Loop Road and Shipp/Stagners Lake, Smithville, Texas For great birding in Bastrop County, try birding Loop Road and Shipp/Stagners Lake! Loop Road is a beautiful country drive crowned by Shipp Lake on the eastern end. The 6 mile loop starts and ends at Highway 71 at points about 2 miles apart.. At the eastern pointContinue reading
Category: Bastrop Lost Pines Nature
Wildlife, insects, native plants and living respectfully in the native environment at Little Piney, home and wildlife habitat in the Lost Pines of Bastrop, Texas.
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Bastrop County Hotspots–Birding Loop Road and Shipp/Stagners Lake
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Birding Bastrop Hotspots-Sayer’s Road
Birding Bastrop Hotspot Sayer’s Road Bastrop, Texas is an excellent birding destination, and one of the best places to find birds is Sayer’s Road, a designated eBird birding hotspot. Most”birders know how to look up “hotspots” on eBird. Hotspot information includes a map, birds ever seen, birds likely to be seen, a bar chart ofContinue reading
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Nature and Connection
Nature grounds me, teaches me acceptance, reminds me how temporary my problems are, and helps me understand both the power and the insignificance of this moment in time. A few more things I’ve learned…
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Turtles!–Turtles in Bastrop, Tx
walked down to the creek on Saturday morning, a sunny day after a heavy rain. The water was chocolate-colored like Willie Wonka’s river, and dotted with more turtles than I ever remember seeing at one time–Texas River Cooters, Red-eared Sliders, and huge Texas Spiny Softshells. I love the turtles–the way they pile onto logs and plop into the water when they sense they are being watched. Here are some photos of the Bastrop, Texas turtles we see at Little Piney on Piney Creek.
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Painting Little Piney Lost Pines
Little Piney Landscape painters are often known for painting a particular setting–one that is deeply familiar and well-loved by the artist. For quite awhile, I only wanted to paint Little Piney. In the last year or two, I have also painted landscapes from other Central Texas locales and from travel to places like New MexicoContinue reading
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Long Hot Summer
From quarantine to the brutal murders of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd recorded and witnessed by all of us, an outbreak of rage and protests, and the relentless climbing numbers of Covid-19 deaths, it was difficult not to be entirely consumed by bad news as spring slipped into the stifling heat of summer. Spring passedContinue reading
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All Creatures Great and Small–Water Moccasins and Hummingbirds
All things bright and beautifulAll creatures great and smallAll things wise and wonderfulThe Lord God made them all…–Cecil France Alexander, 1848 The Great Cottonmouth Water Moccasin When I saw this creature swimming fast, tongue flicking, heading down Piney Creek, I was standing safely on shore. The strangest thing is, the snake was so much biggerContinue reading
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March Magic–Wildflowers, Wood Ducks, and a Beautiful Hawk
March is the magical month at Little Piney! In a few short weeks Little Piney transforms from a gray and brown world of bare branches and dry grass into a bright array of greens almost shocking in intensity. Within this green world are little seas of bluebonnets, hot pink phlox, baby blue-eyes, orange-red paintbrush, andContinue reading
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Bald Eagle vs Osprey
Photos of a Bald Eagle attacking an Osprey for his fish and the Eagle catching the fish in mid-air.
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River Otter at Little Piney, Bastrop TX
River Otter Encounter One of the most delightful surprises at Little Piney is the occasional sighting of North American river otters. River otters are often seen in the Colorado River near Bastrop, but we are miles from the river. I am very curious how otters find their way to the small lake/wide creek atContinue reading