Louisiana Belle: nutria

Showing posts with label nutria. Show all posts

Monday, April 29, 2013

Choose Mother Nature

On Saturday Double D and I took an afternoon stroll around the State Capitol and its surrounding lakes and grounds. Rain is predicted for the rest of the week, so it was imperative to take advantage of the pleasant weather. I'm so glad Double D is down with all this nature stuff because it would make me sad if I could not share my passion for flora and fauna with him. We saw so many groovy things on our walk. Come see!

Robins were in abundance.

The scent from the rose garden was heavenly.

This cedar tree reminded me of something from Van Gogh's paint brush.

Squirrel nibbling on a late afternoon snack.

I came across this sign and thought it would make a good title for my post.

Nutria swimming. I love the psychedelic blue and silver swirls in the water. Groovy, right?

A young hawk perched in the shade of an oak tree about 10 feet from where I sat. Stunned, I watched
as he clumsily went after a blue jay. A big brouhaha ensued. Naturally, the blue jay went ballistic, warning
all the birds within a mile radius. As quickly as it started it also ended, with everyone settled down and back
into their normal routines, going about their business as though nothing ever happened.

A type of magnolia. If anyone knows the type, please share.

Nutria and her baby. There were three babies total, but they would not come together for a family portrait. :)

On a more serious note, the nutria population is damaging the Louisiana coastline (and other coasts) to a significant degree.
If you're interested, more information can be read here.

Thank you for blessing me with your visits and comments; they truly brighten my day!

Sharing with Our World Tuesday.

UPDATE: Thanks so much to Hilary, of The Smitten Image for selecting this post in her Phine Photography category! It's always an honor to be chosen. Please visit Hilary's blog and the other POTW recipients.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Hiking

Double D and I went hiking in and around Baton Rouge for our weekend entertainment. Louisiana is abundant in nature, with many areas designated for the public to explore. We traveled to Blackwater Conservation area, Capitol Lakes, Mary Ann Brown Preserve in St. Francisville, and finally ended up at LSU Lakes. We didn't see much at Blackwater, but it definitely has potential and we will go back. Here are some things we saw.

An overcast day so had to get a little creative with the processing on this one. Used a solarize preset in Lightroom.
Downy Woodpecker - Blackwater Conservation - 2/23/13

New growth at Blackwater Conservation - 2/23/13

Lichen on tree at Blackwater Conservation - 2/23/13

Capitol Lakes - 2/23/13

This has to be the rock star of all the Muscovy Ducks.
Capitol Lakes - 2/23/13

Came face to face with a Nutria. I told him we had to stop meeting this way.
Capitol Lakes - 2/23/13

Rare Eastern Chipmunk - Mary Ann Brown Preserve - 2/24/13

Double D at overlook - Mary Ann Brown Preserve - iphone - 2/24/13

Eastern Swallowtail - Mary Ann Brown Preserve - 2/24/13

Gazebo at Mary Ann Brown Preserve - iphone - 2/24/13
Having the iphone is great for landscape shots. I think it does a great job and it's one less lens to carry around.

Red-bellied woodpecker - Mary Ann Brown Preserve - 2/24/13

Same woodpecker as above

Trillium - Mary Ann Brown Preserve - 2/24/13

Please visit these fun memes!

LINK

Monday, February 18, 2013

Great Backyard Bird Count

Time to lighten this place up! Thanks to everyone who offered advice and words of comfort on my last post. I have the wisest, kindest blog followers in existence. Love y'all!

Today was the last day of the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC), so I decided to visit Arsenal Park and Capitol Lake, which are side by side in downtown Baton Rouge. Somewhere between the two areas I dropped my iphone and after a frantic 20 minute search found it lying in the grass. Whew, that was close! I was having severe anxiety, lemme tell ya!

I counted 16 different species of birds and got a bonus animal that I was not expecting. A windy, cold, but totally fun couple of hours. As I was about to leave there were two trees that suddenly became populated with birds. Thinking they were the annoying red-wing blackbirds or grackles, I pointed my lens up to the tree and saw that they were Cedar Waxwings! There must've been a hundred of them. Unfortunately, they were very high up so I could not get a decent shot. But I am posting some photos of them anyway because it's the first time I've ever laid eyes on one. What a great way to end the event.