Outdoors
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Paddling at Riverbend Park
When Chris and I were planning out our Florida trip we knew we wanted to go paddling somewhere. It was a tie between the Loxahatchee River, one of Florida’s two National Wild and Scenic Rivers, or Fisheating Creek. Fisheating Creek was at the top of our list but the shuttle service to complete one of the runs came with stipulations that the water levels had to be at a certain height for them to drop us off. Unfortunately when Chris called the water was lower than needed for us to do that run, and while we could have paddled downstream or even upstream a certain length and got out and…
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Sandhill Cranes at Riverbend Park
On our first full day in Florida we went up to Rivebend Park in northern Palm Beach county to paddle on the Loxahatchee River with our friend Gator Man/Tom. At lunch time we pulled off into a large picnic areas to eat and stand up to stretch our legs. As we were sitting at one of the chickees we noticed a sandhill crane that was apparently injured. One of its legs was broken or bent backwards and it appeared to hurt pretty bad. Then we noticed a second crane off behind us on the other side of the picnic area. Soon they started communicating. It’s hard to fathom how loud…
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Four C Trail Ramblings: Davy Crockett NF | Part I
On our way home from Nacogdoches a couple of weekends ago, Chris and I decided to hit up a section of the Four C Trail in Davy Crockett National Forest. We weren’t on a mission for a long hike, just a leisurely stroll to stretch our legs and take some photos if the opportunity presented itself. Since I take photos to document the things we do in life in addition to more fine-art nature photography, I took all of the photos and Chris kept his camera in his bag the entire time. The trail is named for the land’s former owner, Central Coal and Coke Company, which in return most…
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Roost
Great white egrets have made a roost across the pond in perfect view from our back windows. I haven’t seen any nests yet so I don’t think it’ll turn into a rookery, but you never know.
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Pineywoods Native Plant Center | Nature In The City
Over the weekend Chris and I were in Nacogdoches and spent some time around Stephen F. Austin State University and their outdoor botanical parks. The first one we stopped at was the Pineywoods Native Plant Center on the north side of the campus. The directions to get there were a little sketchy for our Garmin to figure out, but eventually we found it. There was a family event going on with kids running to different stations to learn about nature—at one station I saw something called the ‘Bird Olympics’. I wonder what that was about? After walking around the front part of the center we found out there were trails…
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Eagles & Snakes
Last weekend we were working on our penny porch (more on that soon!) when a bird flew by the edge of the pond and made a distinct call. Without looking up Chris said it was an eagle. The bird landed within view in a tree on our neighbor’s property and I went inside to get my camera. My photos aren’t good, they are more like ‘proof’ photos. The eagle is real! We hopped in the canoe to see about paddling closer to the tree they were on, however I couldn’t find them despite Chris continuing to tell me ‘There they are!’ This meant that my photos turned out pretty crappy,…
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Early January at Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge
Over the weekend we wanted to get out and do something away, something that didn’t involve working on our house. I mentioned to Chris I had wanted to visit Balcones Canyonlands NWR after having seen it on the map over the last few years. It was northwest of town and not on our typical route when we visit Austin, so exploring this part of town was a nice diversion from our usual routine. We opted for the Doeskin Ranch area of the refuge as it has the most hiking trails. I’m a little disappointed there aren’tmore trails than the five-ish miles, but I bet there is opportunity for cross country…
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Reconsidering The Florida Trail As A Valuable Long Trail
This post I’ve been ruminating on for oh, probably eight months now a year now (can you tell this has been sitting in my drafts folder for awhile?). It first started out with me a little upset that a hiking blog I followed was lamenting that their hike through a section of remote wilderness ended up being on a converted rails-to-trails section of trail rather than up and over mountains as they had initially thought, therefore the trail had been flat which had equated it to being boring. And then yesterday six months ago or so, the Facebook group ‘Thru-Hiking’ reshared a photo from the Florida Trail Association and asked…
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Backyard Birds | December Edition
Top two: Bluebirds, an active group in our backyard. Third: Great White Egret Four: Mockingbird, looking fat and happy. Five and Six: Turkey vulture across the street. Love watching them fly the thermals, swooping through the air. Not pictured: the loud crows, despite my best efforts to locate them…the osprey that has been hanging around the ponds lately. Oh, and the never-there-at-the-right-moment belted kingfisher that flew by as we were picking up my neighbor’s leaves to use in our compost bin.
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Room for Rent | Owlets Wanted
Chris built a barred owl box out of old fence wood that came from his mom and step-dad. He built it on a whim over the last few days and we finally put it up in a tree this morning. I happened to be out on our balcony on the second floor this morning and spotted the perfect tree to put it in, an elm, so that it would face the balcony and we could easily see it from our bedroom window as well. The perch came from a branch Chris found down by the pond. It worked out perfectly I think. Now all we need is an owl to…