A Mandrain Duck on Dallas Waters!

About three months ago, one of the Asian photographers that takes bird pictures at White Rock Lake showed me the area and the picture of a Mandrain Duck he had photographed that day.  I have walked the recess areas looking for the duck since with no luck except to see it one time from afar and in an area where access was not possible except by boat.

Then, this past couple of days, two of the local news stations that go out a couple of days a week on location shots reported (with pictures) that a rare Mandrain had been seen in Irving. Now, since Mandrains are from Asia--half way round the world--there should not be two on the loose locally. Or, at least common logic says that there should not be any, let alone two. And, if they have been documented at both White Rock and in Irving, that same logic seems to say that it is the same duck.Furthermore, that the duck most likely slipped away from a zoo's aviary somewhere close. Well, close being relative to not half a world away at any rate.

So, while the masses were voting (I voted early the first day) and the weather was delightfully spring, it was off  to the park in Irving in search of an elusive mandrain duck. As a side bar, the duck at White Rock was seen about a week after  my Asian friend made mention and showed me the picture. Yes, his image date in-camera was checked. When it was seen, however, it was from a distance and not accessible, but it was a Mandrain duck none-the-less. It should also be noted that this photographer loves mandrain duck on the table but now having seen one in real life, ordering up a mandrain will never happen again. They are just to pretty of a bird to eat.

At the same time, while talking to a few photographers and birders on the banks of the river the reports were that no one had seen the little mandrain that the news reports called "frankie" or "fluffy" or "flakey".Whatever. Still, with some faith that luck would come my way, maybe, my walk started down the trail on one side of the river to the bridge at 6th street, across the low water spillway which was totally dry for crossing, and back up the other side of the river. The walk on down to the recreation center and the second crossover was not made this trip.  A couple of years ago walking the same route had been done with the Nikon but never shot with the Olympus and the short lens. So, with no mandrain to report this trip, at least the trip generated some stock updates which need to be done from time to time anyway. So, the trip was not a total loss.

Earlier in the morning, my live news agent sent me an email telling me that the UK dailies were very interested in the American elections and mentioned a hand full of shot types that they were looking for. Upon leaving  the Historic District in Irving my goal was to find some active poling places that were somewhat unusual or had dogs being watched while voters were inside voting but not one turned up on my route. After returning home and already changed into my comfort cloths, it was being reported on the news that some voting places had run out of ballets and lines were long. No, the sense of urgency to get those kinds of shots were not in the cards anymore that day! But, here are a few shots from the river in the Historic District of Irving.

The Shelter House. I have always thought of this as a Cathedral on the water

Under the 6th Street bridge

The first of two low water crossovers when they are dry. They are closed when water begins to overflow for safety reasons.

A Rare Find At Bachmann Lake

The Caxixi [ka shee-shee] rattle and stick

It has been years since seeing one of these in Brazil, but immediately recognized the instrument. It's a bit harder to explain  in as much as there are five parts to the instrument. So, after looking for a video on line, finally one that explains the instrument and allows you to hear the sound works best here. The link will be included after the images. The guy was very nice to confirm for me that it was, in fact, a birembau with a caxixi [ka shee-shee].Click on the link and be amazed.

Thanks to this guy, he confirmed the instrument was a birembau [beri-baw]

Up close

 Link to hear the sound generated and the instrument explained.

America! America!

dallaspaparazzo is proud to announce the creation of America! America! a creation of  American flags on a pair of canvas low cut tennis shoes! They are proudly designed in Dallas, Texas and made in America and we hope that you like them;we hope you will buy them. Most of all, we hope that you will enjoy wearing them this election year as the democratic process is now in full swing. Come on guys and gals...get the vote out in style!

Custom Low Top Shoes Printed Shoes by sam6372
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Maggie 2 Update

It's been a while since this photographer was actually on site at the Maggie 2. One, it's been two wet and two, nothing exciting was taking place after the first, or south, arch was in place. While there has been some street photography from the Continental bridge park, keeping an eye on the Maggie 2 was also happening. As in any major construction project, things do not happen by logic. They happen as a result of logic. Upon closer examination of some old shots, it was clear that the cables had not been hung or were in the initial stages of being hung on the south arch. Logical; necessary, but non-glamorous for the camera's eye.

It now appears that some of the basic prep work is now happening on the north arch and things are beginning to get exciting once again as the second arch takes shape and changes the skyline once again. One must also remember that the work on the Maggie 2 will be much different than on the Maggie 1 in as much as the design is fundamentally different (Maggie 1 is a cable stayed bridge) and the Maggie 2 will have features of a suspension bridge. There is a big difference in the two structural designs. Needless-to-say, there is at least another years work on the bridge give or take a month or two--or three! But, also remembering the good point is going to be a pedestrian and bike section on the Maggie 2 that is not allowed on the Maggie 1.

So, here are a few 'at distant' shots of the Maggie 2 (Margaret McDermott Bridge).

Maggie 2 with the north transition piece in place

The next pieces are in position to be lifted and rest on the blue towers until  cabled.

The cables on the south arch running from top to bottom under the arch to the bridge decking.

Three Footers Are For The Pros

Big Wheels

36-inches of unicycle wheel

Nice and Clear and Happy has Returned to the camera.

Several weeks ago this blog pointed out that somehow (and it is still unknown how it happened) my focus just vaporized. Some days the focus was pretty good, some days it really did not exist at all. Re read of the manual did not seem to offer up any thing that worked. The bottom line was still like a clock ticking away toward a deadline and nothing seemed to work. With the spring shooting season growing more expansive with each 70-degree day, my sense of urgency was also growing.

Then, on Monday, while still shooting and uploading images before they were deleted my Nikon software would no longer take the Olympus images that had been shot. So, on to customer service at Olympus where the problem was explained and that my focus had been distorted for several weeks. The CSR suggested that my camera be upgraded with new software downloads. At that point it was worth trying anything. So the last two days, my shooting was done from the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. It seems that shooting the cable stays against a blue sky are a perfect focus target to adjust settings. Yesterday, there seemed to be some difference but there was still a problem. Last night, the evening was spent adjusting settings which could be fine tuned today. Lo and Behold!! The images were back to normal and it does now appear to be totally a software change made to the Nikon software that had been totally messing up the Olympus adjustments. After the new upgrade on  the Nikon and then the upgrade on the Olympus software, the problem was eliminated. Sometimes, it just takes a little adjustment from top to bottom, front to back, inside and out to tune-up equipment. My thoughts are just thankful that the problem has now been corrected and my old cameras that is always at my side can continue to travel with me.

Here are some  big wheels that were in focus today!

Albert! They Have Proved Your Wave Theory! Congratulations!

Twitter is abuzz! I have seen more tweets with God mentioned in one day than I have ever seen on Twitter! But, the most interesting tweet eclipsed the news conference announcing the discovery of Gravitational Waves 100 years after Albert Einstein  said that they existed. It is an article on The Onion about God saying he was in a pretty bad place when he created the universe.

You can read about black holes online because of Einstein & Maxwell. Happy anniversary! https://t.co/ZNTVvTObAx pic.twitter.com/TX186pgtcU

— Slate (@Slate) November 28, 2015

God admits he was in pretty bad place while creating.  An article published by The Onion. An excellent article, to be sure.

Albert! You Have Always Been My Hero!

Deep In The Trinity Forest

It has been over a year since my last trip out to the new trail head of the AT&T Trail that makes a trip through the heart of the Great Trinity Forest; that makes a trip throught the heart of the Trinity River Audubon Center; that is next to the New Trinity Forest Golf Course. The trail was dry, although it has been recently cleared of mud and  debris from flooding. The trail is in the lowlands of the more than 8,000 acres of the Great Trinity Forest along the Trinity River as it flows south toward the Gulf of Mexico. It is virtually undisturbed because it  is in lowlands and a hardwood forest.Perfect for a massive forest to explore, canoe, raft as the river flows through the thousands of acres.

The first thing that was noticed after leaving my car in the trail head parking lot, along the entry of the Trinity River Audubon Center, was the putting green grass on the Number 5 green of the new golf course where the Byron Nelson is to move in 2018. Last year, it was sculptured out from dirt but no putting green grass was growing anywhere near the green itself. Also noted was the No 5 flag pin in the greens cup.

From there on , it was my first trip deep into the forest itself. Frankly, when about a mile in, the hairs on the back of my neck were standing up. It was a bit scary as no location markers were yet installed. The trail is winding, curvey and very eerie. Neither can it be imagined of me walking that trail after dark or before first light as is permitted. If so, packing more equipment and taking someone with me would be in order.  Becoming very aware of my surroundings quickly and seeing some questionable wildlife at a distance might have or could have been a threat. But, that is what nature trials are designed to be by design.

The trail will connect soon to the White Rock Trail and when fully complete will be the most awesome ride or hike trail bar none! It took about 45-minutes to  walk the first four miles, which when reversed is another four miles and another 45-minutes. This is the time of year to go before the mosquito population arrives.

Deep into the Great Trinity Forest

The Number 5 Green and Pin is the southern most point of the course with the Great Trinity behind going along the Trinity River south, still.

This is near the trail head with the No 5 pin off to the right. You can see the cement trail that makes it's wal for 8 miles. There is another shorter trail that branches off to another trailhead and parking lot that is 3.5  miles and not yet connected in a loop.