Tricolored Tuesday #1 and a Birthday Blessing

Thanks to TexWisGirl for helping me come up with a way to continue sharing my tricolored heron images. I present to you: Tricolored Tuesday, part one! Click here for the first post in case you missed it.

This post is scheduled to go live at 7:46AM in honor of my daughter's birth minute. She has been a blessing to me from the moment I knew of her existence. Below is a card I purchased for her this summer. Sadly, it got covered with a stack of papers and I never mailed it. So here it is, darling girl.

Sharing with Our World Tuesday. Thank you to the very generous hosts of this meme!

*Card reprinted from Blue Mountain Arts, purchased from Cracker Barrel store in Baton Rouge.

Snowy Afternoon

Bet you thought it snowed here, huh? Gotcha! No, it's just me tromping around the lakes on a Monday afternoon in mid-December, stalking the snowy egrets.

Turtles and friends

Turtles and other sightings at LSU Lakes, November.

Also called a sawback, the false map turtle spends many hours basking in the sun, sometimes perched on steep snags. I found this false map on two different days, same log. They get their name from the yellow stripes that form on the shell, creating the appearance of a map. It is harder to see in adults (like the one below). The false map turtle also sports a serrated keel on the back of the shell. I so wanted to take an SOS pad to this guy's back and uncover those yellow stripes!

Photo taken 11/14/13 - overcast day

11/11/13 - bright day

Snowy egret, cormorant and turtle sandwich

Snowy egret

Cormorants in cypress tree

Voyeur, Timothy "Leery"
I love this stacked couple and the one peering over the log at them.

Linking with Eileen's Saturday Critters and Anni at I'd Rather B Birdin'. Hope you'll join in the fun!

Curly

I hope everyone had a very blessed and Merry Christmas! It seems many of my blogging friends are taking a break until after the first of the year which has me feeling like the lone ranger out here. :(

I noticed these curly vines while Double D fished on Hoo Shoo Too Rd. in early November. After spying the first one, I started seeing them everywhere.

Christmas Wishes

Most of my blogging circle has taken a break, so I wish I had thought to post this sooner. My warmest and best Christmas wishes to the most wonderful blogging friends on the planet! I love and appreciate each one of you!!

The Rose Lady

Well, here it is, Christmas week, and I have yet to post any Christmas-themed photos. Scheduling posts weeks in advance is a wonderful feature, but it does take some planning. And I forgot to plan for Christmas!

My daughter bought me a very special Christmas ornament when she came to visit last year. It's an actual sugar maple leaf dipped in 24k gold. The Rose Lady has developed a rigorous process to preserve items of nature; a process which takes up to seven days. She sells orchids, roses, fruit, key rings, vases, and even dog biscuits! All preserved perfectly using various methods. Leave it to my creative and beautiful daughter to find something like this. My tree is gold and red with musical instruments, angels, poinsettias, and fleur de lis (recent collection). Out of all those, this is my favorite. I have since purchased a Japanese Maple leaf from the same company. It is beautiful!

The attached tag reads:

Sugar Maple

In early spring, a crisp chill

lingers in the air and the

steadfast sugar maple offers

its sap to be made into tasty syrup

This product contains a real leaf

that has been carefully selected,

preserved and transformed from

nature into treasure.

Why did the egret cross the road?

To get to a coveted fishing spot! Why walk when you can fly? If I had wings, I'd fly everywhere!

Underneath the road, water from the lake flows to the other side. There is a rusty barrier/dam where fish get trapped.
Easy fishing for the egrets who are smart enough to figure this out.

All it takes is a little patience. They seem to take turns manning (birding?) this area.
Industrious and opportunistic creatures for sure.

Linking up with Eileen's Saturday's Critters. Thank you!!!

More Randomosity

Another Delete Party where I rediscover shots I had forgotten about. My life is just so exciting right now!! Woot! Warning: this post has pantyhose in it and I also profess to want a pair. And I hate—nay—DETEST, pantyhose. One of my more eclectic posts, to say the least.

Mockingbird with bug, 3/31/13

A snake wrapped around a tree at Bluebonnet Swamp, 4/7/13

This mama bird attempted to feed the baby bird several times; each time she took her beak out with the seed still there.

Finally, the baby had enough and flew off. He was all, "Oh, forGET you!"
The mom was like, "What'd I do?? Come back here Junior!"
April, 2013

A box turtle, perhaps?
Bluebonnet Swamp, April 2

Huey P. Long monument facing the Capitol, April
Huey P. Long (former Governor and U.S. Senator) is buried underneath.

Relief on west side - Long meeting with architects, laborers and craftsmen constructing
the Louisiana State Capitol.

Indigo bunting at Bluebonnet Swamp in April

Fleur de lis stockings in a store window in the French Quarter.  I want a pair! Wait, what?!

This looks like some type of ornamental ginger or lily. Anyone?

More Madisonville

Love. This. Place. First week of November, Madisonville, Louisiana.

Double D says HI!
We don't know what this structure is, but we plan to go back and have a picnic.

Linking with Our World Tuesday. (Sorry it's being posted on Wednesday, but I can't get my act together, and the holidays have me a little grumpy).