Photo roundup (yee-haw!): last of 30 day photo challenge

 Tweeted these pups a while back, but here I'll make 'em BIGGER.

=)

Skipping around a bit...

Day 27: Portrait

The ever-charming brown pelican.

Apparently the blue eyes mean romance is around the corner…

Galveston, TX

Day 26: Candid photo

Ring-billed gull being a jerk, just 'cause it can.
Galveston, TX

Day 25: Time
(I'll keep it small in case it freaks you out--I get that.
You can click on it to see it larger

This fox's time is up,
but its tail is still beautiful…
Seems appropriately framed: the fallen.
Golf course north of Houston, TX

Day 28: Calm

Taken during flight home, TX to CA.

Clouds: I forgot what they looked like.

Somewhere up high

Day 29: Family

Niece holding shelly discoveries from Galveston, TX beach.

Day 30: Christmas

Beautifully decorated "Christmas" tree.
Golf course north of Houston, TX

Sweet gum, which, tho' I know them from San Diego,
are actually NATIVE to Texas.
This one was GIANT. And gorgeous.

<Checks end of 30 day photo challenge off her to do list,
with thanks to @just_do_do_it>


So, 2014…

Not big on entire year summaries, pardon.

I MAY go to a conference later this month.
A wildlife biology conference.
And possibly help recruit biologists for our company.

If so, should I dress like a corporate head hunter?
Put on high heels & wear lots of perfume & makeup?

Or, wear 100% field gear,
including oversized safety suits for inclement weather,
and carry a snake stick & wear gaiters?

Really, though, I think we should print out LARGE shots of
some of the BEAUTIFUL places we've done work,
and the SUPER cool wildlife "we've" seen.

That's the way to a wildlife biologist's heart…
at least, mine.

=)

xoxobb

explore...

 … is today's photography theme.

Prickly pear fruits (I believe).

Took these photo whilst exploring the farmer's market in Houston, today.

It's MAJOR.

Had NO idea what many of the items were.

Which makes me very happy. =)

A key to exploring, in my mind, is to:

1st, embrace your ignorance,

2nd, ask someone to teach you.

That way you get to learn,

and they get to be a smarty pants;

a win-win.

=)

There was one item that looked like bags of dried green dodder or Spanish moss*.

A young girl explained to us that it is what you put in the manger for the baby Jesus.

Not for eating--oops.

She was SUPER cute.

I love learning from a 9-year-old.

So, there ya go.

Day 23 of the 30 day photo challenge (by @just_go_do_it): DONE.

xoxobb

*Now that I look at it, I'm wondering if what they were selling IS Spanish moss, which is neither Spanish, nor moss. Apparently, it's an epiphytic flowering plant. And it is native in this region (I'm in Texas)… interesting!

Moon over Big Bend National Park

A reward for getting our buns out of bed early,

on the day we drove out of Big Bend.

xobb

this yucca is a siren: alluring and hazardous

 This plant is killing me about eight different ways, right now.

(zoom way in--the blossoms are amazing)

All I can do is ogle and shoot.

Tiny peeks at large flowers through layers of yucca swords.

The ultimate flirt.

From hundreds of square miles of parched, scratchy scrub,
in a singularly shade-free landscape,
spring these succulent, glistening flowers,
glowing high, out of reach,
a calm center in a whorl of yucca swords.

This plant is a siren.

The yucca I know (Yucca schidigera, in California) has an anti-coagulant in it,
which I learned the first (and last) time
I was careless enough to get stabbed by one.

In the micro second between getting stabbed in the hand,
and looking at my wound,
a thick stream of blood had already flowed to my wrist.

Got my attention.

If the yucca in Big Bend NP are at all like those at home,
not only might most sad, parched little land animals
never get to the flowers,
but they may bleed to death at her feet for their efforts.

Sirens don't show mercy.
Yuccas don't weep for thirsty mammals.
Sirens and yuccas need what they need,
and if you are not it,
 best just accept it and move on.

It's not about you.

xoxobb

And the photo theme winner is...

Flowers and bugs!

Going through my pics last night to get them onto my mac was a revelation.

I have a lot of pictures of bugs. A LOT. I had no idea.

For a trip that involved the midwest, I'm pretty sure there are more pictures of bugs than people.

ANYhow, here's the first of several.

This is a tiny caterpillar we saw on a blooming indigo plant in the Anza-Borrego desert. Tiny, adorable creature. And the colors in that plant make me nuts--white stems, super dark, intense purple blossoms, so beautiful.

I'm off to clean the coops. It's going to rain a TON so I want the interior of their coop to be as dry and clean as possible, since they'll be spending a lot of time there over then next week.

Will post more pics later. =)  Enjoy!

biobabbler

P.S. Aw, heck, here's one more...

This flower is a native to the Texas region, HUGE red flowers on a towering plant. The instigator is a neighbor of relatives in Texas who has landscaped in all natives, almost making me swoon. Gave us a tour of everything, and I took lots of photos, catching these dashing creatures amid all the shiny red.