§ 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

§ Photo Overload...

If I follow my weekly routine, I would've been home doing laundry on Saturday morning. Instead, I chose to drive to North Padre Island and stop at Whitecap Beach to walk and check out the waves shortly after high tide. Hurricane Grace that made landfall in Old Mexico was supposed to create 8 foot waves for our coast. It didn't pan out. At least while I was at the seawall. And, being Saturday, to boot, seems everyone in the 'hood was there too...like a day of early sales for Christmas...what do they call that? Black Friday? Many many walkers, joggers, dog walkers, people with cellphones aimed at the parallel to catch the first glimpse of the sun breaking the horizon. I was there, disappointed that along the seawall there were no crashing waves.  BUT***

Of course I took photos! And a LOT of them!! Hope the number of photos doesn't make this post slow to load. I apologize up front!

It never fails tho, there is always someone who is foolish enough to drive on this....stuck! It was a young woman [in her early 20s my guess]. I have said this a million times, and will reiterate...there is no common sense seen much anywhere any more!! Cops to the rescue?! Dunno...he left and she was still there when I left. What I can't understand is, there were dozens of capable people, but no one tried to help. I'm too old to push vehicles, but there WERE young whippersnappers!! 4-6 guys coulda had her straighten her front wheels and pushed her to 'drier' ground!

 

Showing many people out and about, and behind me, the pretty pinks in the sky above the dunes...

...and now for my BUT*** seen above.  At one point near the end of the seawall, I used my zoom lens to see if I could view the jetty at packery channel about 1/4 mile away.  I wasn't about to venture off the wall's walkway and get my feet soaked from the ebb tide and playing twister to avoid all the debris washed up on shore from the storm.  Showing the rough breakwater waves crashing!

§ Along the Jetty...

After taking photos of the sunrise and cloud bank on the shore, I picked up my lensball and got back in the car and drove back to the jetty at Packery Channel. The cloud formations were quickly dispersing with the heat from the sun. As the daylight became lighter and brighter, the horizon was a bit hazy [as you can see in this photo taken just above the sand dunes heading toward the Channel trail] with the Saharan sand that has been drifting into the Texas Gulf for most of the midsummer days. -see screenshot shared at top, left- [Yes, Saharan as in African]. And times the entire city is under bad air quality because of the amount coming ashore, eventually reaching north into San Antonio and Dallas at times. I don't mind a dust storm much knowing that the sandy particles, even tho they traverse in the wind currents for 1000s of miles, it's keeping the hurricane and tropical storms out of our area. And, I'll take the dust any day instead of damaging, flooding storms.  Once the dust subsides off the coast of Africa, we always have a hurricane potential.

As I stated in my previous post I published on Tuesday [?} of the sunrise and lensball in the surf photos, I didn't walk long. But I took photos along the jetty trail and at the beach before turning around and driving back home...

At the beach, a common tern
Along the jetty boulders, two Snowy Egrets
A sunflower reaching toward the sunlight
A gentlemen with his bait net, catching minnows for fishing

§ A Wet Furbaby...Watching its Masters Fishing...

It was an overcast morning, but no threat of rain, when I left home. About five miles down the road a fine mist was falling on my windshield and my plans of going to the island and Port Aransas, were nixed. I did drive to Padre Island and pulled off at the Packery Channel jetty to walk before the rain fell more heavily...I wanted to enjoy the pleasant temperature and maybe see some shore birds while walking. I saw quite a few birds, along with many many brown pelicans feeding in the early morning hour. As the sun tried to break free of the cloud cover, it didn't take long for the storm front to move in. I had a soaked head and damp clothes before I returned to the car, but it was worth it. MUCH better than the wet clothes from the sweat created from high humidity...any day! Some photos look black and white, but the mist makes some images appear so,...they're all color, just moody like the weather. Here's some of what I saw...

_ _ _

Arriving home, I decided a warm pan of apple dumplings would be good with our evening meal of Polish Sausage, potato salad, and a tossed salad. Yummy.
By the way, did you know that cinnamon in your diet lowers blood pressure? My nutritionist, after my heart attack, told me that cinnamon is very heart healthy. So many benefits from consuming cinnamon; not only heart but diabetes, etc....click here for 10 proven facts.

§ A Very Angry Sea...

Last Sunday morning, when Tropical Storm Beta was out in the Gulf, threatening us along the Texas coast, I drove to the Packery Channel [one of the few places that wasn't closed to the public]. Y'wanna try saying this fast three times: "Wanna see what I saw of the sea?" Here are some photos. Of course, I didn't go all the way to the end. In fact NO ONE did! But, I had my zoom lens ready for some action [and also one when a deafening stillness was noticed]. I was standing MANY yards away; out of harm's way. But, I must tell you, I did get drenched heavily once. The surf came in along the jetty boulders and hit the corner of one and sprayed up with great force, soaking me. LOL

I thought these girls were either brave or showed some stupidity. When they got up close to me far away from the wrath, the one on the right offered [without my coaxing] to take a photo of me hanging on. The blinding sun was in my eyes. But, the gesture was appreciated...
Keep in mind, these taken were far away from the danger zone...I was using my large zoom lens!!

On Monday morning it was breezy, light rain, and minor coastal flooding. Corpus Christi made it out of danger pretty well.