Sofa in a Wheat Field

Early Morning Vulture

I jumped up and waved my arms; I hooted and hollered; but no amount of complaining from me made this fellow move his cold wings from my tree after spending a frosty night above my porch. 

Camera Settings Lessons

      Ronda gave a photography lesson today. I count her among the rare instructors who have an innate ability to explain something easily to a student. I asked her if I could receive more lessons from her, for I enjoyed the class and learned new and creative ways to make images.

Students attentive to instructions. 

Students "chimping" and discussing camera settings.

Below, I show our experiments with ISO 100, f5.6, and 1/200 sec.

I tweaked the light and contrast in the top image.

Small Hoodoo

     Small hoodoo at the edge of a pond and cow path in a wheat field. 

Bellies of Cedar Waxwings

     I appreciate gazing up at cedar waxwings at the end of the day when they roost on a nearby branch.

Bindweed Clumps

       Spring is when I give myself more time to arrive at places, for I take time to stop to make images of the flowers, to look at them, to admire their colors, to marvel at nature. Just think: We humans are part of nature! 

       Today I accompanied Paul and two young men to a wheat field. There, they picked up stones, and they placed them in a trailer. In picking up the stones, the young men encountered a copperhead snake, several scorpions and other arachnids, and a wood rat. 

       "Don't kill anything. Don't kill anything," Paul told the young men.

       I admired in Paul his respect for other living things. 

       "We don't live long enough," said Paul, "So we don't see the consequences of our actions." 

       Look ahead at our descendants and what they will find during their lifetimes. I hope it is healthy.

Garden Walk: White-throated Sparrow and Turkey

       Of all things, I came upon one wild bird that would 1) remain within range of my long lens, and 2) pose for my camera. Another wild bird, a turkey, responded to my presence in characteristic fashion, by jumping up and flying away. The turkey, though, did give me a long look, as if curious and attempting to determine what I was; and having decided, flew away.
        Thanks to Paul and Nila, I have interesting walks in my garden, more so than usual. The native plants they planted attract varied wild birds and insects.

White-throated sparrow in a wisteria vine.

Turkey in my oak tree.

Nikon D7000, ISO800, f5.6 1/200sec, aperture priority, Tamron 70-300mm f4-5.6.

Bindweed

Purple Ground Cherry

     According to Grevata Ajilvsgi, in her book Wildflowers of Texas, the purple ground cherry, shown below, "performs well in extreme drought." The cracked soil around it complements the image.
   

Mexican Gold Poppy

      

Locoweed Thriving

     The one little locoweed plant I've watched for a couple of weeks thrives in its sunny spot on the cliff.

Monarch Butterflies on Lantana

     I am delighted to say that I saw eight to ten monarch butterflies within fifty feet of where I stood in Archer County.
     Press on, Monarchs!

Pink Funnel-Lilly

Androstephium breviflorum

Pink Funnel-lilly after a rain over Archer County, Texas.

Swallowtail Pipevine

       MyMrMallory spotted it first, then I, and eyes as wide as saucers, stared at it. He stopped the truck, and I still amazed by the beauty of this butterfly, jaw dropped, composed myself, then raised my camera to take its picture. 

   

Buckeye

The tree that Charlie planted two years ago flowers every spring.

Soon to Bloom . . .

. . . and I wait with enthusiasm . . .

Poppy-Mallow After a Rain

Puccoons for Ysabel

I dedicate this photograph I took yesterday to Ysabel. 

Asteraceae, a Yellow One

       I've discovered, of late, that flowers take more time to research, much more time than birds. Thousands of one family of flowers may exist, leading to thousands of pages to peruse, delightfully, and time-consumingly! Below, I show a drop-covered daisy in my garden after a rain fall, a whopping (for these parts) one-and-a-half inch of moisture. 

       

          Now, back to the books to discover which astereceae this one is.

Sphinx Moth

The native plants that Paul introduced to my garden already bloomed and attracted insects and birds.