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. 

The Big Thicket Raptor Is Back Surveying The Tree Damage

Today, finally, I spotted the ole boy high atop his favorite tree in the Big Thicket. After a bit, he took flight over the hillside ticket east of the tennis courts and points south. I could see him diving low and then come up and ride the updrafts then back down in a swooping dive. He most likely was hunting. I could hear the crows squawking  then saw five of them doing their, "this is my ground buddy!" squawks. As I drove from Buckner up the hill at Peavy and made the loop down into the park, over W. Lawther to the cottage at the Big Thicket. I parked and walked over to the edge of the grove where the Red Shoulders and the Owls have shared for a couple of years without fail. I was about to give up and walked up closer to Buckner, finding the tree that I had seen from Buckner earlier. Sure enough, there sat the ole boy eating lunch. What a welcomed sight that was.

There was a fairly large group of people sitting on blankets. Nothing wrong with that, but they had dogs--maybe three---and the ole boy was quiet uncomfortable with the barking and the kids chasing the dogs so close to the big nesting tree. That has been one of the things that is a concern, especially at this time of year when nesting and mating are close to happening. The last thing I want to see is for the ole boy to relocate at such a critical time. Or worse yet, the increased pedestrian traffic would cause the pair to abandon the nest with eggs. That would be disastrous.

Still, there is hope that nesting will take place as in the past without any trouble. The guys from Parks
and Recreation are aware that it's nesting time there, especially with the big tree being down for a couple of months. The guys have so much work to do  this time of year and with the past two floods already this year, there is tons of wood on the floor. They are going to give it their best shot to get the tree removed before much longer and I, for one, greatly appreciate all their work. The guys are two great crews--one for West Lawther and one for East Lawther. The do such a great job helping to keep the park in order.

In fact, there was a guy today that was shooting the pelicans and finches, from Delaware who commented about the trash in the Dixon. He was surprised to hear that there are volunteer groups that work picking up trash and were even out today in large numbers with the bill board date of January 12th not until this coming weekend, it shows that people do care and were working in support groups even today. They are much appreciated, too!

Cited from Buckner Road

Mr. Squirrel with a very high post to observe and take in sunshine.

Just finished his lunch, He's back at has normal spot when the mate is on the nest--although that hasn't happened yet at the old nest. But, he's back in the neighborhood. That's a good thing.

A Lovely Late Fall Day and a Coyote Attack on a Runner

It was a delightful day to be out. The sky was that China Blue color and the colors that are left in the trees were amplified and stood out like boulders. 

While I always look at the stand-out spots where both red tail and red shoulder hawks watch over their territories, Not one did I see, today. Usually, I will see one or two flying or hunting or just sitting on their chosen standard---a tree, a telephone pole, a light tower, but no such luck today. Some what strange, I might add.

On the way in, I stopped at two stores for short, fill in-type purchases. Not much---just a couple of items that popped up in the Tuesday mailer that I have been waiting for. When home, I took my folding chair out on the porch and spent another hour in the sunshine before coming inside until tomorrow. It is forecast to be even warmer tomorrow at 75 degrees.

Shooting has slowed somewhat. I have had a lot published the past two to three weeks that are beginning to show up in both the portfolios and in sales. The transition into winter will start in a couple of weeks and I am already working on what those projects will look like this year. I would like to do more portrait work this coming year but that is a separate animal that once you create, you have to feed the beast and I have my hands full already with the stock and urban expanse images that I enjoy doing.

Tonight, on the local news, an aggressive coyote attack a runner on a trail up in the Frisco area. Ironically, just two weeks ago I had shot both a large male and a female that were only about 2 miles apart. Both were stalking and aggressive. I had spoken with a park ranger about it because I wanted to know what I should do if I encountered one while walking the trails for the fall colors of leaves. He had said to me to call 911 and ask for animal control to relocate an aggressive animal. It didn't answer my question about if you were attack. The runner in Frisco required surgery following her attack by that aggressive coyote.

The problem is stemming from the massive amount of building that is going on that is talking away their underbrush runs  where they normally will stay shy to humans, but when they loose that habitat, they get aggressive out of fear and break in their routines of hunting. It happened about two years ago when the first big surge of building started. Then, it subsided for a bit as the animals adapted to the new runs they were able to make.

It always amazes the different birds that hang out with the pelicans.

Berries and tender shoots that remain had two squirrels filling up their tummies!

There are only three females hanging out with the boys!

However, unlike the surge of building two years ago, this latest surge has not let up and to that end, the runner was attack in the Frisco area.

The Heat

Today was the 16th day of 100F or above--mostly well above. Here is the official National Weather Service Record at DFW International:

June had 4 days of 100 degrees F.

July 1 @ 102F
July 2 @ 100
July 3 @ 101
Then----

July 14 @ 100
July 15 @ 100
July 16 @  101
July 17 @ 104
July 18 @ 106
July 19 @ 108
July 20 @ 108
July 21 @ 109
July 22 @ 109

The rest of this coming week will be at 100 to 104 and it will not be until next Monday that we see temps fall back to 95.

Traditionally we get 18 days of 100-degrees F a year. It's just not as oppressive as this has been.The overnight temps never fall back below 80 and this morning, it was 85 just starting the daylight hours off.

Still, I have started out early and head for the barn at 4 hours or 100 which ever comes first. Tonight, I went outside at 9 to watch the space station cross Dallas, but the heat was still at 103 at 9 pm. Plus there was some blotchy clouds right over the path. I could see the moon and the evening star but the space station which at this time of year is usually visible for 6 minutes as it crosses the sky, was obscured.

So, I came back inside not so disappointed ---just glad that 6 minutes went so fast. There were lots of pictures to submit from the week after editing. Some interesting ones so be sure to check out the website's last tab and click on the portfolio under those that are linked. I do not have Dreamstime linked and  Featurespic and Alamy are listed on the blog so click that on as well.

I have been down to the Convention Center twice as Mary Kay Seminars began on Friday and run through August 4th.

This is next to my Kroger store. A lady stepped on the accelerator rather than the brake and drove into the Dry Cleaners. It was reported that she hit some equipment as well and that was the reason for the HazMat Crew Once they arrived on scene, the police and fire truck left and went back into servcie.

The is not your average cell tower. It sits atop a massive high tension power line net work which is like twice as high as a normal cell phone relay tower. But, the most amazing thing here is that all the Purple Martin Swallows (the largest of swallows) are lined up on  the lightening wires but if you go to 100% you will see as many inside the reply pods on braces, wires and even on the relays at various points. In short. There are birds all over the place within the structure. The monk parots normally nest there in the winter because of the heat it generates. They were flying around chattering like crazy and  were not happy that the martins had taken over.

 

This bunny I found today. It is the second one that I have seen this week and birds have been highly successful as well. From the Road Runner at the National Cemetery to the Red Tail Hawk chasing the crows out of his territory yesterday. SO, I can only conclude that the hot weather has had its effect on nature's critters including the snakes that have tried to get to cooler places. I almost stepped on a 5 footer a couple of days ago. Snakes do good things for enviroments, but they are not my favorite little helper. I would just as soon to not see any.

A Visit To The National Cemetery

I lift up mine eyes unto the hills.

Dallas Baptist University Campus on the south side of the cemetery,

It has been a while since I have been out to the Dallas Ft Worth National Cemetery. I made the trip this past weekend. It always gives pause and is a place to renew thought. You might say that it is a catharsis of one's soul.

Before starting the trip, early Sunday morning, loading up the car and talking out the garbage, the day got off to a surprising and inspiring start. There were two red tail hawks on the back fence. It was a signal of how the day was going to unfold and I could feel the rush of excitement almost from the very sighting.

My departures are almost like a plane being tugged out away from the gate; that controlled taxi  out to the runway;getting clearance to take off. Then, as you build speed, you are waiting for that first feel of  free flight as the laws of physics lifts the impossible into the air. In other words, it's a slow process getting into the air. My driving is like that. I have no need to rush to the next stop light and wait for the ones that I just passed to pull up along side at the light. I would rather just pace my speed and keep an even flow in my driving.

When I finally turn onto Mountain Creek Parkway and start the curve around Mountain Creek Lake, it's like a peaceful mist falls over me as I near the entrance to the cemetery. The cemetery sits on an escarpment that rises above the parkway. Dallas Baptist University Campus is on the south side of the cemetery and across the lake just off I-30 sits the unmissable  AT&T Stadium of the Dallas Cowboys.

Still, to go there and walk among the rows of tombstones brings a clean and refreshed view of though and understanding about life and humanity. To me, it's always been a way to clear out the thought process making room for a higher level of understanding in the meanwhile.

Trying to hide behind the pole in the center, sits AT&T Stadium in Arlington across Mountain Creek Parkway and Lake in the distance.

On my drive down the main causeway from the front gate the second wonder of the day  happened when a real life road runner  raced up the hill chasing a lizard. Meep Meep and all echoed in the quiet of the morning. Around the bend was the most red cardinal that I have ever seen. The bird was stunning. A bunny sitting in the shade of a tree was on the next section and a very docile Scissors-tail fly catcher set on a section marker posing for the camera. He even moved his mouth. Opening and closing, turning front to back. So, the early morning forecast of an unusual day began with the pair of red tailed hawks on my back fence, ushering in anticipation;long before I arrived at the cemetery. It could not have been a more perfect day spiritually.

It's Nesting Time Again.

There is a pair of Red Shoulder Hawks that I have followed for the past five years. Even on the days where I don't go specifically to the lake, I will drive by the area from the upper road to see if I can see them surfing the thermals. Today, was one of those times when all the bells and whistles went off as I drove by a road sign and saw the female sitting on the top of the sign.

 Quickly, I made the block and came back around  from another angle. To my surprise, there she sat in the same place on the sign top. Putting the window down on the passenger side before I came to a full stop, her attention was on me but her focus was on the ground below the sign. I had a clear shot of that area. Even without checking settings, I fired off three quick shots for reference. Then, in a flash, she takes off from the sign and glides over the grass area between the shoulder and the incline were I was parked. Into the grass she landed. For a quick bit, I had begun to wonder if she had been injured. She stood up  with a field mouse in her beak. I had gotten the shots of her in a final moment of a hunt that was successful. The next thirty-eight minutes was just amazing as she flew off over the road into a thicket of trees. I decided that I could not miss this action and gave in driving around to the entry of the park about a mile or two away.

Parking the car, I got out and slowly walked into the thicket watching for shadows on the ground and any movement in the trees. Nothing. It was at that point that I wanted to get a fix on the location of the sign where I had seen her first and  where she had flown this way. Walking quietly and slowly through the thicket, I came up on the road from the opposite side from where I had been in the car. Walking down the roadway on the shoulder with traffic whizzing by has plenty of room to walk and not be in an unsafe spot. My intentions were to walk around the thicket and come back to my car  that I had parked in one of the lots. For some reason, I stopped to photograph the sign from across the road when there was movement in the corner of my eye.

Looking up, there was the most amazing hawk in just the right spot doing just the right thing. Perched on a branch in clear site, she sat there while I got off plenty of  images. The sun was back lighting her right side (anatomically correct) so I risk moving and upsetting her, but she continued to sit there watching me. I do talk to wildlife. She got the, pretty bird routine. I moved back and forth several times covering and recovering 20 or so yards. She continued to just sit there on her perch. Then, I hear the screech of her mate from overhead. I looked up to see him appearing to be ridding the thermals, but in reality, he was busy defending his territory as I found out later when the aerial battle began.

There was a Red-Tail Hawk along with the Red Shoulder. Both were attacking a pair of big crows with sticks in their mouths in mid air. It appeared that the crows were starting to build a nest in the hawks territories and they both joined in the fight to defend the range. I have a blur shot of one crow in flight with the stick as nesting material and at least one of the hawks. I'm still learning how to switch back and forth from pre-set settings and those images are more blur. I am always amazed that I can shoot jets coming in from 130 to 170 MPH and not blur an image but something about real birds gets me excited and I blur the images. I'm still working on the problem. But, to me, at this point, the experience is captured in clean shots and the blur shots all the same. That tells a story, too!

It was a good day and I came home.

The Field Mouse Is No More

The Female Red Shoulder Hawk that just  finished  the mouse.

The Male Red Shoulder had to defend his own territory from the crow after the Red Tail drove the crow into the Red Shoulders Territory. Boundaries are Boundaries!

Remote Publish #2: Just Birds---The Feathered Kind

Black ring bill seagull

Double crested cormorants

Cormorants have no oil in their wing feathers so that they can dive. They need to dry the feathers afterwards.

The Monarchs Are Looking Good....

and the other are showing their stuff, too! I've seen as many as five different flies on a goldenrod plant plus a wasp, honeybees and a hornet. To me, it's more than just amazing that Monarchs every 4th generation (the longest lifespan so they can migrate) is 6 to 9 months while the 1st through (pick up below the last image to continue to read)

Don't forget to click on any image to get them to enlarge. These are best at 100%.
 This golden rod is loaded with butterflies, moths, hornets, wasp, honeybees. The Monarch's have just started to arrive. They came in on the cold front we got Tuesday but the numbers are beginning to show strength now, as well.  There were some that I wanted to shoot but that's for another day.

The bees are amazing, too!

Check out the pelican on the far right. He was so tired from the flight in from the Canadian Border, he has his sleeping head on the back of his fellow pelican. They are so comical. That is what I love about these pelicans.

3rd generation only live up to 6 weeks and they head north from Mexico in the spring producing  both the 2nd and 3rd generations along the way.

But, they can be spotted so easily fluttering along at a pretty good clip. I watched one today for many minutes as it made it's way down the road in almost a straight line. Thinking to myself how this butterfly half the size of my palm would fly 2500 miles to hang in clusters of thousands on trees in the mountains of central Mexico all winter.

There were some awesome shots of tree leaves today. My favorite, the Sycamore, just does not have that lush tan to brown to beautiful leathery brown that they have produced the past several years. But everything is a trade off it seems. When one lets you down, another lifts you up and such is the cycle of nature.

A First For Us Today

It's hard to be modest at times, but we try very hard to be modest in our accomplishments. Today, one of our images was celebrated in a way that made us smile with some degree of pride. The thing about this event today is that we actually got to see it take shape in real time and just stopped what we were doing and watched it play out on our site. And to the parties involved we can only say,"Thank You" for the confidence and vote of support in our work. Again, "thank you" to those who know who you are. Our customers are our heart beat and it means so much to us to have you as customers and agents in step with our mission. When all three come together in harmony, it's a celebration for all three.

In the meanwhile, here's some more bird pictures

A songbird fledgeling

The family of Turkey Vultures with last years and this years fledglings. The near right and left of the inflow allowed two big carp to swim inland.When the water receded the carp were left high and dry and soon died. The vultures are nature's garbage men and these two each have one of the carp they are working on. These are the same birds seen thermal riding over the marina area and sitting on the light post along Mockingbird and Flag Pole Hill.

See the Osprey in flight? Two years ago there was a nesting osprey, then last year, I didn't see one at all. This early January, I spotted the osprey coming across the lake from  Mt. Vernon area. It seemed to have favored the woods around Poppy and Sunset Bay. An would you believe---there it is hugging the treeline. The white on the head with the bar markings can sometimes be missed by the most experienced 'bird watchers'.

New Red-Tail Hawks: This Years Fledglings

As previously stated, it was not my intention to turn this blog into a bird blog. However, it seems that a lot of focus has been on the darn birds. My eye does pick them up much more quickly now and that could be the reason. However, this morning, I had gone to McDonald's for carry out coffee rather early for me and as I was heading out the back way, it was almost instant that I spotted a young red-tail on a soccer field. I stopped, backed up and parked in front of  the gate, which blocked my view. Quietly, I got out of the car and stepped up to the gate where I could get my lens between the wrought iron  bars and started shooting. Almost instantly, another one flew by me and up into a tree.

The one in the tree began calling and I thought that it was to the one on the field, but then, mom comes sailing by. So, in short order, I had three red-tails that I am watching. Some pretty interesting stuff was developing and I  moved to another spot for a better shot. The one on the soccer field took flight to the roof of a shed. Now, from there, I can see both. Shot a few stills and then turn to the other and do the same. Mom, as it turned out, was at the senior assisted living facility at the end of the field up on the roof where there is a widow's railing.

Fledgling Red-Tail Hawk. Pretty white stockings.

The one at the very top is #2 fledgling. #1 that was on the field flies to the roof of a shed, then flies to where #2 was sitting. #1 is the lower one. There is not much to hold on to.

A better view of both fledglings. Mom is over on the roof railing of a senior citizens assisted living complex.

Today Was Think Day While Testing Settings

Some of you know that up until about eighteen months ago, I had been a loyal Nikon man. Between my Nikon and the Olympus, it was the Nikon that I grabbed as I ran out the door. But, because Nikon wants to push me to upgrade, it seems that they have no other solutions to my software problem and I have not run across a Nikon body that has been reconditioned.

After being forced to use my smaller Olympus with less glass than the Nikon, much to my surprise, I have "fallen in love with my Olympus" and will probably put my glass on the market and the body. Any revenue I will plow back into additional equipment for the Olympus. In fact, they are telling me that they will be coming out with a ring that will allow my glass from the Nikon, to work on my Olympus. The current problem is--of course-- the motor drives are not synced or compatible from one maker to another. (You really don't think that either maker engineered it to be that way on purpose?). I defer that answer to a later date--like the year 2250.

So, with T-shirt and shorts (again) I wondered the lake a couple of times looking for the big birds but not any of their favorite haunts revealed the birds whereabouts. So, thinking about some up-coming projects and the increasing hot weather already, it's going to be an interesting spring and summer and that is not good for me as the meds warnings clearly tell me that I should avoid extreme heat and the things that go with being dehydrated and heat exhausted. Like yesterdays post, my favorite temperate is that 65-70F range.

A couple of song birds eating berries were the sum of the afternoon pictures outside of a pair of mallards that floated out from underneath a dock walkway. (Don't forget to click on an image to enlarge)

Song Birds Eating Berries

Pair of Mallards most likely will build their nest in the reeds, but these flood rather qickly.

 

Wait! I'm Not Done With 2016 Yet!

Yes, we have all heard the old adage that, "time waits for no man"; brilliant statement since time always moves forward, but I get the jest of its  meaning. The problem with that also is that I don't always work at most efficient speeds and creating imagery tends to cause me to slow down even more.

The local weathermen had been advertising for nearly a week that the coldest weather of the past two years was about to invade north Texas on Saturday.The past week had already been a roller coaster of temperatures with one day in the 60s and one day in the 30s and so on and so on during the course of the week. But, Saturday was to be the cherry on the banana split, sprinkles on the ice cream, the marsh mellow floating in the hot cocoa. It was going to be in the upper 70s.

The thing about that was also the yippee dippie weatherman advertised a 52 degree drop in temperatures with an immediate shift in winds to the north as the cold front passed. No, it was not going to be one of those frontal passages and the next morning you feel a little chill. This one was going to strike and strike quickly. Within less than a couple of hours of the passage of the front. It did give cause to pause. Might want to think about this before you head out, I though. Take the jacket. Add the scarf. Run the errands before being creative with the camera. It was kind of fun to start to go into blizzard mode again (if you ever lived up north during a severe winter, you know that mode well).

It was amazing to see people in tank tops and shorts and sweating in mid December. Amazing because some of these would no doubt be surprised to be shivering before their chosen activity was over that day. People just do not listen or pay much attention to weather that is negative. They only listen and pay attention to weather that is favorable to their cause. In other words: people only half listen today (have you noticed all the white ear buds growing out of every ones ears?)  Just look at one of them in direct eye contact and just move your lips. The face look you get as they pop one ear bud out of their ear is how cartoon animators got that "look" in some of the best cartoons of the 50s. Sure, ear buds were not even an ideal then, but there were ways to produce that same look of being highly annoyed. There it is---that word that I was looking for. Annoyed. Yes. That is it for sure.

When I am not looking for birds, or trees with that special look of fall, I am usually looking to see what the City Park workers are doing. They do a super job at keeping the lake in amazing shape on a daily basis. Sometimes, they have extended projects that can or cannot turn into something special. But, to ignore them or blow by them like there is a 5-alarm blaze somewhere else is a great disservice to them as individuals, their jobs that go unappreciated with every bottle cap or plastic bottle that I see floating and bobbing in the water, or the crews that keep the grass cut as the seasons progress and the prairie grasses turn golden or wildflowers come up and they mow around the wildflowers. That is not to mention the loss of all the tree limbs from age, disease, rot, storms, wind, or what may come next.

When the city takes down one of those magnificent trees, the stumps get painted red. There is a crew that comes along and drills out those massive stumps into sawdust mulch. Saturday, I had stopped and gotten out of the car to look at a recent drilling. It wasn't that long ago that I had shot that tree because it was one of those top 25 trees with character that grow at the lake. Now, I'm looking at the place where it had stood watch over the north shore of the lake for years older than I am at this writing. What that tree witnessed over the years would be an amazing time capsule of humans on earth, most likely.

Any who, I stopped to talk to a man that walks the lake daily with his dog and holds a like interest in those amazing trees that grow around the lake. In fact, there are more people that hold an interest in the trees there than those that cut themselves off from everything around them but some birds. Don't get me wrong here. I like birds. I'm just not obsessed with them so much as to get somewhat hostile when a family comes along with a bag a bread to feed those birds under the sign that says, "don't feed the birds" and then explains why you should not feed the birds. In a way, to me that is...it is... karma at its finest! I have to chuckle and turn away. Imagine a grown man or woman with a three-thousand dollar camera and glass foiled by a young family, kids and a couple of loaves of bread and sees that family as an invading army. Share the lake, people. Life is to short!

The lake walker and I walked together to one of the new trail benches overlooking the lake and sat down and talked for nearly an hour. I could not help but notice that the sky was filling in with clouds and I also had in mind the ETA of the cold front. Long story short, Us 'ole

The astonishing color

The cold front nears and a 50-degree drop (after the fact) hit within two hours of this shot. 

 

 

 

 72 degrees at 12:53. At 23:53 it was 22-degrees.

The paved trail is to the left. The short cut path has long been here.

tree hugger  parted and went in opposite directions. There was still some time to get some great creations focused onto the mirror before the Polar Vortex struck.  But, time waits for no man.

Sweeping Up The Dust

Well, this morning, we were able to call the remodeling of the website complete and while we are still sweeping up a bit of dust and picking up a few scraps and leftovers here and there, our main website has been published and is up and running.

We found a bunch of things that really needed revamping where codes had become corrupt by hook, crook or default. We cleaned up the last one of those this morning. Been so busy, the second cup of coffee is still in the coffeepot!

We don't do encryption because when you link to the sites that handle ordering information, they are secure sites already. You can always tell by the little padlock and the http {S}  If we sold directly from our site, "yes, by all means we would be encrypted" . We don't ask for your credit card info or your social security or anything like that. That is the main reason for encryption in the first place. The shadowy stuff, we want no part of anyway, so we keep the site open. It is prowled by a company that searches for our images that have been hijacked from our site. If they find one of our images that have not been licensed by us or by our agents, then they will be knocking to collect the license fee. If you use an image that we licensed through our agent or any of the stock houses we use, you already have that license and we know what image we have licensed. So..... subscribing to the the old theory, "keep it simple, stupid" we do!

We sincerely hope that you enjoy reading our blog and our little dry humor here and there. Yes, we will ruffle a feather or two now and then. Look at our latest image on the blog about the Love Birds--Hawk Style and even the hawks feathers were ruffled. Imagine being those hawks and having 100 photographers pointing a camera at you all day. By days end, you would have some ruffled feathers,too, and not just from the wind.

This month has been our best month for readership ever. We are pleased about that. We hope we have made a few smiles, provided you with a look at nature in the Dallas Metroplex as well as keeping up with some new buildings or sights or transportation changes. Since we started our site and reflecting back on old images, many of the things we photographed are not even there anymore. The biggest example is, of course, Texas Stadium, the previous home of the Cowboys. More subtle things have changed such as the relocation of the Union Pacific Big Boy to Frisco from Fair Park and Reunion Arena that was used to house those displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Time moves on and photography captures the past. It makes history visually which stirs emotions both good and bad. It enhances the mind and it quenches the human need and want for more.

So, until next year or the need to revamp the site again. You can revisit the navigation and learn how it can take you to our other sites if you want to expand you viewing pleasures. At the beginning of this year, we have over 3,000 images accessible from our main website. Our image totals per week are running right at 1,000 images. Obviously, not all of them make it to the web .Currently, that's about 0.07 percent after edits for one reason or another. Sometimes, we accidentally shot the ground if our bag hits the sh

346-1F119841 White Egrets

346-1F119822 Cormorants

utter button. Yes, that counts in the annual total of 51,078. But we have fun!! That's the main thing when you peers like David Bowie begin to appear in the daily obit columns. Of if you see us out and about and you think we are mad or grumpy or irritating.....perception on your part might be totally wrong.  We certainly hope you can find both joy and enjoyment on our site. We do this for you, or readers!

Three, Four Birds

Buteo Lineatus

Great Blue Heron

Lake Stock

Yesterday, was a low cloud, foggy-type day. When you consider that we see the sun way more than most places, it seems like we have had a lot of gloom-type days recently. Still, life goes on and you take it in stride and wait for the sun to shine again.

It was the second day to see the coyote out hunting. I found the place where the red shouldered hawk (oops sorry, I would not want to misrepresent the species... but hey, it was a red-shouldered hawk) claims his territory. In the past several days, he has been in one of three places.

What was so interesting was that the hawk and the coyote were near the same tree and in the one tree that I had done a post about (Haunting old trees of White Rock) a Great Blue Heron stood on the top of the tree. The coyote was hard to spot at first. Only movement gave him away. He was after a mouse or a vole or some type of rodent. And, he would pounce on it, then pounce again as it made its get-away. Interesting to watch, as the hawk and the heron were doing the same thing...watching the coyote.

On the other side of the lake, the  water birds were following the fish and drifting. The contrast against the grey low clouds as the dew points and air temps were close together, also gave a backdrop  that made the contrast of bird feathers and colors stand out. So, it wasn't a bad day for viewing wildlife forms. The day before, I was talking with one of the guys from the water filtration building as the coyote was in the meadow of the old fish hatchery. He had been watching him from the parking lot in front of the filtration building, too. A couple, on a nature walk caused the coyote to duck into the thickets and disappear that day. When I ask them if they had seen the coyote that they had just passed they said that they had not but that they had heard him moving. So the verify was upped to three humans plus me.

The old and very efficient Red Tail Hawk was seen on 78 at the Arboretum parking lot where the drive to Winfrey Point begins. As I was turning, he came in to land on the old tree on the corner. His wingspan is massive and his tail fan was at least as wide as both hands with fingers spread apart and thumbs touching. I parked and walked back but he was chased out of the tree by a tree full of starlings or black birds. The limb where he was did reveal a great hanging bird's nest, however. It was one of the largest that I have seen at White Rock. (You get the picture, pardon the pun.) My focus was on the Red-Tail. So, it was a gloomy day but great for watching the reds at White Rock (red-shouldered [medium size] and Red-Tail [Large size]). Have not seen any Kestrel's (small) hawks, though. Another day. Another discovery. I'll include the bird nest on another post. It is an interesting display.



09Jan2016: edit birds to bird's

Walgreen's To The Rescue

Sea gull at Sunset Bay

The plumage is amazing

 It was in the 70's today. Even in Texas, that is a gift in late January because February really can be the coldest month of the winter. I get cabin fever after about three days in the house. So, when I discovered that one of my prescriptions was due for refill, I logged on and submitted the request to Walgreens. This morning, I had an email that my prescription was ready for pick up. Perfect!  An afternoon under the blue sky and sun. With a stress-test coming up shortly, it will also cover a cardiac walk and exercise. Sweet!

Subject matter was a bit limited, but along came a co-operative and curious sea gull. They really are beautiful birds. There must have been five or six photographers all looking for something interesting and for a rare winter's day, nothing was happening today.

 

A man walks  his dog and a woman rest in thought.