At the Cabin

Tiny Jelly Spider

2008-07-04T10:03:00.007-05:00

I believe he is a very tiny variety of wolf spider

More Titmice and Flowers

2008-07-03T21:13:00.003-05:00

The Cardinals: An Update

2008-07-02T21:22:00.005-05:00

These photos are from, I think, two weeks ago—a couple of days after the second batch of cardinal babies fledged, when the young one/s were still sticking close by the nest site and the parents tending closely to it/them, bringing food, etc. Dad's looking patchy here, and still is. Summer moult?

The missus in flight

I am fascinated by this underneath-the-tail shot. Those sweet and interesting little feathers! Just a couple of days ago I saw Junior again, for the first time since fledging. He and the parent birds were out back near the shed (which is also near the feeders). How many of the Juniors made it, I wonder? There were three babies in each nest...

Brown Recluse Haiku

2008-07-01T23:52:00.001-05:00

1.
Little Brown Recluse,
Why are you in my kitchen?
You're not so little.

2.
Little Brown Recluse,
Why are you in my bathtub?
You're not wanted here.

3.
Little Brown Recluse,
Why are you in my bedroom?
This is so not right.

The Bees Storm the Texas Sotol

2008-07-01T23:23:00.008-05:00

Hugh took photos tonight of the bees swarming the Texas sotol, which finally has produced its full-on polleny goodness for our beloved bees and other neighborhood insects.

It looks like tiny kernels of corn!

Chickadee

2008-06-30T21:54:00.006-05:00

I spied a baby chickadee the other day. Don't think this is it; I think this is one of the parents. But dig him against that background reflection of the Tord B. curtain on the window!

Enhanced Doves

2008-06-30T21:38:00.001-05:00

Mostly we just curse at the doves, because their number is so large and they keep the smaller birds away; but they really are quite beautiful. The originals of these photos were very dim (*ahem*, dirty window in bathroom again) so I brightened them in Photoshop and they are now somewhat artifical in color (their feet aren't that red), but still. They are lovely.

An Unknown Bird

2008-06-29T19:51:00.008-05:00

Spotted a week ago yesterday. Maybe a female redwinged blackbird? Except her bill doesn't look quite right, and The Book says the females are heavily striped. Are those stripes? Maybe a female brown-headed cowbird? Why do all the bird books show so few female birds??

Until this photo, I never thought about birds having eyelashes

The Gorey Beetle 2008, #2

2008-06-28T21:23:00.005-05:00

Found crossing the back porch this evening around 6 or 7

Thursday's Night Beetle

2008-06-28T21:08:00.006-05:00

This beetle (?) was wandering around the bedroom on Thursday night until I shoo'd him out the back door. He reminds me of the Wogglebug from the Oz books, for some reason; I think it's the red and black border. Those are a few dog or cat hairs on it, poor thing.

My little finger for scale

This is the only photo which almost clearly shows his snout, and doesn't it look as though those are eyes on either side of it?

The Other Woodpecker

2008-06-28T13:18:00.006-05:00

I saw this ladder-backed woodpecker last weekend. I couldn't get any closer than this; each time I tried, he'd fly to the next tree. I need a bird suit.

Hummingbirds

2008-06-27T22:51:00.003-05:00

Scrub Teens, or Pre-Teens, Actually: 2008

2008-06-26T21:10:00.004-05:00

Even though I have seen with my own eyes that the scrub jays can be very cruel (their vicious attempted attack on the baby cardinals, e.g.), I still love them. They are both cadaverous and dear with their little grey heads.

Brown Recluses 2008: #5

2008-06-26T20:48:00.004-05:00

Found behind/under the dustpan which is kept by the cat box IN THE BEDROOM, Wednesday June 25th, as I rushed around that morning gathering trash and cleaning out litter boxes as part of that activity. I'm not happy with them anywhere, but I'm even less happy with them in the bedroom. But we continue our policy of displacement rather than death.

My wonderful new spider book says that male spiders have larger pedipalps (the things right in front of their heads that look like a tiny pair of legs) than females. So is this a male? He sure is big.

The Buntings

2008-06-25T21:56:00.004-05:00

The buntings were not just a passing fancy; they have been coming every day to the feeder area. They seem to prefer ground-feeding over feeder-feeding, and seem to be very shy birds. My bird book says they are the "most gaudily colored" of American birds, and I am saddened by that word choice; they are not gaudy, they're just gorgeous!

Little Finches, Darling Finches

2008-06-24T22:50:00.001-05:00

I love the finches, even though, sadly, I cannot differentiate among certain various kinds to save my life. For instance, this kind, and the other ones that look so much like them but are...different. Maybe in a year or two or five when I am better at this I will be able to tell who's who. The finches, like the cardinals, have such an aware and interested look about them; I love it.

You Will Find Me at the Sign of the Swan

2008-06-24T22:46:00.000-05:00

So Much Goings-on This Weekend

2008-06-23T20:20:00.003-05:00

This morning (Monday) was another new, never-seen-before (here) bird: a redwinged blackbird at the feeders. He flew to the ground when I came back with the camera. Sigh; my kodak-moment-proficiency is definitely regressing lately.

And over the weekend:

I've seen the bunting again several times, and apparently it's not a baby, they are just very small birds. Finch-sized. I've seen its mate as well. Though less flashy, she's also quite beautiful.

My neighbor heard a giant cat roar/growl Friday afternoon somewhere between her house and mine. I have since learned that apparently there is a mountain lion known to live in this area. "He waters at the Pedernales," another neighbor said casually. !!

I saw the bobwhite right outside the bedroom door!

I saw the interloper bird from last spring/summer whom I still have not identified.

I have identified lots of my spider photos, thanks to my dad's bday gift of a Texas spiders book.

I saw another kind of woodpecker and almost got sort of perhaps identifiable photos of its head.

I saw the giant bug that I've been tracking for four years! It is purple and its wings are golden; it's huge; it flies around with its back legs hanging down; and I always see it in the area out back. Last year I did not see it at all. This evening I ran for the camera but by the time I got outside, it was gone...

Titmouse as Art

2008-06-23T19:10:00.001-05:00

The Junior Titmouse

2008-06-22T22:31:00.004-05:00

His parents are so proud. The family are black-crested; his crest is still gray because he is yet young.

You Will Find Me at the Sign of the Bunny

2008-06-22T22:29:00.002-05:00

The Kitchen Spider

2008-06-21T10:53:00.003-05:00

This spider has lived under the upper cupboard beside the sink, over the paper towel holder, for a couple of months now. The eating must be good there.

Why I've Been Wondering if Ants Ever Sleep

2008-06-20T21:28:00.008-05:00

I'd like to think that the ant collective name is a "madness" of ants, but it probably isn't. There is a crazy gang of ants that emerges from a tiny hole in our patio, far (for ants) from the house. The gang's trail crosses the patio; it climbs the porch steps; it runs along the porch to the center area, where it climbs the right-side post; it runs along the upper beam and down onto the hummingbird and oriole feeders; it runs back up the feeders and along the other part of the upper beam and down the other, left-hand post; it comes back toward the direction it came from, with a big giant swarming pool at the sugar-water drippings beneath the feeders (the focus of these photos); and then it goes back to the original trail, running back over the porch, down the steps, across the patio, and into the hole. There are approximately 10 million ants involved and they are tiny as can be. They are not fire ants or other biting ants, nor are they Crazy Rasberry Ants (all the rage here in Texas lately).

I seem unable to capture in photos the teeming coverage, the sheer numbers, of these ants. They are legion. (THIRTEEEEEEEEEN!)

Here is my index fingertip for scale.

Who are these two? What are they doing? Where are they going? Do they like one another, or are they civil co-workers, or sworn enemies forced to labor side by side?

What's going on here? Why is the ant at the left on its side? Is it dead? Is the other ant feeling its pulse?

Cardinal With a Mohawk

2008-06-20T17:29:00.006-05:00

This year's second batch of cardinals left the nest today! Hugh and I left the house unusually early so were not around to see, but the nest was empty when I got home, and so far I have spotted one of the three. This one is sitting in the butterfly bush that is next to the jasmine where the nest is. Part of the reason I am sometimes a rotten photographer is that I don't want to scare my subjects. I really need a new, better lens so I can get closer from farther away...

Wee Spider in Bathroom on Saturday

2008-06-19T23:52:00.001-05:00

Another photo from last Saturday; another of those sort of bullet-shaped spiders about 1/4" long. I like this one's attractive markings.