Outdoors
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Nature in the City: Trinity River Audubon
On our last break we took a visit to the Trinity River Audubon south of Dallas. Not much was going on in the way of wildlife, but it was still a beautiful place to visit. I had no idea the place even existed until a few months ago. It was cold and windy the day we were there so the wildlife was probably hiding as well. I am sure migratory birds enjoy a nice stopover here. Now some photos: The education center. It hosts an area for school groups to eat lunch, nice restrooms, and great exhibits, including a hands on build your own river exhibit. Pretty cool! Near the…
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The Woods: Part III
When I initially saw the plant there on the right I thought it was some type of coral root orchid. After consulting our Texas orchid book I quickly realized it wasn’t but was left hanging on what it actually was. The thought crossed my mind that perhaps it was a parasitic plant but I still wasn’t sure. So I sent an email off to Prem who is much more of an orchid expert than we are and I knew he’d be able to tell me what they were. Turns out we have beech drops a parasitic plant to beech trees! Pretty nifty and interesting! Parsley hawthorn What I really need…
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A Photographer At Work
Caddo Lake, Texas.
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The Big Thicket
The Big Thicket is a patchwork of forest in east Texas that is run by the National Park Service. It is similar to Big Cypress National Preserve in that hunting and other recreational uses are allowed unlike many other national parks in the system. I had been here 9 years ago in a wetlands class in college but didn’t quite remember everything about it. We went to a few different trails, the Sundew Trail, the Pitcher Plant Trail and the Beech Woods Trail. The last ivory billed woodpecker verified in the United States was seen in the Big Thicket near the Neches River. Interesting stuff! We found a black rat…
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*Contest: Name That Fauna*
Contest Rules: Take a stab at what the animal is in this photo by Friday at 6pm CST. The first person to guess correctly will win an 8×12 open edition print of your choosing from our new photo website and gallery that will be debuting in a few short days. My apologies to those who are not heavily interested in wildlife, but we’ll have another contest soon, I promise! If no one guesses by the closing on Friday I will post a second photo hint.
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Fall Thoughts
-I get annoyed when people don’t seem to appreciate the Fall that we have in the south. Sure, it isn’t as glorious with color as the northeast, but you have to take the subtle hints of Fall and run with them. The wonderful Fall blooms are still lingering, goldenrod, sunflowers, crotons (not the tropical, hideous ones)….they are there, you just have to look for them. -I miss liberal Florida. The political ads out here in ArkLaTex are very much anti-Obama and Obama isn’t even running for anything at the moment. If any Democrat or incumbent has done anything remotely in favor of Obama the ad is completely negative. They aren’t…
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The Woods: Animal Edition
I was about to put flagging tape on this sapling when I saw this snake! I’d seen his relative a few miles away earlier in the day and was surprised to see another one. I think it is a rough green, Opheodrys aestivus. I only had my point and shoot for work, not my good one so it was a bit difficult to get a good shot. I haven’t had any luck identifying this hornworm, but it was a fat, cute and squishy and needed its photo taken. The Mr. and Mrs. getting ready for dinner. The Mr. is the smaller one, by the way. A spiny oakworm caterpillar, Anisota…
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The Woods
I know, going a bit large today. You’ve gotta be able to see the whole panorama.
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The Morning Gang
Behind the scenes at Goose Island State Park, on the pier. Discussing the morning’s catch…. Friends drop by to say hello and see where lunch may be at… Hey Bob, how’s life treating you? Just fine Jim, just fine. Loving the weather, aren’t you? Guess I’ll go now, see you later!
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Turtle Love
Ah, sea turtles. I love ’em! I think the first time I saw a sea turtle was when one popped its head up for some air while I was swimming in the Gulf of Mexico off of Port Aransas growing up. At first I thought it was a sea snake, but upon closer examination I realized it was a turtle. I had no idea turtles lived in the ocean, moreoever in the murky Texas coastal waters. Then I did my internship in college and fell in love with them. Unfortunately I didn’t make an effort to get a job working with them when I graduated but I at least started…