As the Mind Wanders

... Or "Wicked-billed Woodpecker" — I just couldn't decide. First let me just say, July in Houston is just plain hot. And muggy. And while I used to do "hot" without any problem, I've become s...

http://asthemind.blogspot.com/2011/07/red-headed-crossbill.html

My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business: A Memoir by Dick Van Dyke My rating: 4 of 5 stars Wow, what a great read! I usually don't spend time reading bio/autobiographies of still-living p...

http://asthemind.blogspot.com/2011/07/dick-van-dyke-man-entertainer-memoir.html

This egret reminds me of one of those models on a shampoo & conditioner commercial, slowly slinging her long silky hair back and forth with a flick of the head. SNOWY EGRET (Egretta thula) T...

http://asthemind.blogspot.com/2011/04/bad-hair-day.html

It has been months since I have participated in the SkyWatch Friday meme, but last Friday's beautiful Texas sky just demanded to be shared. Cowboy and I had arrived at the Cub Scout camping g...

http://asthemind.blogspot.com/2011/04/return-to-skywatch.html

PIED-BILLED GREBES (Podilymbus podiceps) are becoming quite a favorite of mine. I don't remember ever having seen or even heard of grebes before I started seriously birding a couple of years back...

http://asthemind.blogspot.com/2011/04/daily-bird-pied-billed-grebe.html

YELLOW WARBLER (Dendroica petechia) CERULEAN WARBLER (Dendroica cerulea) HOODED WARBLER (Wilsonia citrina) NORTHERN PARULA (Parula americana) BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER (Dendroica fusca) ...

http://asthemind.blogspot.com/2011/04/wednesday-warblers.html

The original "candy corn": COMMON MOORHEN (Gallinula chloropus) Taken at Elm Lake at Brazos Bend State Park in Brazoria County, Texas.

http://asthemind.blogspot.com/2011/04/daily-bird-common-moorhen.html

ROSEATE SPOONBILL (Platalea ajaja) Spring fever is in the air all along the Texas Gulf Coast! And from what I hear, the rookery at High Island's Smith Oaks sanctuary is all aglow with the gree...

http://asthemind.blogspot.com/2011/04/pretty-in-pink.html

WHITE IBIS (Eudocimus albus) Taken at Elm Lake at Brazos Bend State Park in Brazoria County, Texas.

http://asthemind.blogspot.com/2011/04/ibis-in-morning.html

We saw our first Red-winged Blackbird of the year yesterday, perched in the oak tree in the middle of our front yard. Not exactly where you would expect to see RWBLs, but I'll take a new addition...

http://asthemind.blogspot.com/2011/04/scarlet-epaulettes.html

Being still quite the amateur when it comes to shorebird identification (I'm about at the level of, "Hey, that's a shorebird!"), I had some trouble figuring out what this handful of birds were fr...

http://asthemind.blogspot.com/2011/04/wednesday-wings.html

I have wanted for quite some time to visit the Texas City Dike, near Galveston, but the dike had been closed for the past two year for repairs of damages sustained during 2008's devastating Hurri...

http://asthemind.blogspot.com/2011/03/texas-city-dike.html

OSPREY (Pandion haliaetus) Taken over Burnett Bay at the Baytown Nature Center, Baytown, Texas.

http://asthemind.blogspot.com/2011/03/catch-of-day.html

Another case of "drive-by birding." As I was driving along Bolivar Peninsula one day, I saw a fairly large shorebird fly up from a nearby field and alight on a fence post just ahead of me. I car...

http://asthemind.blogspot.com/2011/02/roadside-portrait.html

BLUE-WINGED TEAL female in flight (Anas discors) Taken at the Greens Bayou Wetlands Mitigation Bank in northern Harris County.

http://asthemind.blogspot.com/2011/02/lift-off.html

GREAT EGRET (Ardea alba) Taken at the Smith Oaks sanctuary in High Island, Texas. As always, you can click on the image to see a larger version. Also, check out World Bird Wednesday for m...

http://asthemind.blogspot.com/2011/02/on-wing.html

Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) Taken on Tri-City Beach Rd in Baytown, Texas.

http://asthemind.blogspot.com/2011/02/soaring-high.html

SONG SPARROW (Melospiza melodia)

http://asthemind.blogspot.com/2011/02/daily-bird-song-sparrow.html

CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER (Dendroica pensylvanica)

http://asthemind.blogspot.com/2011/02/wednesday-warbler.html

We are counting down the days until spring migration and nesting season hit the Texas Gulf Coast. NESTING GREAT EGRETS (Ardea alba) Taken last spring at the rookery at Smith Oaks sanctu...

http://asthemind.blogspot.com/2011/02/nesting-at-rookery.html

Here is another bird I am looking forward to seeing again when spring migration wings its way through the Texas Gulf Coast in a couple of months. I spotted this pretty little female Prothonotary ...

http://asthemind.blogspot.com/2011/02/world-bird-wednesday-prothonotary.html

YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER (Sphyrapicus varius)

http://asthemind.blogspot.com/2011/01/daily-bird-yellow-bellied-sapsucker.html

I'm beginning to see more and more of these little fellows all over town. We must be getting closer to spring. YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER (Dendroica coronata) Taken last spring at the Smith Oa...

http://asthemind.blogspot.com/2011/01/signs-of-spring-yellow-rumped-warblers.html

Last Saturday was an odd day, with nothing on the calendar until late morning. So I took advantage of the free morning, sneaked out of the house before the sun came up and headed for Bear Creek P...

http://asthemind.blogspot.com/2011/01/200.html

PIED-BILLED GREBE (Podilymbus podiceps) Taken last spring at the San Bernard National Wildlife Reserve near Lake Jackson, Texas.

http://asthemind.blogspot.com/2011/01/daily-bird-pied-billed-grebe.html