§ Early in the Day at Port A....

I left before sunrise [As always. Mostly to avoid traffic and rush hour]. By the time I got to the islands, the cloud cover was showing rain showers on the horizon, so I pulled off the island highway onto a beach access road and arrived at the dunes and pulled off on the beach to snap a few photos of the morning sun...

...after taking a couple of photos of the skyline and horizon, I traipsed back to retrieve my lens ball which I tote in the car all the time. I then walked back near the incoming surf and dropped the ball on the sand, hoping to kneel down and get some of the sky's colors in the globe. Well, I almost lost the ball!!! The tide came in and drenched my legs, knees, and half of my shorts I was wearing...soaking my shoes!!  I  jumped up, and then, watched the water as it washed my ball out to sea with the ebb tide!! LOL. No, I didn't panic. It is heavy enough that I would have been able to wade back in and save the day. But, I was WET now. That meant I had to get out my blanket from the car to use on my seat to get back in and drive to Port A from there. Not a good start for my day trippin'!!!  I only got one photo before the whole scenario put the hipper-dipper to my intentions....

It's about 15 miles from the beach where I parked to get the sunrise, and by the time I arrived at Port A, the sky had cleared. No rain! Bummer. Another scorcher in just a few hours' time.

I first stopped at one of this village's birding hotspots and saw dozens of different birds including one species I haven't seen in over two years! [That was exciting....made up for walking around in my damp clothes]. This weekend, I will show photos of the special bird seen [the largest wingspan in North America ---in relation to body size]. Anyway, all in all it was a beautiful, peaceful, tranquil time. I was alone on the boardwalk for quite some time before others arrived. That's another reason I leave so early....Alone time!! Just me, the bird song, the scenery....

...after leaving this spot on the map, I headed out for the 2nd stop. A few white ibis graced the tree branches, a couple of grackles and a lone killdeer. On a floating log in the pond, one turtle. I stopped to get a photo of the turtle then noticed a 2nd turtle trying to board 'ship'. It was comical. The 2nd one made a couple of attempts to no avail, making the 1st turtle hang on as the log rolled and bobbed in the water like a fishing float...Once the 2nd turtle accomplished joining its buddy, the log rolled, capsized and they both disappeared under the murky water! You had to be there to watch it all go down to laugh at it all as it took place....

Once I saw the special bird, I thought maybe they flew to the ship channel...so, I drove over to Charlie's Pasture along the channel. No special bird...they disappeared. But, I saw a brown pelican perched on a hurricane damaged pier...

....off to the jetty and beach I went...

I walked the beach for a while longer, and when the ships came in, I was too far away to get there beside them in time to check for any dolphin activity. The phone rang, it was my son, and the wind was blowing a goodly speed, keeping him from hearing me well enough...I got back in the car, put the phone on bluetooth, and left for Corpus. We talked the entire way, as we both headed home.

§ You're Gonna Rise Up Singing....

If I'd known you were coming, I'd have baked a cake!!




Oh wait a minute.....I DID bake you a cake! I call it Mandarin Dream.

I followed the box instructions, but instead of the cup of water it calls for, I substituted the fruit juice from the canned mandarin oranges and 1/2 the oranges [whipped into the mix as I combined all eggs, oil, and juice]. The other half or the orange slices were set aside [mashed coarsely] for topping with the cool whip 'icing'. Chilled, and served cold. Easy!!! And, delicious if you like these oranges. It makes a good, tasty summer treat at the end of your meal.

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And....While the cake was in the oven, baking, I got out my sketch pad and drew a simple outline of a palm tree...wishing I was on the beach at the moment! I then filled it in a bit and drew the fronds on the tree, scratched in the water lines a little and shaded the rocks on the horizon, and the small sail craft...finishing in no time. Speaking of art....last week I watched a program on Texas Country Reporter, and they had an artist show-cased.  His work was amazing.  I'm gonna try and copy his idea of painting sometime.  I need to find a framed work, so I can tear it out of the frame and do to it what he did. [of course his paintings were his original...I'm gonna be lazy and find one already painted by someone else.]  I will begin looking for something that would be an ideal piece of art soon.  And begin.  I may not like what I DO...so, I may not show it to anyone.  LOL

All the while I was sketching, Bud was in the garage at his work bench adding extensions to our puzzle table. We use our dining room chairs at the table, and when we go in to work on the puzzle[s] our legs hit the bottom of the table bottom....we need to "lift the table up" a bit. Giving us more leg room. It worked like a charm. We are working on a Thomas Kinkade "The Lion King" right now. We recently finished another of his art....I like his best of all...small in dimensions, challenging, and takes us a while to do one. [those that are too easy, with large pieces gives us no stimulation!]

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I'll end my post today with this "note"....

Summertime and the Livin' is Easy....





Fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high
Oh, your daddy's rich and your ma is good-lookin'
So hush, little baby, don't you cry
One of these mornings you're gonna rise up singing
And you'll spread your wings and you'll take to the sky
But till that morning, there ain't nothin' can harm you
With daddy and mammy standin' by


~George Gershwin
circa 1934

§ Balls, Ducks, Wakes, and Dolphins...

I'll begin with the lensball photos from the previous week. These are of the larger of the two ponds at Pollywog Ponds, both of the water reflection and the image refraction:

One morning I couldn't wait longer. I was there when the eggs were fertilized.   - documented with photo. I know where there is a bird nest platform along the island highway [black arrow in photo will show you the nesting spot], and I KNOW a rare pair [on endangered list of extinction] of Aplomado Falcons have been there for weeks, over a month...waiting anxiously for their eggs to hatch. I have been anxious too. Well, this past week, I stopped [the platform is about 1/4 mile away from the highway], and no trespassing, so I have to do the best I can with my zoom lens to get a photo to make a record. I kinda figure they hatched around May 19th. If I can see through the lens well enough I counted two chicks for sure...maybe three. It was a very windy day, so the photos aren't all that sharp since I had no tripod set up to steady my hand held camera. I will share those photos in the future with I'd Rather B Birdin' blog. Once I finished with this photography, I drove to Port Aransas, walked behind the ship channel [going in the back way where there is no hurricane damage]. After arriving and birding was over, I walked to the channel and watched a tanker ship [cargo] take out to sea. It was going too fast and the patrol slowed them down before making their way near the ferry landing!! I watched the dolphins for a while, and then noticed the huge wake from the ship that was speeding thru....

...these waves created by the ship, dolphins love!! It stirs up the fish and the dolphins will come right up to the wall and catch!!!  I used to get up near the edge; but no longer do so since -as you can see- too much damage.

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I'll leave you with an 'awe moment" - - - In order for them to all be visible, I had to switch to the panoramic lens....A family of Black Bellied Whistling Ducks seen at paradise pond in Port Aransas.

§ Duck, Duck, Goose Pond...

My walking/photography time was short this last outing. I stopped at one park only, and there was a lot of mud and standing water just about every step of the way. My stop was at a small family park with a small tree-lined lake. In fact, it’s Lakeview Park. Mainly it’s geese and ducks that inhabit the grounds. And families go there to feed them. I enjoy watching the youngsters, shrieking and giggling with delight, and get excited that the fowl come up to them; begging for more.

While walking around the perimeter, I was threatened [or did I threaten them?] by geese! The ganders took special interest in me, and at times I had to chase them off with my karate kicks. No, not kicking them, literally, but extending my foot toward those that wanted to take a nip out of my calf!! If you’ve ever been bitten by an irritated goose, you understand my stance!! Their pinching bites are painful to say the least.

Lots of water birds...

The northern shovelers were resting on the mud banks, the white ibis were preening in the tree cover, the mallards were for the most part, paired up. As were the muscovy ducks.

Someone had sprinkled cracked corn around and near the parking lot, and the pigeons, gulls, and coots were busy, feeding...

...the coot's large semi-palmated feet are so designed for them to be able to walk atop the swamp vegetation with ease, without sinking. On land, the lobes fold back when the bird lifts its foot, which facilitates walking on a variety of surfaces like mud, grass, and even ice.

Other than a lot of weedy spots and some grassy knolls, there wasn't much in bloom. I found this spot of over-grown dandelions and zoomed in to get the seed...

§ Mega Child? No...Megachilid!!

Megachilid genera are most commonly known as mason bees and leaf cutter bees. Now, to be honest, when I saw this yellow-bellied bee, I didn't hive a clue what kind it was, and did some Google research and found it. And, don't laugh, but when I read its scientific name I suffered a bit and read it as Mega Child. rofl

Anyway, unlike honey bees that collect the pollen on its hind legs, this particular bee gathers the pollen on its abdomen.  Personally, I like the yellow rump!!!

[the first photo has no bee, so you can stop looking for it!]

Now this is pure cuteness. At a city park lake, I spied a new family of Muscovy Ducks and couldn't resist snapping the adorable balls of yellow and brown fluff. An older gentleman [What am I saying here?  He was probably close to my age!!!] was nearby and was feeding all the ducks, geese, pigeons and gulls - spreading buckets of bird seed and then went back to the car and from the trunk, grabbed loaves of bread. The ducklings were in there trying to grab the bits and pieces of bread, the adult birds reminded them of the Peking order and a few were successful.  The event, while I was there, went swimmingly...