (whenever that was). It wasn't really what I was used to for mountain biking, but I made it work without any serious injuries. It was about 9 inches wide with a lot of downed trees and approximately 12,433 spider webs going across it.

Despite pulling spider webs and and spiders themselves out of my various orifices, including deep inside my nostrils, I had a good time on the trail. I rode under 2 adult Bald Eagles and had some really nice looks at them. At some point, the not so reliable Ozark Trail just decided to cease to exist. Totally disappeared. I heard some little crying noises nearby so I dropped the bike and wandered around in the woods for a while until I found the culprit - which ended up being two baby squirrels. Well hot damn! It took me a few minutes to recover from the cute attack.

One of them was on the ground and his eyes were closed but he wasn't newborn (as you can see in the photo). The other one was halfway down the tree. I could see the nest at the top of the tree, so they hadn't gone far and they were both in good shape. I read somewhere that they'll do that and the moms will carry them around, so I felt better knowing that. I was glad I had my point and shoot with me for pictures of the little guy. He's pretty freaking adorable, isn't he? Outdoor Wednesday

(Above, really? REALLY??)

(below: liquor and guns - the best combo!)

Eastern Amberwing

2011-09-18T16:48:00.000-07:00

I was all up in this guy's face for about ten minutes, watching him chow down on some tasty treats. It was pretty fascinating stuff to actually watch him gorge on bugs. Weird! Awesome! Macro Monday

My good friends

2011-09-16T14:27:00.000-07:00

I miss my Golden-cheeked Warbler buddies. I'm pretty certain they miss me also.

Camera Critters Scenic Sunday Bird Photography Weekly World Bird Wednesday

linger...

2011-09-13T15:27:00.000-07:00

Weekend Reflections Weekend in Black and White

Happy turtle time

2011-09-10T17:53:00.001-07:00

Baby turtles. They make me freaking HAPPY. And when I say happy, I mean, like, really really happy, teary-eyed happy. Cute stuff makes me cry, ya know? Here's a red-eared slider I found earlier today. He was pretty little - probably hatched around May or so. Soon after I found this guy, I almost stepped on a newly hatched snapping turtle (photos of him later). Baby turtles are one of my favorite things in life. Possibly even on my top three list of favorite things in the world. So, given my two bablet turtle finds today, it was a pretty good day.

Here's some waterfalls.

2011-09-06T10:45:00.000-07:00

Transylvania County. Sweet name huh? Here's some more photos from the Western NC trip last month. Transylvania County is known for it's mass amounts of waterfalls (over 250). Susan and I checked out a bunch of them, biked to a lot of them. (Most of these are all from my handy little point and shoot since mountain biking isn't really ideal for lugging a nice piece of equipment around, ya know?) Anyway, good stuff. Miss that place. Freaking miss some mountains, yo.

Daily Dose of Cute

2011-09-04T18:05:00.000-07:00

This Black-crested Titmouse took bath time really seriously. World Bird Wednesday

In Your Face.

2011-09-03T11:52:00.000-07:00

This is a female Eastern Pondhawk. She's not bad looking. You've noticed a severe lack of wordy nonsense on the blog lately, huh? Yeah. I'm not all that chatty right now. I got stuff to say, just don't feel like saying it. I've still got a hoard of Texas photos to throw up there though, I should get on that...

It's been a bad day. Please don't take a picture.

2011-08-28T18:48:00.000-07:00

Feel the Sky Blanket You

2011-08-25T11:30:00.000-07:00

Skywatch

Drink My Soul Dry

2011-08-19T09:52:00.000-07:00

(thank Mike Scott for the title)

Black and White Weekend

Art Loeb Trail

2011-08-17T13:48:00.000-07:00

This is a pretty sweet trail (in Western North Carolina, in the Shining Rock Wilderness). So sad that we didn't get to pound it all out because of some gnarly storms coming for us. Ever since The Incident, I have serious issues when it comes to lightening. I made the executive decision to book it on out of there when shit got ugly. Though Susan and I have discussed and we're gonna go finish that trail at some point, dammit.

Anyway. We did get to spend quite a bit of time and miles on said trail and it was pretty awesome. Didn't see a whole lot of people and had the place mainly to ourselves. It was really overgrown and not so much maintained, which is fine, but I did get annihilated by some bugs because of it. Worth it though. Skywatch

Blue Grosbeaks

2011-08-14T21:14:00.000-07:00

(Male above, female below)

World Bird Wednesday

Here, There, and Everywhere.

2011-08-11T20:18:00.000-07:00

What the hell? I disappeared yet again it seems. Tx-Ms-Tn-Nc-Ms-Mo, more or less. I will not NOT be nomadic. Handle it. The usual, that's fine. I spent the last week in Western North Carolina with my buddy Susan. We went to school there (Brevard) many moons ago and it had been way too long since I'd been back for any quality time there. Time well spent, my friends. Excellent mountain biking at Dupont State Forest, a fun paddle on the French Broad, some good hiking in Shining Rock Wilderness. The list goes on. I needed all of the above. More later, but that is the quick update. I'll be in the Ozarks this weekend - more bike love I'm hoping. I'm gonna rip Hans Henry (said bike) to pieces. Out of love. There you have it. My World Outdoor Wednesday

No, he did not give me leprosy.

2011-07-27T14:10:00.000-07:00

That Awkward Stage

2011-07-24T12:18:00.000-07:00

Well then. If you thought the scorpion and her babies were weird, you might soil yourself over this guy. I mean, you can't deny this thing looks insane. It's out of control, really. I may have had nightmares about this caterpillar. I couldn't eat garbanzo beans for a few weeks because uh, it's head looks like one and that totally freaks me out.

But, I feel a little bad talking about how much of a freakshow this dude is. He can't help it and seriously, he's pretty rad. If I were a caterpillar, which I'm not, by the way, I'd very much like to look like him. Who is he anyway? Good question. I know he's in the Saturniidae family but other than that I'm slightly confused. Polyphemus? Cecropia? All I know is that in the near future he's gonna look something like the moth below (the white balance is a little funky in those shots), which is quite impressive. A looker, for sure. Macro Monday

Nashville. Tennessee.

2011-07-20T09:11:00.001-07:00

A Nashville Warbler. A Tennessee Warbler. Hanging out together, how you like that? Here's a picture of them in the same frame. That's really all I've got today, thank you. World Bird Wednesday

Scorpions are weird.

2011-07-18T21:23:00.000-07:00

Don't deny it. They are. They're totally weird. Especially when they carry their goofy little offspring on their back. That's....well, it's a little freaky, a little gross, and a little awesome, and a little bit cute. All at the same time.

This one (well, two different ones) is a Striped Bark Scorpion, pretty common in Texas. Apparently, these guys have some insane mating shebang, lasting up to 36 hours. (what the hell?) and the babies are born 5-12 months later. They're born in litte sacs and after they release themselves, they crawl onto mum's back and go along for the ride. They jump ship a couple weeks later. This is the only one I've ever seen with the babelets on her back.

I didn't really see many of these guys this season. Not sure if it had to do with the extra dry year or what, but usually I'd run into them most days. Whatever, I like 'em and there's no need to be freaked out by them. Though when some of us were camping one night, I was sitting on a rock and they started crawling out underneath us which may have alarmed me briefly... (most of these are point and shoot shots, so not totally sharp) Nature Notes

Coffee Friends

2011-07-17T09:14:00.000-07:00

Sitting here drinking (shade grown) coffee and thinking about my coffee buddies, like the Rufous-crowned Sparrows - most notably...Curtis! Curtis is the most badass fledgie you'll ever meet. He attacks cardinals, grosbeaks and hoards of buntings at once. If a cowbird gets in his way, he'll smack talk it until it gets the hell out of his way. He's not afraid to hip-check a lark sparrow. He's freaking feisty, yo. He's Curtis. (that's Curtis in the 2nd and 4th photos)

Curtis hit the window one day and got a little shaken up but he, well, shook it off and after a couple days was back to his old self. Curtis is awesome. Anyway. Yeah, I kinda miss my 2 hour coffee drinking sessions with my (bird) friends. Oh, and if you're in the dark about shade grown coffee, check out this link to get in the know. Long story short, if you like birds and coffee, you need to be drinking the bird-friendly stuffs. My World World Bird Wednesday

Just a drop, please.

2011-07-15T06:58:00.000-07:00

Weekend Reflections Weekend in Black and White

Little Fluffy Clouds

2011-07-14T11:09:00.000-07:00

Well yes then. There you have it. Little fluffy clouds. Here they are. There were basically no clouds, no badass skies, from March until the end of June in the Hill Country and then ba-boom! (baboon?), the sky got all cool and stuff. But still, no rain. Skywatch

Kiowa Dancers

2011-07-13T09:10:00.000-07:00

Dragonflies don't sit still for very long, even if they're doin' it. I don't have much to say. My schedule has changed too much and my motivation has been sucked dry. I'm not used to sitting in front of the computer and being all lazy and sedentary for the better part of the day. I have no idea how people have office jobs. I would end up very self destructive. And I'm not used to sleeping more than 5 hours either. Sleep is for the weak, I have now become weak. That is all for now. Macro Monday

Yellow-throated Warbler

2011-07-11T06:18:00.000-07:00

This guy was kinda being too cute for his own good. He was having some serious bath time, and really, who doesn't like bird baths? Fools, that's who. Check him out! World Bird Wednesday My World

If you're gonna play in Texas, you gotta have a fiddle in the band.

2011-07-10T15:07:00.001-07:00

(Vino at Priour on the Frio!)

Well then, I'm back in civilization, which is always a pretty big adjustment for me. I don't handle transferring back to the whole real world thing in an extremely healthy manner. The field season was a pretty great one and leaving the ranch (as usual) was a big fat bummer. So, here's a few photos of one of my favorite places. Sure, maybe it's weird that I dig this part of Texas so much but I'm rather attached to it and whoa, cheesy, but it's one of the places I feel the most sense of place. So there, take that and run, yeah.

(Bee Creek backyard, preferred running route)

Brown-crested Flycatcher

2011-06-01T10:41:00.000-07:00

I was going to actually throw some words on this thing but there is a group of grotesquely unruly children in my vicinity and I need to vacate the library area before I snap. So. Here's a Brown-crested Flycatcher instead. Yeah!

The Whole of the Moon

2011-05-26T08:31:00.000-07:00

What bout The Waterboys? Took these a couple weeks ago with the moon was all big and bright and stuff. We finally had some sweet clouds to go along with it. Nice. (crazy high ISO obviously. Surprised these came out at all...)

In other news, I saved a male Painted Bunting last night. It was 100 degrees here yesterday and he appeared to be overheated. I blew on his cute little belly and he actually drank water from my palm which was FREAKING AWESOME. After ten minutes or so he started feeling better, bit me and flew off all healthy-like. I was pumped.

Also, this morning in the field I was holding my GPS, doing something extremely important, and a male Black-chinned Hummingbird landed on my GPS, which was in my hand. Are you kidding me? Talk about cool shit man.

Went down to South Texas last weekend to check out the birds (pics later). Only got one lifer (nerdy!), a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, since I'd seen pretty much everything down there before. Still had lots of fun though. I had my first Mourning Warbler a couple weeks ago too. Lots of good warblers in Hill Country this year, a lot different than other years. Saw a Prairie Warbler last week which was weird for here.

Mmmm. Hung out in the cave recently too. Went further than before and actually was swimming in pretty deep water. RAD! (the picture above is right before it went over my head). It was way too cool, who cares about mild hypothermia when there's a cave in the backyard. That's what I'm talking aboot!

Now I will give you some warblers.

2011-05-09T14:39:00.000-07:00

Oh hey. Here's some warblers for you. (Top to bottom: Yellow-throated Warbler, Tennessee and Nashville Warblers, Yellow Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, and Nashville Warbler)

Buntings, whoa!

2011-05-08T09:59:00.000-07:00

My feeders that aren't really feeders (more like seed thrown on the ground) have been attracting some good birds lately. Like those infamous Painted Buntings. Painted Buntings! Yeah, that's right! And Lazuli and Indigos too. And Blue Grosbeaks. A Yellow-breasted Chat and an armadillo made use of the water as well. That's cool. The Painted Buntings are everywhere, especially the females and juveniles. At one point there were 4 males and 11 ladies. That's insane. So here's some pictures of 'em. *note: it took me about 2 weeks to get a good picture of the male, so I was pretty pumped when it happened*

Eastern Tree Lizard

2011-04-28T17:05:00.000-07:00

On other notes, here's an Eastern Tree Lizard. He's pretty cool.

That's a Coral Snake

2011-04-25T14:52:00.000-07:00

Look! Look at this freaking beautiful snake! It's a coral snake (very venomous). It's kind of a badass. And they're pretty reclusive. I've only seen one other one - in 2008, less than a mile away from this buddy. It's probably a good thing I didn't have the macro on me or else I'd currently be in the hospital.

However, I was a dumbass. I pulled one of my stupidest moves in a while. While it was slowly crawling into a rock crevice, I touched it. Hush now all of you. I can't help myself when it comes to snakes. I HAD to do it! Anyway, yeah, I got lucky. Their bite is pretty obnoxious and not the easiest to treat. But, well, now I can say I touched a coral snake and that makes me feel a bit cooler.

That's absurd!

2011-04-23T10:42:00.000-07:00

(Hooded Oriole above) Hello there. Remember me? Kind of? Maybe? Well. Been consumed by some crazy long work days lately. And when that's done I'm usually outside playing, so haven't gotten much computer time in these days. Yup. (Lesser Goldfinch below)

A couple weeks ago most of the crew went to Fredericksburg, TX, which is a cool little spot if you haven't been. Some of us spent some time climbing at Enchanted Rock. Another sweet place if you're into that. It had been a couple years since I'd climbed but it was pretty rad and I didn't look like too much of a fool on the rock. (I don't think?). (Painted Bunting below!)

Been running and riding the bike a lot, plenty of frisbee time as well. A good thing since I can't really function without frisbee time. (Golden-cheeked Warbler below. But he's kinda weird, he's got that little yellow mark on his butt that Black-throated Greens have. It's a little odd...dude..is he a hybrid??)

I realize now that my attention span for sitting in front of the computer is fairly nonexistent. Don't forget aboot me! (female Black-chinned Hummingbird below)

Almost got some fangs

2011-03-30T12:12:00.000-07:00

Three days in a row? I'm out of control. Quick story for you...last week I was riding my bike up this pretty steep hill,on a dirt road that gets little use. Big hill, therefore I was going slow. I was hugging the right side of the road, near the tall grass when out of nowhere a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake strikes at me. He raises about a foot or so off the ground, goes for my exposed leg and I as I'm looking down just a couple feet from the snake's face, I have a most excellent view of his open mouth and fangs going right for my knee. Holy shit. Yeah, HOLY SHIT. ..While he was in the process of striking (this whole scenario lasts just a few seconds of course), the rest of his body has come out of the grass, and I don't mean to but I have zero reaction time and I run over his tail. I felt bad about that, but in the end I didn't feel sweat it too much since if I hadn't, he for sure woulda sunk those bad boys fangs into my leg. After I hit his tail he got out of my way and seemed to be just fine. A Western Diamondback bit probably would have left me hurting pretty good, especially since the nearest hospital is an hour away...

Yeah, so that was a serious adrenaline rush but was also, as I love to say, quite poop inducing. Sweet story huh?

Warblers and Vireos and a Woodpecker

2011-03-29T08:57:00.000-07:00

What? Whoa! Another blog! So here's some more Hill Country birds for ya, including one of the infamous Golden-cheeked Warbler. (Yellow-throated Vireo above, Golden-fronted Woodpecker below)

I've got a few minutes to give the low-down today. Which includes...well, not a whole lot really. On the bird nerd end of things, I've gotten some good ones for the area. Like Ruddy Duck, Bufflehead, Wood Ducks, Lapland Longspurs, a female Bobolink. All guys I haven't seen around here before, so that's cool. Seems like the GCWAs are starting to nest it up, so that's always exciting. Still not a lot of Black-capped Vireos hanging around yet, but it's kinda early for them. I put some feeders up by my ahem, trailer, and the birds finally found it. Trying to rig a water drip... (Yellow-throated Warbler below)

I've come across some pretty kickass fossils and rocks so far this season. My collection has increased significantly. No porcupines yet but a handful of armadillos and a jackrabbit (also not too common for this area). Also no mountain lion evidence yet either, but I haven't spent much time on the old field sites (which is a bit of a bummer). (Golden-cheeked Warbler below)

There's no legitimate crazies on the crew this year, which is surprising since there are always crazies. Always. I had a pretty traumatizing day last week which involved someone killing something in the truck. Don't really want to talk about that, so I was freaking pumped when I got to house and dog sit for a friend this past weekend. I drank wine, sat int the hot tub and starred at the mesmerizing starry sky all weekend solo. I needed that. (Hutton's Vireo below)

And then there were flowers

2011-03-28T15:29:00.000-07:00

Hey lookit that. Stuff's blooming! Kinda slowly but it's getting there. Even minus the rain. Yeah, still no rain. (Claret Cup Cactus below, about to bloom. Mountain Laurel with spider friend above. Above that ? I dunno)

It's been a long week...I mean day...so I'm just giving you some good looking blooms to check out. So there you go. (some unknowns below. I haven't seen these in Hill Country before. But I like 'em. And hope they're native)

Random Smattering

2011-03-20T10:21:00.000-07:00

(Black-throated Sparrow above) Alas, still no blog access. Still working on that one. Yup. Stuff's going well in Texas. Seems like the Golden-cheeked Warblers are thriving this year. Lots of 'em! Very good news. Saw and heard my first Black-capped Vireo of the season yesterday also, so hopefully bunches of them will start showing up soon.

Zac was in town last week and we did plenty of playing at our old favorite places .Work's been good fun and eventful but a little different than past years since we've got some field sites that are forever far away, which makes for some extra long days. That's the only thing I can complain about though - too much driving! I really want to go down to South Texas and Big Bend at some point but the idea of extra driving doesn't appeal to me right now, though I'm sure I'll need/want to get out of Real County sometime soon!

(Orange Skipperling on Mescalbean/Mountain Laruel)

Still no rain here and none in the forecast. Egads man this place needs some watering! But flowers are starting to bloom and the oaks are starting to leaf out. Check out the guy below. Impressive fellow. He was heavy!

(Huge Silk Moth above, pretty awesome guy)

There was a baby horse born a couple weeks ago on the ranch. What a freaking cutie, and he's gotten a lot more personable the past couple weeks. And curious. Love the little guy. In the below photo he's barely 2 days old. My bike has finally gotten some good use lately, so I'm pretty pumped about that. That's about it for now - wish I could update this bad boy more often!

Hey Strangers

2011-03-11T15:46:00.000-08:00

(Lincoln's Sparrow and Ladder-backed Woodpecker above)

Hey strangers. Sorry for the lack of blog bloggin' but I have to drive 15 minutes to get blog world access (blogspot is blocked where I am - what a total bummer, come on!). Trying to figure out how to get this fixed...

(Lincoln's Sparrow above)

Anyway. Hill Country welcomed me with open arms again. I've heard and seen a handful of Golden-cheeked Warblers so far, along with the other regular birds around here.I've seen a few of my armadillo friends too. Good stuff. This place needs some serious rain, yikes! Hopefully that'll happen in the near future.

Nothing crazy to report at this point, sorry not blog hopping! (Olive Sparrow below)

Texas bound

2011-03-04T08:16:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow I'm headed to Texas again. I'm pretty pumped. Not gonna lie. I missed the Golden-cheeked Warblers a lot last year, so I'm happy to spend some quality time with them this season. I'm really excited to get the hell out of Mississippi (shocking, I know) for 4.5 months but I'm going to miss Zac (and the cats) like a crazy fool. But I gotta get out of here.

And the Hill Country is beckoning me. So happy to be going back to the ranch. Looking forward to the field season and working...running, riding my bike that hasn't gotten any action lately, birding, taking a bunch of photos (just got my new lens: Sigma 50-500 OS), the Frio, the caves, friends, those sweet Texas skies and storms. Really the list goes on.

It's amusing that I'm so attached to Texas, yes. And when I say Texas I mean Hill Country and West Texas areas, and some of south Texas for it's prime birding. The rest of Texas I have no love or lust for, nope. But Hill Country...it kinda feels like home.

This friendly armadillo is Cleo. He (she?) lived near the trailers (that's right, trailers! being a field biologist is glamourous!) in 2009. I'm hoping this buddy is still around. They're pretty cute little buggers. Camera Critters

The White Mountains

2011-03-03T10:59:00.000-08:00

Bristlecone Pine land. As mentioned many times, one of my favorite places. Favorite field site ever. Skywatch

One Tree

2011-03-02T10:36:00.000-08:00

The color version of this is here, if you want to take a look. I don't have a preferred one, I kinda like 'em both. This dead tree was by the Green River in Utah, in Canyonlands National Park. (I took this right after the quicksand incident). I think it's probably a Freemont's Cottonwood, but no guarantees. Alphabe-Thursday (Utah) Black and White Weekend

Turtle Season

2011-03-01T11:35:00.000-08:00

(Red-eared sliders in Tennessee, Texas Gopher Tortoise, and Loggerhead Sea Turtle in North Carolina)

One of my favorite things about spring is turtles. Turtles! I've always loved them, all of them. I have little notes of when I was a wee child writing about "tretols." Growing up on a small lake, I'd find baby Red-eared Sliders in April and May all over the place. I'd see adults laying eggs and heading back to the lake. I'd go on daily missions (usually several times a day) to look for babies crossing the road and save them. I still do this when I'm home, obviously. I've saved hundreds and hundreds of turtles in the road. I saved my first one this year a couple days ago. So glad the little guy is safe now.

(baby Arizona Mud Turtle and Loggerhead Sea Turtle below)

Anyway. Turtles. I love all of them, even those badass snappers. I've found sliders covered in leeches and picked them off with tweezers for 3 straight hours. Gross. But it was obvious that she was thankful. I saw the look in her eye and I found her again a few days later, sunning herself. And she looked so much happier without the stupid leeches bothering her.

(Me with a Loggerhead who had just finished laying 84 eggs. She had been out of the water for more than 4 hours and started going the wrong way - not towards the ocean. I had to round up some people and help turn her around. Seeing her finally reach the ocean was a pretty cool experience. I had spent almost 5 hours with her at that point. Below is a Snapping Turtle I saw a couple weeks ago in Tennessee)

(Below: Texas Gopher Tortoise at Laguna Atascosa)

In 2005, I got to work with sea turtles (my spirit animal) on the Outer Banks. There were mainly Loggerheads, some Leatherbacks and Hawksbills too. This was my first field gig and I was hooked. I found nests and relocated them to safer places. I got to see the moms digging the nests and laying eggs. The word "amazing" is overused but this...this was pretty amazing stuff. I adore these animals.

(Loggerhead with her crawl above, below Red-eared Slider)

I could talk about my love of all things turtles and tortoises for days, but I'll keep it brief. They're awesome, they just can't help it. I get all giddy and goofy when I find turtles. I advice you to do the same. And help 'em across the road! One of the redeeming things about Mississippi is that there are a ton of different species of turtles. I gotta snap up my identification skills! Weekend Reflections Watery Wednesday Outdoor Wednesday Nature Notes

(Below: Me with 2 unidentified turtles in Mississippi, Snapping Turtle in TN and a 3-legged Slider in TN)

Mountain Goats

2011-02-28T11:05:00.000-08:00

These guys are from Glacier National Park, Montana (taken in September). Abc Wednesday (G) Wordless

Bloom Time

2011-02-27T13:34:00.000-08:00

Macro Monday Mellow Yellow

Birds in Snow

2011-02-26T16:43:00.000-08:00

Well, not heaps of snow. More like some flurries, it is the south after all. The Cedar Waxwings and the Junco (okay, so that appears to be at least a couple inches of snow) are from late December in Tennessee and the Chipping Sparrows and Cardinal are from a couple weeks ago in Mississippi. Birds in snow always make me smile. Bird Photography Weekly World Bird Wednesday

Pika! Pika!

2011-02-25T14:52:00.000-08:00

Pikas (Ochotona princeps) have been a favorite animal of mine for a long time. I dunno how I haven't dedicated a blog entry (or few) to them yet, what was I thinking!? I first remember seeing a pika in the Tetons (Wyoming) in 2007. There were a few by my campsite and this caused me to be overcome with excitement. (there was also a chipmunk who jumped into an empty cooking pot and a moose nearby. Cool stuff).

The one shown here is from the Ruby Mountains in Northern Nevada (one of my favorite places). There were quite a few pikas around- I saw at least 9 of them and heard more than that. Holy pika overstimulation!

(fresh food cache above) So. Pikas. They're not the easiest animal to see. In the US, they live in a variety of Western states at pretty high elevations (generally 8,000 feet or more) on rocky slopes near those excellent mountain lakes. They have pretty sweet homes. Unfortunately, they can't tolerate high temperatures well, and have been greatly affected by climate change. That sucks.

(above: doing the pika scream, below: Pika habitat)

Whenever I'm hiking in the mountains I keep an ear out for their adorable and recognizable scream. The first time I heard it I had no idea what it was - took me hours to figure it out. But when I did I just smiled. Side note: I can do an uncanny pika vocalization.

They're pretty social little buggers but also extremely territorial. They spend their days collecting flowers and vegetation and shoving it under rocks, creating some pretty serious food caches. They let it dry and when it's done drying, they'll move it inside to their little humble abode and snarf it up during the winter months. (below: carrying a root of some sort to his cache)

If you haven't seen a pika scramble over rocks with a mouthful of green stuff, you haven't lived ! It is seriously one of the cutest things I have ever seen in the wild.

(Pika land above)

The American Pika needs to be on the endangered list, but that excellent government of ours decided to be the asses they usually are and not list it. This has been going on since 2007 I think- looks like California is going to give it a go this year again. Keep your fingers crossed and petitions signed cause this little friend needs all the help he can get. Camera Critters SOOC My World

Boquillas Canyon

2011-02-24T17:24:00.000-08:00

I'm not 100% into this photo but here it is anyway. Early morning shadows on the Rio Grande. I'm not really in a writing mood, so if you want some interesting odds and ends about Boquillas Canyon, listen to this Npr story. (though I have to admit, Npr tends to make me yawn...). Weekend Reflections Weekend in Black and White Shadow Show

Lonesome Old Wind

2011-02-24T08:40:00.000-08:00

Lonesome Old Wind is a song by Mike Scott (The Waterboys), the greatest musician of all time. Don't even try to argue with me on this one. He's a genius and I've been listening to his stuff since I was eight years old. Yeah, I'm pretty loyal. And I got to meet him in 2007 which prompted some serious freaking out on my part. But anyway, Lonesome Old Wind seemed like an apt title for this photo. I was out in the field (Carmen Valley in the Sierra Nevada) by myself and it was kinda breezy and I got to watch one of the most beautiful sunrises I've ever seen. (click here, here , and here for other photos of the same sunrise). And I remember I was listening to this song on my way to the site. So, there you have it. Highly recommend that you listen to it. The youtube video has nothing to do with the song or the Waterboys but just listen to it. (really, listen to all of 'em) Skywatch

Big Bend, yup, again.

2011-02-23T12:51:00.000-08:00

16 December.

This was our last full day in Big Bend (sad). I guess I forgot to write a journal entry for this day, hmm. We did another desert hike but didn't get started until later in the day. The morning was spent checking out birds at a tiny watering hole we found. I spotted the Crissal Thrasher (two of them) which was a life bird, so that was all exciting for the bird nerds (us). I got a totally crap photo of it just for the record but it's too bad to post here.

I'll post the bird photos from that spot later - though I already put some up of the Hermit Thrushes andRuby-crowned Kinglet.

The hike, like everything in Big Bend, did not dissappoint and I was pretty pumped about it being 80something degrees, since I thrive in the heat. Heat! Sun! Two beautiful things I require. Let's not laugh about that hat I'm rocking. That thing is badass. It's not one of the kinda goofy ones you're thinking of, I promise. And if you saw it up close you'd learn to love it too.

Anyway, the hike followed a sandy wash, with fairly deep sand. Since it was kind of the middle of the day, there were not a lot of wildlife sightings (though we did see another Crissal Thrasher). And that is all. We went back to the watering hole later in the afternoon but there was no action so we left and figured we hit it up one more time before we left the park in the morning. Alphabe-Thursday (T, Texas)

American Alligator

2011-02-22T12:26:00.000-08:00

Watery Wednesday Wordless

Scissor-tailed Flycatchers

2011-02-21T19:35:00.000-08:00

Smitten, are you? With this badass flycatcher, Tyrannus forficatus? Well, you should be. This first guy's tail was so out of control I had a really hard time getting it in the frame. I took about 25 photos but his gigantic tail was cut off in most of them. (these are three different birds, all within 100 feet of each other)

I took these in the Texas Hill Country in 2009. But since I'm headed back there soon, I was thinking about these birds and looking forward to seeing them in a couple months again. They winter in Central America (though there's a low number of them wintering in Florida now). In the summer they hang out in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, etc. and spreading into surrounding areas after they breed. They look awesome just perching there nonchalantly (and chowing on insects) but they look pretty swell in flight too. Really good looking birds. *Side note, I had a dream about Fork-tailed Flycatchers a couple nights ago. Sigh...I wanna see them* World Bird Wednesday Abc Wednesday (Flycatcher)

Big Bend Continued...

2011-02-21T10:15:00.000-08:00

15 December.

We got up all early and stuff again, just around sunrise. Started a 10 mile hike at 0900, after a fairly leisurely breakfast. We were in the shade the first couple of miles and it was pretty cold, but luckily it was all uphill which helped me not freeze too much. Despite being mid December, there were some awesome fall colors surrounding us.

Lots of towhees, hermit thrushes and Mexican Jays, a few White-throated Swifts. Saw some mule deer also. (the birds from the top: Verdin, Roadrunner, Hermit Thrush)

Ate lunch near Emory Peak in the craaaazzzy wind. Lots of Alligator Junipers (one of my favorite trees). We got back down to the trailhead around 3:15. I wasn't done playing yet though, much to Zac's dismay.

After about 30 minutes of begging and a little bitching, I convinced him to hike 5 more miles with me. So we headed to the Lost Mine trail (a pretty popular one, but we went late enough that we only passed 4 people on their way out, yes!). Zac wasn't quite sharing my enthusiasm for this hike, but I practically ran up the trail. Sometimes my energy level concerns me. I should have been tired from the previous ten miles but nope. It was a pretty great day. We played a bunch of yahtzee and ate a scary amount of soup when we got back to the tent. Good stuff! My World Outdoor Wednesday

(Zac took this cool night/morning shot. I guess morning cause this was around 5 am I think. That's Venus over the peak!)

They're back.

2011-02-20T17:31:00.000-08:00

The Marbled Salamanders that is. As I mentioned before, I more or less fell in love with them (how can you not?). I got some comments about them being creepy but this greatly confuses me. They're like three inches long and they smile and have eyes that bug out. They're hands down cute! The two heads poking out of the hole are the same two from a couple weeks ago - only one came out this time though. It's obvious by the photo, but I did see both of them sticking their heads out at the same time. I waited about 15 minutes for them to get further enough out for a photo. Look at the dirt on their noses! Nature Notes

I went back with the macro lens this time and remembered where I found the little guys. Still hanging out, still being outrageously adorable. They smell like rubber. Weird, huh? I found a third salamander too, who I think was a female. Macro Monday

Shall I come? Or shall I go?

Mexican Jays Part II

2011-02-18T21:48:00.000-08:00

Aphelocoma ultramarina made their debut on the blog last month but I got bunches of photos of them, so alas, they have returned! Also, it's so tired in here (yeah, that's what I said) so that's all the text you get for now. Camera Critters SOOC Bird Photography Weekly

A Different Kind of Vortex Part II

2011-02-18T07:13:00.000-08:00

Here's another shot of the crazy water/entrance to another dimension. (the original post is here). All sorts of confusing shadows and reflections. Weekend Reflections Shadow Shot

Dignity

2011-02-16T16:32:00.000-08:00

Black and White Weekend

Big Bend...More Good Stuff.

2011-02-16T11:33:00.000-08:00

14 December

We woke up to howling coyotes, which is how I prefer to be woken up really. They sounded quite close so we dragged ourselves out of the tent and into the bitter cold to look for them. There were 2 of 'em less than 100 feet from our tent, nice! (top photo: Mexican Jay with a Pine nut, Pyrrhuloxia below)

I made coffee. Lots of it. I forgot the coffee press that goes with my Jetboil so I had to do some serious makeshift coffee filtering. Took longer than it should have, but it got the job done. Afterwards we went to look for the Tufted Flycatcher (that's him below) one more time. Scored again on that one - and still no other bird nerds around looking for him. (Roadrunner from later in the day below him) Nature Notes

We did a short hike by the Rio Grande, where the canyon narrows. Pretty cool spot to watch the sun come up and the shadows disappear. Wish we would have brought our kayaks...Here's a shot of the sun behind one of those big rock walls. (below: my handsome husband)

After we packed the tent up, we drove up to Panther Junction. We left our Big Bend trail guide at home (oops) so we were going to look at some books at the visitor center to find a trail. We left promptly though because the jackass ranger was there again. (This guy shouldn't interact with people. We had issues with him in 2008 also, some pompous arrogant ass. Also, he couldn't identify a Red-tailed Hawk which amused us greatly. I'll just leave it at that).

We decided to head to the mountains instead. Put the tent back up and did a short hike before the sun went down, down, down. We ran into a guy with a giant lens who said he was looking for cougars and bears...in the middle of the day?? We headed in at dusk with the hope of seeing a black bear that frequents that trail, but no luck. Great little trail though!

Smile!

2011-02-15T14:53:00.000-08:00

Marbled Salamander sporting a grin.

Wordless Alphabe Thursday (S)

Emerald Toucanet

2011-02-15T07:44:00.000-08:00

Still in the process of organizing my hard drive and I came across these bad boys from Costa Rica from 2009, the Emerald Toucanet (Aulacorhynchus prasinus). Out of the 200+ birds we saw, these were in the top 5. I mean, look at 'em. Holy fancy pants. That green and blue is so bright it make my eyes go into some weird frenzy. There were three of them that we saw, and these are two different individuals. It was pouring rain - you can tell that one guy is pretty soaked in the 2nd photo. Also, you can check out his tomia, the sharp edges you see on the edge of the bill. Those things could do some damage. You can look in the labels for a couple other pictures of these guys. I'm really quite fond of them. And Zac and and I missed out on a tropics trip this year which is making me hurt a little bit on the inside. Hopefully we'll go to Panama at the end of the year... World Bird Wednesday Abc Wednesday Outdoor Wednesday

Natural Hearts

2011-02-14T08:13:00.000-08:00

Well, it is Valentine's Day they say. So here's some natural hearts for that theme. The prints in the sand are from Canyonlands National Park in Utah (from September). How freaking cute is it that some little guy made a heart in the sand, come on! The prickly pear heart is from Big Bend, Texas. Happy heart day!

Moody Monday

Fungi. Here's some.

2011-02-13T15:21:00.000-08:00

Guess what? I don't know what these mushrooms are. Those green tubular things are just plain bizarre. Hadn't seen fungus like them before a few days ago. I'm not feeling quite up to par, so I'll leave it at that for now. My World
Watery Wednesday

Vermilion Flycatchers

2011-02-12T15:42:00.000-08:00

Vermilion Flycatchers. They're awesome, obviously. Look at 'em. Life gets a little better when they're around. These two are from Big Bend. You can find them in the desert-y southwest areas. They're pretty hard (impossible) to misidentify so Zac and I laughed a couple years ago when someone told us there were " a bunch of cardinals" in the creek. Hmmmm. Here's another shot of the same adult male in this post. I've got a couple others from Texas in my NA birds album on my website that I don't think I've put up here. (first guy is a juvie, guy in all the red glory is the adult, of course) SOOC Bird Photography Weekly Ruby Tuesday

Black-tailed Prairie Dogs

2011-02-11T20:36:00.000-08:00

While looking for Burrowing Owls in West Texas a couple months ago, we found these guys instead. Black-tailed Prairie Dogs. Or as I prefer to call them, P-dawgs! They are crazy skittish but two different ones let me get pretty close. I've been a prairie dog fan for a while. And yeah, they carry the plague. But it's no harder to treat than the flu, big deal. Camera Critters