Pied-billed Grebes

By Jim | Published March 1, 2017




Another common bird at the Leonabelle Turnbell Birding Center (Port Aransas, TX) was the Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps). Most were in their winter coats, with either a missing or indistinct ring around their bill. However, at least one was showing the ring quite well (note the ringed bill on the bottom image, below). Here are […]

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The Silent Stalker

By Jim | Published February 27, 2017




One afternoon, after the whooping crane boat charter ended, I drove to nearby Aransas Pass and photographed birds at the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center. This excellent birding facility contains a short boardwalk that extends out over the marshy waters. Along the route, various birds and other wildlife can be observed at extreme closeup range. Today’s […]

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Fun Friday: Foggy Double Vision

By Jim | Published February 24, 2017




Today’s “Fun Friday” post features a pair of adult Whooping Cranes foraging in the early morning fog that fell over Aransas NWR, captured during my recent trip to photographic the endangered whoopers on their wintering grounds along the Texas Gulf Coast: Coming up … more Whoopers and other, water-loving birds. Photographic Equipment Used: Canon 5D […]

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Wintering American Avocets

By Jim | Published February 22, 2017




Today’s post is a short break from the Whooping Crane posts, but the Whoopers will be back! A lot of other birds were active on the Aransas NWR, including this group of American Avocets, sporting their winter plumage coats. During a flyby before landing, it was really great to watch them flying by in tight […]

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Beauty at Work!

By Jim | Published February 20, 2017




Still from the first day on the boat, as the day progressed and we made our way farther into the refuge (Aransas NWR), we had whooping cranes very close to our boat. We typically moved the boat to get a clear shot, then parked it along the bank and let the cranes move around and […]

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Fun Friday: The Sentries

By Jim | Published February 17, 2017




Today’s “Fun Friday” post features an image I captured during my recent wintering Whooping Crane photography trip to the Aransas NWR, located along the Texas Gulf Coast. As our boat slowly scoured the shoreline for bird activity, we came upon this pair of adult Whooping Cranes who seemed to saying, “You watch that way, and […]

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Whooping Cranes – First Encounter

By Jim | Published February 15, 2017




Beginning today, my posts will feature the results of removing one of my “Bucket List” wildlife encounters … photographing our endangered whooping cranes (aka “whoopers”) while wintering along the Texas’ Gulf Coast. And what a wonderful photo trip it was! (By the way, I have added some whooping crane statistics and species information at the […]

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When Things Go Bad … !

By Jim | Published February 13, 2017




(A note to my e-mail blog subscribers:  Beginning with this blog post, I have moved my automated, e-mail blog notifications to a new software program, one that is an industry standard Email delivery service. My mailing list continues to outgrow the old notification system and this new delivery system promises to keep up with the […]

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The Big Thaw

By Jim | Published January 25, 2017




After our recent ice storm, while surveying the landscape, temperatures rose above 32F causing the ice to begin to melt. One interesting observation was watching the ice melt from a Red Cedar tree (hey, if Nebraskans can pass time by watching the corn grow, we Missourians can pass time by watching the ice melt!). Here […]

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Into the Deep Freeze

By Jim | Published January 23, 2017




Today’s post contains a few more ice-covered plants in my rural Missouri landscape: Several years ago, I planted quite a few Fragrant Sumac shrubs, a plant that a lot of the wildlife love. As with many other plants, our warm winter has caused buds to appear on these plants: One of the most interesting plants […]

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