Travel & Places
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*Contest Winner* Five Lined Skink
Our contest winner is Christine who I figured might be the first person to guess. Honestly, I thought this would be trickier than it ended up being! Next time I will crop it differently to make it more difficult! The other morning I was doing some QC on some trash lines in the forest when I looked down over a smashed pine log and saw the skink just sitting there. It’d been a chilly morning but I wasn’t going to take my chances so I took my initial “I saw it” photo and then decided to try to get closer. It worked! These little guys/gals are quick and are incredibly…
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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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Nature in the City: Tandy Hills Natural Area
Ah, Tandy Hills, a wooded oasis in the middle of the Meadowbrook neighborhood and the not-so-nice area of the east Ft. Worth Lancaster area. I am still in wonder of how I never knew this place existed until last March and I grew up driving right by the place just about every other Sunday when we went to visit my grandmother for Sunday lunch. If you haven’t been here I highly recommend it. There are lots of trails to walk about, the area is very hilly and there is even a playground for kids. We did see what appeared to be a homeless persons camp so you might want to…
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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…
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(Windy) Wordless Wednesday
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Texas Road Trip: Palo Duro Canyon State Park
I think my favorite state park we went to was to Palo Duro Canyon. It was so beautiful and red! This photo is Chris up on the Lighthouse Peak. It is a 3 mile hike out to the peak and not too rugged in my opinion, but then again I have varying degrees on what ‘hard’ is now with a hiking trail. The only issue is taking enough water since there is not any water along the trail and it can get very hot out there. I highly recommend taking this trail as you will also go by the Capital Peak as well. There was a lot of wildlife along…
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Ballooning above Plano
Chris’ mom got us a ride on a hot air balloon on Friday morning for the Plano Balloon Fest. I was leery of going because of some previous accidents in which I was thrown out of some boats and some really bumpy airplane rides, but the ride was pretty smooth. We didn’t go far or high due to zero wind and I wasn’t that appreciative of the guide bumping the treeline on purpose, but it was fun to see. I definitely wouldn’t do it again but if you don’t have issues with heights I’d would suggest going!