Fresh Fish for Dinner

Over the years of doing this blog, there has been a lot of fish gone into and come out of White Rock Lake. Of course putting the fish into the lake is a job for a Texan driving the tank truck from the Texas State Fish Hatchery. But, catching them is a sport, fun, a way to pass time, or to satisfy that taste for a fresh fish cooked that special way to suit the individual taste buds for anyone. In fact, most of those that have been heard putting down the quality of fish at White Rock has come from those that don't know what goes into testing the quality of the lake and the fish environmentally, or, they don't want everyone bringing their fishing gear to cutting into their favorite fishing hole. ( say what?)

There is a new bench at Dryfuss Club overlooking the lake above where the steps at the end of the stone wall are located. The view is nice, however, a word of caution: the birds sit above you and drop their dirt on you. One got me today hitting the lid of my lunch container squarely in the center. Luckily, I had put the lid over on the other half of the bench and it missed me and my cardio lunch of fruit, sharp cheddar and some other goodies.  While sitting here, because the light was to my advantage, I watched a silk filigree descent from the tree with many, many small caterpillars crawling up and down the filigree string. By the time I finished my lunch and got  the camera over to the area that had produced the sight, there was not many left and it seems that the ones that did reach the ground had become bird food or had made haste to hide. Visible from the new bench was also the black smoke from the 4-alarm apartment fire in Irving.

It was a good day to be outside. By the time it was time to pack it in for the day, the humidity had also arrived. Thickening clouds were evident of that fact. There was also a healthy supply of mosquitoes, also. AARGH!!!
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One of my favorites--the blue iris

See the sting of creatures descending

About a 2 pound white bass-type fish.  Nice!

Where have all the bees gone?

The afternoon started out in search for migrating Monarch butterflies on their way to their winter home in the mountains of Mexico. I've seen a few high altitude ones already but nothing where they have settled on a milkweed patch. However, there was an up side to the hunt. This is about a few honeybees that have been missing.

This is where the bees have gone; at least one hive, anyway. I like where they moved in. Being in a little white box was never my ideal of keeping bees. Maybe, the bees like wild more than controlled little white boxes.  In fact, they have just arrived in the area .Well, within the past couple of weeks. Actually, I found their food source first. Then, I discovered their new home. I'd say that they might be there for awhile. There is plenty of room for expansion. I might go back later on and take the micro lens camera since the hive is rather open. But, drawing a crowd of spectators would not be a good thing, either. It's just enjoyable to find them in the wild and spend a little time watching them work and construct and keep house and serve the queen bee. Nature in the middle of 4 million humans. Getting along is essential.