Burr!!! and More Burr!!!!

the coldest days of the season have descended on the North Texas area of Texas which happened to have a birthday, yesterday. The birthday of statehood will quickly sink into memories being replaced by the cold. While I have lived in much colder places during the winter season, medications have thinned out the blood. Having learned to layer clothing makes it a no-brainier for me, but for some, who have just moved here from even warmer climes than we are experiencing, they are having a hard time but even as they adjust, you see people running around in t-shirts and shorts and flip-flops!! Hardy and I don't mean the boys in the novels by the same name.
My coldest winter in the Great Lakes was a minus 17 below zero. And the thermometer never moved above freezing for nearly a month. I did manage to get out today and make it to the lake. I could only find about 20 pelicans so they are getting ready to get out of here for another season. The problem is, the weather were they are going is much worse by far than it is here. So, that could keep them here a bit longer. Some 50 or more have already taken off  on the wing  By Friday, it will be in the mid 70s here with little cold seen in the long-term for the area.

While at the lake, I saw a photographer that I recognized out shooting, and I did see a red shoulder and a Kestler hawk in their regular hang out areas. The seagulls are thinning out already and some of the cormorants have hit the road already. So tides will turn and focus will shift to the hawks that are nesting followed by the mallards raising their broods. I saw a pair of mallards up in the estate sections walking in some flower beds where there is ground cover. It's a great place to nest and I noted where and when they were claiming the area.

Love Is In The Air

A beautiful aqua color collar

With the Space X arriving at the ISS today, seeing these commercial grade hoppers on the road reminded me of the space shuttle at Titusville's Cape Kennedy. Funny how things trigger memories of the past.

I'll watch for them to bring the new brood down the road and cross over the lake level road to introduce the kiddos to the water. That will be about a month away. Nature has a calendar of events just like people, ad cycles and fashion cycles maintain. When you shoot wildlife, you need to know what their time lines are and then think like the birds, the ducks, coyotes, bobcats and a few deer here and there.