§ 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

§ Nature's Course...

I've walked this boardwalk 100 times if not a thousand times. And I never noticed this arrow..."walk this way". The arrow is actually part of the wood grain!!!!  As you can see, the point and 'feathers' of the arrow are knots in the wood.

Tuesday morning, it was so hot, so humid, by the time I walked a measly mile and half, I was heading back to my car to go back home. Click, click, click, click...oh what a relief it is! I couldn't unlock the car door fast enough and click on the AC full blast. Miserable. The air so still, the sweat was just pouring off me. Even if I catch a bad cold, I wouldn't change what I did. It was truly insufferable.
Of course, it didn't stop me from taking pictures...

Climbing up and walking the boardwalk, the lizards [geckos] were scurrying!!

...some more wildflowers...

Where I walked, there weren't many birds active at that hour...a few pelicans flew overhead. I captured one in flight.

...some miscellaneous photos taken. Oftentimes I post about walking at Packery Channel Park [I've also walked the jetty a few miles away from the park]. Looking east, you can see part of the channel water along the dunes/horizon. A very hazy morning.  [left photo]  Then, a feather on the Audubon pond, and last this is painted on the side of a  house along Sand Dollar Road.

Oh, and I totally forgot it was Cinco de Mayo on the 5th. Goodness. One day just blends into the next anymore. I even made Italian for dinner.

PS...thanks, Sandra,  for heading me in the right direction! I found the Blogger's "back to classic" on the left of the admin!!

§ Seeing Double!

Not much going on around Hootin' Anni's abode. I was going to paint some more yard figurines after I finished the brown pelican last week which I posted pictures on Thursday, and then...a light bulb went on! I remembered that I threw out ALL my acrylic paints 'cause they were so dried out, even adding water did little good. So, I am slowly restocking my supply. I bought eight of the 'primary' colors that are used most often, and then will get more to replenish in time. Besides, the days are getting much warmer now and I will probably wait a while in order to be able to paint in the closed in garage. I WILL paint my rose vine bird bath tho...I need to buy paint for that too...I'm gonna use spray paint for that project.

I bought a Chromecast for our new TV [55" smart TV -we like to watch movies on a big screen!!]. Now, I can get free movies and cast TV programs that we would like to watch on a larger screen instead of the laptop. It took me a couple days to get the equipment set up [Bud is not internet tech savvy, his biggest accomplishments is operating the remotes]...but now we are catching up on the regular scheduled programs from the three free national networks. Fun now, but I was, at times, ready to throw it all out the window!!!  The piece of equipment is only a one cost payment of $35.  A lot cheaper than a monthly subscription to Amazon Prime or Cable installments. A savings of probably $1200 plus a year.

Now to some photo shares.  I've been wearing glasses since I was a teenager.  Recently while walking I was seeing double:

It's May already!  This month, will be my 6 month follow up appointment with the cardiologist.  IF I remember to set up an appointment.  Time goes by awfully fast these days.

§ Riding in the Desert on a Horse With No Name...

Okay, I realize the title here has nothing to do with the gardens. But, but....it's the only thing I could think of that pertains to the Desert Garden at our Botanical Garden.  One of my favorite songs [linked above]...
I've actually BEEN in the desert on a horse when living in Tucson...did the horse have a name? Probably, but I like this song, 'cause the lyrics really can be quite truthful. Okay, 'nough of that, moving on down....

- - -

Besides the 'free' wild birds that are found on the lakes and in the trees and shrubs along the paths, near the gift shop and orchid house there are caged birds [and a caged iguana]...once found in the tropics such as this one that will greet you as you step out the door to peruse the grounds. A sweet hello is oftentimes heard...

There is a butterfly house along the one walkway as you leave the caged birds, and the desert garden is beyond this area, filled with cactus and different types of agave. The massive cactus seen here is an Organ Pipe Cactus which I've been there when it is blooming [blossom seen HERE]. And the orange blossom of the agave, look closely; a wasp is gathering nectar...

On a hot, humid day there are benches nestled in the shaded areas for cooling off and the boardwalk extends beyond taking you into the untamed, more wild area all the way to the creek that is often flooded during the wet season.

When the birding is over, and I head back to peruse the gift shop, this time I stopped at the Rose Garden Cotillion. Those pictures, the last stop for photo ops at the Botanical Gardens for this time of year, will conclude my day in the next posting...

PART I

§ Hilltop Community....

With the onset of some “miracle on 37th street” [interstate 37]…the hatching of Killdeer chicks, last Sunday morning I drove to the nesting area to check and see if the babies were out and about. It’s been nearly 24 days since I found the nest…when I arrived both mama and papa put up a show of wounded bodies and screeching to distract me. Eventually, I walked along the wall and through the rock outcropping to find the nest, and mama Killdeer was frantic and very nearby. I found two hatchlings out of the shell, just so new they barely moved…one unhatched, and the fourth egg was nowhere around. Did a snake get it? Or a hawk? I don’t think either scenario fits in…if any predator found the nest the entire nest would no longer exist. Perhaps the egg was not fertilized and she shoved it out, keeping the others. Who knows? Nature. If you’d like to see the nestlings, CLICK HERE! Anyway, I took a few photos of this, and left quickly.

Since I was out in the area and heading back toward home, I pulled off the interstate and used the Violet Road exit to an area park that has a lot of hilly paths and shade for me with the show of the white hot sky promising another day of dangerous heat index. I’ve only been walking a short distance because of the temperatures. A little bit of outdoor exercise is better than none. Once home again, I use my stationary bike to complete my routine ‘steps’. [Yes, I've had gym memberships, but I don't care for them...not to mention they're nothing but an indoor petri-dish]. The park is called Hilltop Community and it’s within a small burb of Corpus Christi. Annaville, Texas. Here are some photos of what I saw besides the bird life of doves, kiskadee youngsters galore and busy parents of the kiskadees coming in with their breakfast feast of spiders and insects, cardinals, blackbirds, grackles, starlings, thrashers, mockingbirds, and more…

A few miles down Up River Road is another park where I then turned into and stopped at the duck pond. While there only a few minutes by the pond, in the shade of an oak tree, I saw one long billed curlew, several domestic ducks, geese, gulls, terns, stilts, vultures. Down the hill several car loads of gentlemen were setting up to play disc golf, and behind me on the other side of the park road a lone Mexican squirrel was dining on his breakfast. Photos of this park will be in another post.

My appointment with a new cardiologist specialist went well.  He read my history and checked my charts from years past, did another EKG, and could see I have an extra heart beat each time [I've been told this before].  It also showed up in my holter monitor 24 hour wearing.  The carotid ultrasound was good for my age and heart history  Anyway, instead of going with another ablation or becoming a candidate for a pacemaker, he adjusted meds to nearly half of what I've been taking...even my blood pressure is dangerously low for now.    We'll then work further if anything scary develops.  I like the fact he didn't 'jump to any conclusions' without trying what he recommended!!  Unwanted surgery or unnecessary surgery has always been my way of thinking...in fact, I am more than likely to push my luck to the limits first.

§ The Colors of September...

COLORS

It's getting close to Autumn by the calendar [here a change of seasons is quite a bit later in the year than most experience], and it's already past the midpoint of September!! Of course, I look forward to this time of year 'cause the humidity drops drastically from the summer months, and the nighttime and daytime temperatures are much more bearable  [We're not quite there yet, but soon will be!!] Out walking in the last couple of weeks, I took these photos: THE COLORS OF SEPTEMBER....

Take note: You may see the brown anole [lizard] and you may see a Wilson's Warbler in a couple of the photos in the entire post...can you spot them?

SPORTS

My two favorite sports teams, The Denver Broncos, and The Houston Astros made for a very enjoyable weekend this past week...The Broncos whipped the Dallas Cowboys 42-17!!! And, best of all, I got to watch the game on our big screen TV with the antenna on FOX!! Even with the weather delay of about an hour or so, the game was fun to watch...of course it would've been a disaster if the score was just the opposite. lol Then, The Astros clinched the AL West yesterday with the score 7-1 against the Mariners....the first time for them as members of the AMERICAN LEAGUE.

Exciting stuff!!

Images courtesy of Google Images



WEATHER

The past week, it's been hot, humid and absolutely break out in sweat kinda days!!! Step outdoors and clothes are soggy in no time! But, this morning, as I drove to North Padre Island, I was surprised there was wet freeway in spots here and there. There is predicted rainfall in our area for the next few days; intermittent which means just that...you can be under blue sky and the next minute you're under a micro-burst! Which happened to me as I was driving home from my walk along the beach at Packery Channel. Speaking of Packery Channel [it's for small craft, not ships the size of tankers!]....from Hurricane Harvey back in August, the landscaping in this area has been changed drastically. I got pictures!! That'll probably be my NEXT blog entry. Stay tuned.

...and the active hurricanes out in the Atlantic hasn't slowed down any!!  Those residents on the Islands in the Caribbean Sea...I feel for them and hope they're spared any more terrific damages from Maria.