Skywatch Friday

This mornings sunrise over a marshy area in North Lincoln.


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Watery Wednesday

I had planned to head out to Kearney, Nebraska today for some Sandhill Crane watching today. Went to meet friends for breakfast before leaving, and we were having freezing drizzle. Freezing drizzle doesn't make for good driving conditions, so I'm sitting here in the warmth of my home grinding my teeth over the vagaries of March weather in Nebraska. At least I have a nice warm home to be in!

So back to Texas photos we go...

North of the Rockport/Fulton area is the Copano Bay Causeway. On the other side of the bridge (barely visible in this photo) is the original wooden causeway. It is now a fishing pier. I can't find where I read about the original causeway, but it was quite a marvel at the time it was built.


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While looking for information on the causeway, I found this site with more photos.

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That's My World!---Wildwood Lake

One of my favorite lakes to visit is Wildwood Lake. It's north of Lincoln, and just south of the town of Valparaiso.


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It's a wonderful place to sit and watch ducks and geese during the spring and fall migration. It's also a wonderful place to see songbirds.

The range of the Eastern and Spotted Towhee overlaps in this area. I have been fortunate enough to see and photograph each at Wildwood Lake.

Eastern Towhee

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Spotted Towhee

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Today's Flowers

Still no flowers to photograph here, so into the vaults we go!

This water lily was photgraphed at the Sunken Gardens in Lincoln.

The Sunken Gardens was built in 1930 on an old 1.5 acre neighborhood landfill site in the heart of Lincoln. The sunken gardens were made in a depression (hence their name) and were originally known as Lincoln's 'Rock Garden', which described their design. The project was developped as an opportunity for unemployed men to earn money to support their families through the difficult economic circumstances.
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After nearly 73 years without a major renovation, the Sunken Gardens was overhauled in 2004.

Major streets are on two sides of the gardens, but because it is a sunken garden it is still a lovely oasis.


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As the year progresses, you will most likely see many more photos from the Sunken Gardens.

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Camera Critters---Roseate Spoonbills

My decision to go to Texas in February was motivated by the desire to see a Roseate Spoonbill. I had never seen one in real life and I decided the time had come to change that.

I first saw some at Brazoria NWR.


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More Roseate Spoonbill photos.

Head on over to Camera Critters to see more critters (by clicking on the icon)

Crane Cam

Crane Cam at Rowe Sanctuary has gone live!

For more Sandhill Crane resources click here and here.


UPDATE: (as of 8pm CST March 12) According to the Rowe Sanctuary site:

We are currently experiencing technical problems with the Crane Cam and there will not be a broadcast tonight (3-11) or tomorrow morning (3-12). Please stay tuned as we hope to have it operating tomorrow evening. Thank you for your patience.

Also, it appears the link has changed, so the link has been updated. The Crane Cam seems to be working as of the time of this update.

Thanks to Sue for bringing this to my attention.

UPDATE: (as of 4PM CST March 13) Looks like they have changed the link yet again, so I've updated the link again. If my link does not work, go to Rowe Sanctuary and click on their link.

You Tube of Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese

One of the posters on the Nebraska Birding Hotline posted a link to this You Tube Video of Sandhill cranes near Fort Kearney State Recreation Area and thousands of geese on lake behind Grandpa's Steakhouse located south of I-80 in Kearney. The video is from March 4.



For more Sandhill Crane resources click here and here.

Skywatch Friday

This photograph was taken in November near Salt Plains NWR in Oklahoma.

Abandoned houses always fascinate me. I can’t help but wonder why someone, anyone, would abandon a home, especially one that looks like it was a nice home at one time.


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I love the fluffy white clouds in this photo.

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Watery Wednesday

I was sitting in my car on the beach south of Port Aransas watching, and photographing some shorebirds.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw two women walking towards me and knew the shorebirds would soon be scattering. The ladies were obviously in deep conversation. When I looked at them I was immediately struck by the contrast in their clothing. The one lady has a sleeveless t-shirt and shorts on, as opposed to the lady with a sweatshirt and longer pants. Also one has a purse and one doesn't. What I didn't notice at the time, and the photo makes apparent, is that they aren't walking in step with each other. I shot the photo just because the opportunity arose, but when I looked at it later, I really liked the contrast of the gray overcast skies, the gray Gulf of Mexico waves, and their colorful clothing.


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That's My World!---Squaw Creek NWR

Can you imagine 1.6 million Snow geese in one place, at one time?

I paid a visit to Squaw Creek NWR last Wednedsday, and that was the estimated count for the day.

Imagine if you can, driving for more than a mile and this is what you see.

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There were constantly geese in the air as well the geese in the water.

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The din from the geese was phenomenal. My dawg that normally snoozes in her bed in the back seat was sitting up and staring out the window. One really wishes at times like that you could read the doggy mind.

Take a tour around the world via you computer by visiting That's My World!