These two Black Bellied Whistling ducks come by every morning and every evening.
They eat some of the seed I put out and stay a little while. They never seem to mind me taking their pictures.
I changed the sign while editing just for them since they whistle instead of sing.
I love these ducks and I look for them most mornings. I need to give them names like maybe Fred and Ethel. When I talk to them they just look at me like they understand.
We have so many birds in this area of Texas but one of my favorites are the small Eastern Bluebirds.
I caught them having a pool party at the bird bath. I know these are juveniles because their blue is very limited. The adults are a lot bluer and their chest is a darker orange color.
They can splash a lot of water out of a birdbath really quick. At one time there were 4 in at a time with others zipping around waiting their turn. I even saw a few adults supervising.
I am glad I was able to sneak back into the house and grab my camera to get a few action shots.
Nature never ceases to amaze me the beauty is all around us we just need to take the time to notice it.
Spider webs have always intrigued me.
Amazingly it only takes a spider about one hour to create their masterpiece of this silk thread.
This type of spider web is called an orb web and they are quite noticeable in the early morning with the dew on them.
Last week we had spider webs all in the grass and the trees in the backyard.
Just think if a spider can accomplish this beauty in one hour what we can accomplish in a day if we really try.
If you listen when you are outdoors you can hear the sounds of birds all around.
You can even learn to distinguish the sounds of different types of birds.
Sometimes you can even hear baby birds. Hawk babies are very loud when the mom and dad are bringing them food.
These pictures were taken at our daughter’s house way up high in a pine tree. There were actually three babies but only two wanted their pictures taken. Lucky I had my 400mm lens with me otherwise there would not have been any pictures.
I am going to try and get a few more pictures this week. I figure these baby hawks are 3-4 weeks old and they leave the nest at six weeks old.
Nature is all around us we just have to open our eyes to see it and enjoy its beauty.
We have been out to Brazos Bend State Park in Needville so many times over the last almost 40 years.
Last Friday our daughter Jeanelle and her 4 kids and I went out there for a bike ride. The weather was beautiful.
We saw about 20 alligators, I have no idea how many different birds.
For the first time ever we saw a family of river otters. I was able to grab a few pictures of these cuties.
We think it was a mom and two babies. As you can see in the second picture the larger one has a wound on its back. From what I have read these little boogers can stand their ground with an alligator.
Keep your eyes, wide open and nature will always surprise you with something you may not have seen before. If you are lucky you might just get a picture of it.
I have been seeing a few hummingbirds over the last week or so. I put out my feeders even though we have a lot of things blooming right now.
Today I saw a lot of them and they were in the jasmine. There must be 30 – 40 flying in and out of the jasmine. I love the sound of the flying by, the noises they make and watching them get into little spats with each other.
For all these pictures I used my 400mm lens. I spent over an hour watching the hummers and taking their pictures. These are the five pictures I liked the best.
Hummers are fast, they are quite beautiful and most of all they are tiny and a challenge to photograph.
Enjoying nature is part of my life I am inspired by the beauty and simplicity and grateful it is there for me to enjoy.
Even I can find the beauty in a weed and it’s flowers.
I love taking pictures of flowers but especially using my macro lens because it shows all the little details we might not see otherwise.
These are some of my favorite weeds to take pictures of. They are called ” Daisy Fleabane” but the flowers are truly amazing when you look at them up close.
