Early Spring We’re having an early spring! As thrilled as I am to see the Bluebonnets, I am sad that winter is over. Here are seven things I love about winter in Bastrop TX. Cedar Waxwings These stunning birds drop like a cloud into the bare trees preening and chattering. They make striking silhouettes withContinue reading
Tag: birds of texas
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Seven Things I Love About Winter in Bastrop TX
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Some Days Are Just Strange
Full of Surprises Life in the country is full of surprises, and some days are just strange. You never know what you will see or hear. My friend Lisa and I were walking on Saturday morning and heard–as Lisa put it–“something being murdered” in the creek bed. Screeches and squawks went on for a goodContinue reading
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Painting Birds at Little Piney–Part II
Still Painting Birds Back in August, I posted about painting birds at Little Piney. After a few weeks of making realistic realistic drawings of individual birds I moved on to painting birds interacting with a reference to human dynamics. See Part I. Now it’s December, and I’m still painting birds. In the picnic scene below,Continue reading
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Coyotes and Other Critters Call Little Piney “Home”
Coyote Pack I love to pour a cup of coffee in the morning and look out the back window. Sometimes I see deer, and sometimes coyotes and other critters. This pack of three has been around for awhile now. Coyotes and Other Critters Early one morning, I saw a deer and coyote cross paths. Things wereContinue reading
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Magical Morning at Little Piney
Magical Morning at Little Piney At 7 am mist floats above the front field. Spiders’ webs fly like white surrender flags in the dawn. The webs hold hundreds of Lynx spiders’ eggs guarded by watchful mothers. Sparrows and Cardinals chip and sing in the tall fading field. A Lincoln’s Sparrow, just back for the winter,Continue reading
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Red-shouldered Hawk’s Crunchy Breakfast
Red-shouldered Hawk Sometimes all I see of the Red-shouldered Hawk is a dark shadow passing over the field, sometimes, a familiar shape disappearing at the edge of vision. She is in front of me, then behind me when I never saw her move. Sometimes, I turn around, and she is only feet away calm andContinue reading
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When I’m Birding It’s Totally Up to the Birds
It’s Totally Up to the Birds I have to confess, on my first few “birding walks” led by expert birders, I asked myself “Are they making this up?” Most of the time, I never saw the bird they pointed out. When I did, I saw a gray silhouette against the morning sky while the guideContinue reading
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Painting Birds at Little Piney
Painting Birds After painting yet another landscape in June, I felt restless to try something new. I wanted to paint in a looser style, and I wanted to paint some birds! I pulled out my pastels for a change of pace and some favorite photos for references and got started. I collected some old acrylicContinue reading
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Yellow Warblers and Central Texans Singin’ in the Rain
Relief from Triple Digits Came with Rain! Just when we thought we couldn’t take it anymore, rain and cooler air both moved in over the weekend! What a relief. I spent much of the weekend outside on the porch or out in the rain with my rubber boots on. As the rain arrived, so didContinue reading
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Special Moments in Nature–A Lucky Witness
Special Moments in Nature I pull out onto the highway from a dirt road. In front of me, a single black crow feather spirals slowly down from the sky. The suspended feather spins like a tiny dirt devil as I leave it behind. I step outside to watch for a late delivery truck.Continue reading