§ Sometimes....

....it's not all about birds and birding. I do take photos of other critters, I just don't post them often. But, today since I have nothing of importance to share, I thought I'd put up some of my "other passions" besided flowers and birds. Ready? Set? Go.......One morning, walking the jetty in Port Aransas, I had to ask the two gentlemen fishermen just what this species of fish was. I had never seen a fish with yellow tail and fins. They gladly informed me it was a "Jack Fish"...Crevalle jack. I guess - once I got home, and researched them, they must be good to eat. Lucky Catch!!!

Here....lizard, lizard, lizard! Actually, it was teasing Isaiah. If the patio door glass wasn't in his way he'd consumed some lizard sushi no doubt. And I'd be cleaning up gato vomito!!

Next up was a drive along the dunes to reach Padre Island National Seashore Federal Park. When I arrived at the park's cotillion and parking lot, several deer were foraging for their morning meal. A couple stopped to watch me watch them!! So much beauty and tranquility early in the morning with these special critters and the nearby sea.

Of course, I'm on the look-out for birds during all this "other photography". At a pond, in search of waterfowl, in nearby Flour Bluff Texas [a suburb of Corpus], a couple of cattle were vying for the rights of territory or perhaps a female closeby? I really don't know. I focused on the two rivals mostly! After minutes of jousting the superiorities they both gave up and went back to grazing like nothing out of the ordinary just ocurred. It was like T-t-t-t-h-at's ALL folks.

...to be continued

§ River Walk...aka "On Such a Winter's Day"

Okay, I'm all set. I talked with a representative yesterday morning and regarding hotspot for my phone that I get each month. That won't do since I use a lot more than that in HALF a month! But, with wi-fi, I can actually say I can connect from home, or ANYwhere, with a monthly allotment with my plan and not over use. So, with the help of the carrier's rep, I'm rolling in high cotton - so the saying goes. There is no way I could possibly use that amount of wi-fi's GB in a month's time. Even if Bud [which he doesn't] uses anything with wi-fi to connect to the internet to blog, etc. We also have unlimited data, text, and phone. I just wanted to make everything clear for myself and not come to find we're being charged extra by my faulty knowledge. There is no need to shut off wi-fi. Plans are different all the way around, and different carriers have different options. What works for others, may not work for me.

Now that I got that out of the way, I will share photos [including the hilly scene above, at the beginning of my post] from a river walk the other day when the sky was BLUE. As I type this up on Monday morning, we have another gray, yucky day.  But it's a calm, comfortable day.  I'm thinking March has arrived by a lamb.  Will it go out like a lion?!!  I photographed several birds that day at the pond, the river, the drip system and feeding stations; of which photos will be resized and shared on my bird photo blog in the future...

§ I wish NOT on my Worst Enemy!

Still bored. Working on the puzzle from hell a few minutes at a time. I tellya, being that it is 5D, I wouldn't want this for my enemy!! What a pain. I see a piece, think it's fitting for the place I think would fit, pick it up, and the whole design changes in front of my eyes. It's like I want to pick up my puzzle table and toss the whole shebang out the window. Then, again, I will keep complaining about it, and finish it...but, never again. On any "D puzzle" from now on, I'll pass.

Bud finished one of his Texas whiskey bottles the other day. I loved the shape of it...glass, and shaped like a royal crown. I got the sticky label off, soaked it in soapy water, rinsed it out, and filled it to the brim with clear, clean water then, added blue food coloring.

I've been crocheting a bit here and there. I have done ten more new pansies for my afghan. I think that makes 34 left to do, then crochet them all together. Maybe by September or October if we are to remain in lockup, I'll have it done.

Speaking of September...I've been shopping online for gaiters. Do you know what gaiters are? Not gators, but gaiters. It's what Nancy Pelosi wears to match her outfit. A face mask [usually for skiers or hunters.] I found some really pretty ones [who said I couldn't make a fashion statement like so many others are these days?!!], but the delivery dates for the ones that are pretty were all way beyond September into October! I don't think so. So, I spent a couple hours on the phone, searching and found three --buy three at that price and no shipping charges. They're to be delivered within a week's time [as I type this up...I may have them already by the time this is prescheduled to post].

Went for another joy ride over the past week...to Joe Fulton Corridor. This is an area between the river and the ship channel. Behind most of the oil refineries. There is a lot of standing water in this area after heavy rains, so I thought I'd find some birds...hoping to see the Wood Storks that return to this part of Texas in June/July. I didn't see any birds but red winged blackbirds and a couple of stilts in this part of my drive.  And being a Sunday morning, early, I was very surprised to have such heavy semi-truck traffic on their way to or from the loading docks at the port o'call or at the refineries.  There is no place but one [at the river bank] to safely pull over and off the road.  Believe me, those trucks slow down for no-one.

I did see lots of cattle on the hill tho.


I drove on...back on Carbon Plant Road, and saw one caracara...a juvenile bird.



Juvenile Crested Caracara

I then hit Tule Lake...still only a stilt or two and some swallows. So, I ended up at West Guth Park and walked there a bit. Very humid and by the time I arrived it was getting hot too. I saw parakeets, curlews, ducks, seagulls and more. I watched some men playing a round of disc golf...

and then noticed as I climbed the hill back to the car a lot of people congregating with no masks and groups of more than ten. Time to get out of harm's way. I headed for home and made a pumpkin pie with crust from scratch.  While it was baking in the oven, the scent made the whole house smell delicious.  Besides Blackberry pie being my favorite, I think pumpkin is my 2nd choice.  But if given an ultimatum, I think I'd have to sample BOTH!

§ A Little Elfen Magic....

LOL...how many times, when the temps were soaring into the triple digits, did I mumble "I can't wait for cooler weather"? Well, two days of dark, damp, and hovering near the freezing mark in chill factor...I'm ready for some sunshine. The gray blanket that has been overhead makes for very boring days. Long days!! I got both computers cleaned out, updated. Read. Cleaned the kitchen cupboards out. Vacuumed. Finished our last puzzle for the month [shown above] and tore down the puzzle table to prepare for Erik's long weekend visit on Thanksgiving in the extra room for his daybed. Which I have yet to set up. Listened to CDs of my favorite soprano, Barbara Bonney.  I played her rendition of Ave Maria [linked by her name] so many times, Bud was ready to move out ... Watched a couple of movies. Made two new headers for my blogs' Christmas theme. Listened to it rain. Hearing the wind blow outdoors. If I wanted to bundle up and put on layers, I could've ventured outdoors and walked. I just wasn't up to getting chilled to the bone with that wind stinging my face and reaching my innards where it'd take a couple of shots of tequila to warm up after I got back inside. So, I stayed indoors. Bored. I even tried to think about putting up Christmas decorations. Nope. Not yet. I talked myself out of that too. There's still plenty of time....AFTER Turkey Day.

I found some photos to share here for this post. An eclectic grouping again. But, share them I will before I delete them for good....

Around here, especially during the spring and autumn months, when you see cattle, what is following them? Well, usually...

....cattle egrets, of course!

Question for you...is there a chain fast food restaurant, Popeye's, in your area? And with the media, all the hoopla of their now famous and highly sought after Classic Chicken Sandwich? Have you tried them? Did your Popeye's run out of them...has there been rumbles and chaos like the news tells us? Long lines that block traffic in and out nearby? Or is that "fake" news. A come-on gimmick to have the human nature take over and people WANTING them at all costs? I personally think it's an advertising ploy. But that's my opinion. Guess what? Bud and I had to try them after Google news was kind enough to let us know the sandwich was back on the menu after a long awaited absence! Wasn't that nice of Google? My opinion? They're certainly delicious. HEAVY on the fat and cholesterol for sure...quite lethal in fact. One we'll not have again even tho they are mighty tasty, Southern, deep fat fried to perfection, and colossal in size. Trust me, there isn't enough exercising in the universe to work that off. I tried!!!

One more thing before I let you go.  I spoke of Christmas a few minutes ago.  Y'all know I have collected Santa Clauses for nearly 50 years.  I have now hundreds.  But, anymore, it's getting harder and harder to find any that are 'different' from those I have.  Walking around Hobby Lobby the other day, I saw a very CUTE porcelain faced Elf.  All decked out in gold Lame and Red velvet.  Some in satin.  Cute as the Dicken's they were.  I bought one.  In fact, I bought two.  On my cellphone I have a permanent 40% coupon for Hobby Lobby.  I used that.  Then, I thought "Oh my goodness!  I have no room to store these in the house!"  What was I thinking?   I went to Home Goods [T J Maxx outlet] and bought a 3rd one....

....Wait for decorating? Bah Humbug. They're sitting pretty on the couch and entertainment center proudly. But, where am I gonna store them after the holidays? Maybe staying home and inclement weather IS GOOD after all. No shopping.

§ In the Company of Kings!

Texas State Historical Markers

One day, recently, it was a beautiful day. The morning was cool [for South Texas] and the sky was an indigo blue with cotton ball clouds! I hopped in the car and drove to Kingsville, Texas. Kingsville is named for Richard King and the King Ranch. The ranch land stretches from the outskirts of Corpus Christi through several counties south...from the Gulf of Mexico west through other Texas counties....covering nearly 900,000 acres...over 1200 square miles!  I stopped at Bishop, Texas along the way and walked the small town park and back through the creek bottom in search for birds.  I spotted egrets, herons, kingfishers, whistling ducks, and a couple of lark sparrows.

At Kingsville my first stop was the ranch's visitor's center.  They have lots of history books, several feeding stations for birds, etc.  I walked the center's grounds and only saw doves...I was hoping to see the Texas's Green Jay, but it wasn't in the books.  Oh, but I saw some long horn cattle!!!

Another breed of cattle started by the King Ranch [recognized by USDA in 1940], origins of mixing Brahman and Short horns in 1918,  is the Santa Gertrudis -first photo- and a Longhorn -second photo-


A Longhorn and the original King Ranch Chuck Wagon



A man made brook at the Visitor's Center


A replica [?] of a ranch bunk house



The Flying "W" is the King Ranch Brand and looking out on the ranch land for as far as you can see!

Kingsville is also home of the United States Naval Training Base...once the pilot trainers graduate from Corpus Christi NAS, they move on to Kingsville NAS to train flying jets...

After about an hour there, I drove to Dick Kleberg [Dick Kleberg was a son-in-law of Richard King] Park.  Woodpeckers, shrikes, and gulls were the only species there...I continued to walk raising my step count before returning home...