What was I thinking?!

When the sign says you must be in good physical condition to hike at Clark Creek, it actually translates "Must have completed AT LEAST 3 months of boot camp, sanctioned by the U.S. Army".

What a freaking horrible birthday! I won't bore you with the details of Double D's scary driving getting us there AND him passing by several gas stations because they were .02 cents too high even though we were on Double E. Ha! I just realized Double D was on Double E. Anyway, twenty minutes into the hike, after going up one particularly steep incline, I knew deep in my gut that I had made a terrible mistake planning this hike. Possibly a fatal error. :/

At one point I sank down on the gravel path and cried. Double D kept trying to encourage me that I could do it. I envisioned needing an ambulance, but with no cell service so deep in the woods, I feared death was imminent. Good thing I had obeyed the warning on the web site about bringing bottled water, though one bottle each wasn't really enough.

When I returned home I only had 40 shots on my memory card. We heard birds everywhere, but because the trees are so tall and there were so many of them, the birds could not be seen. This is what I managed to get with my camera when my hands and legs weren't shaking. Don't worry about trying to compliment these photos as I know they are not my best. I hesitated putting my name on them and posting them at all.

As I came up a hill I saw these trees. I thought "How pretty!"
It all feel apart after that.

There are six waterfalls on the established trails. We only saw two.
And those two were so pathetic that I had no desire to find the other four. 

One of the few stairwells. More of these would have been helpful to have
something to hold onto. Imagine negotiating 8 extra pounds of camera gear
on the inclines with no railings or steps. BRUTAL.

Ebony jewelwing damselfly

Any idea what type of lizard this is?

Hilary, thank you so much for selecting Battle of the Birds as a Post of the Week! What a huge honor. Thank you, thank you!! Please visit Hilary's blog to see other POTW winners and Hilary's own amazing photography.

On a separate note, I am on a Facebook sabbatical for an undetermined time. It has not enhanced my life in any way. In fact, I either feel depressed after reading all the challenges that people face, or I feel less than adequate as I compare my life to those who seem to be living large. It's not healthy for me, so I hope those who recently befriended me will not take it personally. It's something I've been struggling with for quite some time. I've been on Facebook since 2007, and I've had to remove myself a couple of times for the same reasons.

Wild Bird Wednesday

Today I found myself at Bluebonnet Swamp. Again. I left the house with my camera in tow, not sure where I was going, and my car just sort of took me there as though on autopilot. Was I ever glad that I went! Except I could have done without the oppressive humidity. Ai yi yi! Wasn't I just complaining about having cold, stiff hands a few days ago? I think I'd rather be stiff and cold than wet, sticky and miserable. There's just no pleasing me when it comes to weather conditions in the south. Enough yammering...here is what I saw today!

My first ever sighting of the rose-breasted grosbeak!

What are you looking at, lady?

First of season indigo bunting. Not my best shot, but the blue is really something.

This one is either a female or juvenile

Brown thrasher eating "bark butter" that my birding friend had just smeared on the limb.

A very large rabbit

The skinks were out in large numbers today.

This one was at least 6" in length.

Bloom from a tulip poplar that someone placed on the boardwalk ledge

Finally, a huge thank you to Hilary for choosing Iris and April for Post of the Week! It is truly an honor. Please visit The Smitten Image for beautiful photography and other Posts of the Week! Thank you times a million!

Please check out Stewart's

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Barbara

We had a little cold front blow through which sometimes means a change in birding activity and what one might see out in the field. I hadn't been out to Bluebonnet Swamp in a few weeks, so I thought I'd check it out and see what's what. The first thing I noticed was how thick and green the plant life has gotten. It's getting harder to see the birds now, especially the little ones. I passed a couple of photographers on the boardwalk asking if they had seen anything. All negative; the swamp was as quiet as a church mouse. Continuing on the boardwalk, something caught my eye. There sat Barbara, the resident barred owl, not ten feet in front of me on a low cypress limb, scouring the waters below. She sat and posed for several dozen photos, then swoosh, she hit the water and came up with a crustacean. A few moments later she took off to the nesting site several hundred feet away to deliver the mid-afternoon snack to her owlets. Made my day.

Mama has just spied the meal in the water below.
I missed the flight shot because I was chimping (looking at the shots I had just taken on the back of my camera).
Chimping is a no-no when wildlife is present. Even though I was just checking to see if the exposure, etc. was correct,
I spent way too much time doing it. There's still so much I have yet to learn. Sigh.

The owlets are nestled in the hollow of this tree. You can see mama's feathers as she descends to bring them food.

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Thanks, Hilary, for selecting this post!

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