Bluebonnets

 

 

 

 

Beautiful, beautiful Texas......where the beautiful bluebonnets grow..

No photo can quite convey the magic of fields filled with these fragrant blue wildflowers .. I hated to leave because the season was just beginning.

She did it again!

 

 

A great horned owl peeks over the top of a planter at the entrance to the Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas.  Last year she raised 3 owlets in the same planter. In the bottom photo you can barely see her tufts above the edge of the corner container. Dozens of people walk beneath her nest everyday. What a great view ....for her and all those who pass that way.

Happy first day of spring!

 

The leaves are still tender, the skies a bit stormy, but the Easter egg colored poppies promise more to come.

Peach trees are blooming in Texas

 

 

The peach trees are blooming in central Texas.....pink clouds on the hills. Visions of juicy golden fruit, ice cream with flecks of tart peach goodness, and crusty rich peach cobbler.....yum!

Searching for the golden-cheeked warbler

 

 

 

 

 

Searching for a tiny bird on a gray and overcast day doesn't usually lead to success. Reports of their presence here in good numbers drove me to give it a try. Turkey Creek runs through this area and  the walking trail crosses the creek 15 times. Recent rains made the trail slippery and I had to look down as much as up to avoid falling into the creek.

The endangered golden-cheeked warbler breeds in a oak/juniper woodland and seems to favor slopes and ravines. Several large tracts of protected woodland have been set aside for it in central Texas .

After hiking several miles and staring into canopy for a few hours I was only rewarded with its wheezy song, always somewhere just out of binocular range. So no good look again so far this year. But spring is still young, and I will be watching for more reports of my elusive nemesis.

I included an early blooming bluebonnet to brighten up the gray, gloomy photos. I am not complaining though because the rain is still needed so much.

A Four Planet Evening

A perfect end to the day. Four planets were visible in the twilight sky. Mars was in the eastern sky, Mercury was close to the horizon, and  Venus and Jupiter beamed over the treeline. The moon was bright enough to cast shadows though still not full. The air was filled with the scent of plum blossoms and banana fuscata, and coyotes howled at the joy of it all!

Blue skies.......

 

 ...all day long--nothing but blue skies.

Such a beautiful day! Trees blooming, sweet scents filling the air, bees buzzing....and blue skies smiling at me.