A back roads trip

Since I slept in a little bit today, and wasn’t feeling terribly ambitious, I just kind of lazed about the rig today.  Couldn’t sit outside much because of all the flies, so I waited until early evening to head out for a trip on some of the back roads in the area.  I checked out several of the National forest campgrounds in the area, and they were all quite nice.  Some of them even had sites with electricity.
I also stopped back at the Island Lake Reservoir to see if I could get some better pictures of the Western grebe family.  They were no where to be seen, but a pair of white pelicans were paddling around the dam area.
                                     Mrs. and Mr. Pelican were just loafing.
And doing a little feather maintenance.
A ring-billed gull was also taking a break from food finding on the rocks of the dam.

We left the dam and headed down another back road…
…and met this fellow in the middle of the woods.  I’m not quite sure what he was doing there.  :)

I was hoping to see maybe a moose or a bear as we turned down a rustic National forest road, but it was not to be. 
However, there were some new flowers blooming along the way.  These little beauties have just started arriving.
I think this might be among the first of the Indian paintbrushes.  They are just beginning to show up.  What a marvelous wild flower display there has been in the mountains this year.

After moving the satellite dish the other day, it appears that I have parked the car too close to the rig and interfered with the signal.  So, I’d better go move the car so I can watch a little TV before I head off to bed.  :(

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy

I’m back in business

I headed out early this morning on a mission!  It was about a 100 mile drive to Idaho Falls, and the nearest Best Buy.  After two hours of driving, I took my camera in to the Geeks to see what they thought.  They say the portion of the camera that connects the battery to the components that run the camera are toast. They don’t know the reason this happened.  The bottom line is that my camera isn’t going to work.  I will send it in to Canon to see if it can be repaired, but in the meantime I needed to find a camera that works!  I ended up with a Canon  Rebel XS.  It is similar to what I had with a few advancements in technology in five years.  I wanted a camera that would match the telephoto lens that I already have, and wouldn’t cause me to go into bankruptcy. 

It wasn’t cheap, but I got to thinking on that 200 mile round trip.  Photography is a hobby that gives me a lot of enjoyment, and an average of $100/year isn’t too bad.  I think that’s less than 33 cents/day to keep me happy.  :)  I can live with that.  Anyway, I told the salesman that I’d take one.  Yea, right.  It turns out that they didn’t have any in stock; they were on back order, and it would take over two weeks before they would get a delivery.  :(  I ended up buying the floor model at a discount below the “on sale” price.  When I left Best Buy, the camera was all set up ready to go.
When I was driving to Idaho Falls, the Grand Tetons were brilliant in the morning sun to the east.  On my return trip, some clouds had moved in, but I stopped at an historic marker anyway to give the new camera a try.
The famous Three Tetons are there on the horizon under the clouds.  What a gorgeous day it was for a drive.  I also stopped to investigate a couple of national forest campgrounds on the way back.  I’m not sure I could fit my rig into the camping sites, but the campgrounds were located in the mountains and were the kinds of places I enjoy going.

Once I got home, I took Emma out for a walk and brought the camera along to test it further.
    

I ended up crawling around on my knees to try to get some shots of the low lying wildflowers that are beginning to bloom in the fields.  I’m going to have to make some adjustments to get used to this camera, but I’ll be working on it.  :)



That little trip to Idaho Falls took me about six hours today, and I was thankful that Pam was able to take Emma for a very long walk while I was gone today.  I know Emma appreciated it also!  She’s sleeping like a rock right now.
This is tonight’s view to the north of the campground shortly before sunset.

Now that I’m back in business with a camera, I’m feeling pretty good.  If I could just get all the cracks in my fingers to heal up from the cold weather, I’d really be a happy camper!

Thanks for stopping by….talk to you later,  Judy

36 hours and counting

I only had six people for the bird tour this morning, and the winds were howling.  That's not a good thing.  We took more than the three allocated hours for the tour, but with patience were successful in seeing both endangered species.  What a great way to end my assignment here.

G & M commented on yesterday's post that she would like to see a picture of the area where I had the passenger's seat removed.  So, here it is.  The bottom two three drawer plastic units fit snugly into the space.  I hook bungee cords across the drawer fronts when traveling (I learned that the hard way  :) )  The smaller set of drawers sets on the floor with the drawer fronts braced against the back of the booth seat on the right.  That drawer space is a lot more useful to me than a passenger's seat.  I've made good use of the rechargeable lantern when the power has gone out after dark in my travels.  It also is put on the floor when traveling.  When we're not moving, Emma likes to perch on the dashboard and gaze out the window for rabbits, (on the left) so I got some indoor/outdoor carpet from Lowe's, and cut it to fit the dash area.  Besides protecting the dash, it also keeps most of the hair she sheds out of the windshield vents.

Perhaps you remember this picture of the Blue Bonnets that I posted a couple of weeks ago. (remember to double click if you want a larger picture)

Well, I was back to the same place a couple of days ago, and this is what it looks like now.  No more Blue Bonnets, but the blooms continue.

It's just a parade of changing colors here in the Texas Hill Country.

Thank you, Lady Bird Johnson!

Every drive down FM 1431 is a delight for the eyes!

I'm so happy I returned this spring to see this magnificent display!

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later,  Judy

Another lesson learned

Sunday is laundry day for me.  I got that accomplished in the morning.  Skies were overcast all day once again, but at least there wasn't any rain.  I had a couple of interesting comments on my post yesterday.  It looks like I'll be meeting several people when I stay at Red Rock RV Park in Idaho when I'm there in June.  One of the comments was from RV Guy who is the webmaster for the campground.  After reading his comment, I spent a good share of the afternoon reading his nature blog about Red Rock.  Almost makes me want to extend my one month stay there.  :)  I could do that.  I guess I'll just see what happens.

In the afternoon, Emma and I headed out to see what wildflowers I could get pictures of.

This Antelope Horn may not look like much from afar, but...

...close up I just love the mathematical symmetry of the blossoms.  After columbines, this is about my favorite wildflower.

This bloom reminds me of morning glories.  I guess I should get a wildflower guide to go along with my bird and butterfly guides.  :)

After our walk, I sat outside with Emma and witnessed a real hummingbird war!  A dozen of these little might mites were buzzing all around the feeder.

The black-chinned hummingbirds have had pretty much unlimited use of the feeder, until a couple of ruby-throated hummers decided to visit this evening.  Then the skirmish erupted!  This male black-chinned posted himself just behind the feeder to keep watch for intruders.

It wasn't long before a male ruby-throated tried to come in for a sip.  That's when the acrobatics began!  It was a melee of tiny dive bombers chasing each other like a World War II  airplane fighter dogfight!

What a colossal display it was!  I took so many pictures that I filled my 1 GB memory stick on the camera!  (that's 333 pictures)

So, what was the lesson learned?  Out of 333 pictures taken today, only those that I've posted weren't deleted, and a couple of those are below my normal standards.    Heavily overcast skies means there is not enough light for me to get good pictures; especially with the fast moving hummingbirds.  Dang!  They looked perfect through the view finder.  :(  Oh well, I'll give it another try if the sun ever shines again.

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later,  Judy

Wet and dreary

Only one person didn't show up for the bird tour this morning even though the forecast was for a 90% chance of rain and thunderstorms.  We experienced a little moisture, but mostly is was just dreary.  We had a good tour and most folks were able to see the black-capped vireo. 

It did get rainier in the afternoon, so I headed to Cedar Park for some groceries and dog food.  About half way there, I noticed that I had forgotten my wallet.  Ugh!  I had to travel back through the hills and start over again.  I can't believe I did that.  :(  It looks like Emma and I will be spending the evening indoors, as the rain is persisting.

Yesterday, on my way back from checking out the hummingbird nest, I stopped along FM 1431 for some more pictures of the blue bonnets and other wildflowers.  It seems that half the country drives this two lane road on the weekends to see the flowers, so I thought it would be a little safer on a Wednesday. These blooms will be gone soon, so I wanted to appreciate them now.  I hope you enjoy them as well.  :)

I chose to stop at a spot that I think has the most beautiful display on a little hill between here and the Doeskin Ranch turn off.  It's also about the only place you have room to pull off on this stretch of curvy, hilly road.

The new header picture that I have at the top of the blog...

also came from this absolutely gorgeous spot.  :)

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later,  Judy

Blowin' in the wind

Holy Mackerel it's been a windy couple of days!  That doesn't make for good birding, so it certainly had an effect on my first bird tour this morning.  Six hardy souls showed up, and we headed to the Russel tract to try to find the black capped vireo.  We were not successful.  Nothing was moving or singing.  We did chase up the black vulture that seems to reside in a clump of brush.

So, then it was on to the Flying X to look for golden cheeked warblers.  As I led the group into the woods, we heard a male singing and I was able to catch a quick look at the bird, but no one else saw it.  :(  Oh well, as one of the participants said, "Any day out birding is better than being inside."  So we were almost 50% successful.  Hopefully the wind will die down by Saturday.

On our hike this afternoon, Emma and I enjoyed the many wildflowers that are blooming in our "back yard."

I hope you enjoy them also.

This is the best wildflower bloom that this area has seen in years.

What a variety of colors....

and shapes...

Okay, Google blogger is doing strange things again tonight.  (maybe that's because it's called Topeka today :))

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later,  Judy

They're back!

The golden-cheeked warblers have returned!  I had a fantastic hike on the Cactus Rock Trail this morning, and was able to verify eight male warblers singing in the Ashe juniper woods along the trail.  With all the cold wet weather we've been having, I was beginning to wonder if they'd ever get here.  A week and a half ago, I couldn't even find a titmouse along the trail, but today, bird life was plentiful.  That made it easier to work in the office this afternoon.  ;)  I was the laminating queen once again.

When I got back to the rig, I put Emma outside and then went about getting some pictures of advancing spring in the hill country.  I hope you enjoy the eye candy.  :)

As you know, birds are my thing, but I enjoy seeing the spring flowers even though I don't know what they are.

These yellow blooms are less than a half inch across.

The blues are my favorite colors.

The hillsides are covered with these blooms.  It must be from all the rain and the warmer temperatures.  I'm sure hoping the blue bonnets will be abundant soon.

These yellow blossoms will produce small berries on this shrub.  I've been told they make excellent jam, but it is a lot of work to collect enough berries to be useful.  Of course, the birds like them too.  Notice the leaves on this shrub.  Those points are as nasty as can be.  They're so sharp, that they stick into  the bottom of your shoe and draw blood like a cactus if you're not careful!  Lot's of plants that will get you in Texas.  :(

You know I can't refrain from getting a few bird pictures on a nice sunny day!  This is a pine siskin....

and here's an American goldfinch,

and a lesser goldfinch.

This is not a great picture, but I just love the way this male Carolina wren sings his heart out everyday from the top of this dead tree.

And my favorite for today, a small flock of cedar waxwings.  There have been quite a few flocks moving through the neighborhood lately. They are so sleek looking, and normally travel in a group.  In this case they're sitting next to a cedar tree, not in one.  ;)

Tomorrow I plan to do the full hike at Doeskin, and hope to discover more golden-cheeks.  It's a rough job, but somebody has to do it.  ;)

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later,  Judy