Your Bio

My wife Pat and I retired in December, 2006. We have now enjoyed almost three years of retirement - I think we like it. We plan to escape the Texas heat each summer for as long as we can - searching for birds and beautiful photos.

Galleries

Fall Trip (Bosque) - 2009 : Early fall trip consisting of Lost Maples State Natural Area, So Llano River State Park, San Angelo State Park, Davis Mtns State Park, then Bosque del Apache, San Antonio, NM. Then a stop or two (to be determined) on the way back. Lost Maples had no birds, and we were too early for any real fall color. South Llano had problems with the water features at the observation blinds - and didn't seem to be feeding on a regular basis. So South Llano was somewhat disappointing. San Angelo has probably the best photo blind we've seen - well organized and everything fairly close. But, not a lot of variety. We did see a Badger late Sunday, 11/01, at the photo blind. I've included a not-very-good image of the Badger. Davis Mtns had much more variety and quantity of birds. We were a little early to Bosque - not the numbers of cranes or geese we're accustomed to. But plenty to photograph. The fall foliage was spectacular early in our visit - something we've never experienced at Bosque. Our last stop brought us a pleasant surprise - a Northern Jacana at Choke Canyon. See the Belize Gallery for a photo of this Mexican / Central American species.

Fall Trip (Bosque) - 2009

Early fall trip consisting of Lost Maples State Natural Area, So Llano ...

Updated: Nov 27, 2009 4:10pm EST

South Central Texas : The first photos (1-10) in this gallery were taken at Aransas NWR - located about an hour north of Corpus Christi. It is the winter home of the endangered Whooping Crane. I hope to get some photos of the cranes eventually. Photos 11-17 were taken nearby. Photos 18-29 were taken on a small pond in Mission Valley, just north of Victoria.

South Central Texas

The first photos (1-10) in this gallery were taken at Aransas NWR - lo ...

Updated: Sep 16, 2009 6:07pm EST

South Llano River State Park : South Llano River State Park, Junction, Texas is one of the birdiest places in Texas. Four observation / photograpy blinds, Painted Buntings galore, plus an occasional Black-Capped Vireo and Golden-Cheeked Warbler. And river tubing if that's your thing. We've made several trips with stops at South Llano, so I've moved all photos from other galleries (beginning in 2004) to this gallery. Photos arranged in chronological order.

South Llano River State Park

South Llano River State Park, Junction, Texas is one of the birdiest p ...

Updated: Jun 05, 2009 10:18pm EST

Summer Trip - 2008 : This summer's trip is to Colorado. We headed back to Texas 6/19 with stops at Palo Duro St Park near Amarillo and Copper Greaks St Park near Quanah. Altitude (it's approx 8400' at South Fork) did not seem to agree with Pat. South Llano River St Park was the first stop on this summer's trip and is one of our favorite camping spots - I've moved those images to a seperate South Llano Gallery. Images 1-36 were made at Davis Mtns State Park (May 11-13). Another favorite stop. Then, the next 26 images (37-62) were made in or around Santa Fe, NM (May 17-20). The next 10 images (63-72) were taken at Great Sand Dunes Natl Park on 5/21. The next 13 (73-85) images were taken after we arrived at Fun Valley RV Park, South Fork, Co, 5/22. Some greeting. Snow showers continued into the afternoon of 5/23. Images 86-150 were taken around South Fork from 5/26 thru 6/18. Images 151-158 are from our return trip and were added 06/21.

Summer Trip - 2008

This summer's trip is to Colorado. We headed back to Texas 6/19 with s ...

Updated: Jan 12, 2009 2:43pm EST

Costa Rica 2008 : Four of us from Golden Triangle Audubon spent Nov 6-15 in Costa Rica, an absolutely beautiful country blessed with an amazing variety of Flora and Fauna. I highly recommend this friendly country. We started our trip with one night at Hotel Bougainvillea in the San Jose area. They feature a large (8 acres) and beautiful garden behind the hotel. We then travelled to the Tarcoles / Carara area (Pacific lowlands) and spent two nights at Hotel Villa Lapas. From there we crossed back across the mountains, stopping at Cinchona (an area hard hit by the recent earthquake) for hummingbirds and spent three nights at the La Selva Research Station in the Carribean lowlands. Easily the most "birdy" of our detinations. From there we travelled back thru San Jose and headed South into the Talamanca Mountains for three nights at Savegre Mountain Lodge. Great trip!!!

Costa Rica 2008

Four of us from Golden Triangle Audubon spent Nov 6-15 in Costa Rica, ...

Updated: Nov 23, 2008 11:54am EST

Southeast Texas Birds : I added too many birds to my SE Texas Gallery, so I created a separate one just for birds. These images come from all over SE Texas, but most seem to come from Sabine Woods TOS Sanctuary near Sabine Pass, Tx.

Southeast Texas Birds

I added too many birds to my SE Texas Gallery, so I created a separate ...

Updated: Sep 09, 2008 12:20pm EST

South Texas 2007 : We spent almost three weeks in South Texas from Thanksgiving thru Dec 7th.

South Texas 2007

We spent almost three weeks in South Texas from Thanksgiving thru Dec ...

Updated: Jul 19, 2008 4:10pm EST

High Island Rookery : Smith Oaks Rookery at High Island. Unlike the Port Arthur rookery, this one has Spoonbills. Also fewer Cormorants and less foliage - which allows for better images of the displaying and nesting birds. The first 36 images were taken in April, 2007. The remaining images were taken in March and April, 2008. The rookery looks like a bunch of match sticks after hurricane Humberto did considerable damage to High Island in the summer of 2007, but the birds don't seem to care.

High Island Rookery

Smith Oaks Rookery at High Island. Unlike the Port Arthur rookery, thi ...

Updated: Apr 19, 2008 10:28pm EST

Southeast Texas : Miscellaneous Southeast Texas Folder - a little bit of everything.

Southeast Texas

Miscellaneous Southeast Texas Folder - a little bit of everything.

Updated: Apr 13, 2008 1:08pm EST

Alaska 2007 - in Alaska : Arrived in Alaska on May 24th. Spent the first week in the Fairbanks area. Took a tour bus to the Arctic Circle. Early June found us on the east end of the Denali Hwy (Paxson / Tangle Lakes). Beautiful scenery and great Grayling fishing. 2nd week of June was spent around Palmer - one of our favorite Alaska towns. June 18-22 we spent in Denali Natl Park. Always a trip highlight. Had a very good look at Denali (not always possible). Late June we were in Homer (Halibut fishing) and Seward (Exit Glacier and Sealife Center). We reunited with our new Virginia friends Dan & Ann Tracy in Valdez in Early July. Fished some (Pink Salmon), kayaked some, and took the Lulu Belle to Columbia Glacier. Mid July found us in Fairbanks again (Slide-out damage), then Palmer, Whittier and Portage Valley, then Seward again. This time we hiked the Harding Icefield trail (8 mile / 8 hour round trip), but the most awesome hike of the trip. July 18-23 spent on the Kenai (Morgan's Landing SRA) fishing for Sockeye Salmon (limited success, but learned a lot). July 28 - Aug 3 - St Paul Island - see the seperate Gallery. Had a few days before we needed to head home so we spent those in Seward again (fishing - no sucess), then Skilak Lake (fishing again for Sockeye - Dan had great success). On the way home (8/14- 8/15) we passed thru Stewart, BC and Hyder, AK. Bear viewing on Fish Creek was rewarding, and Salmon Glacier was awesome (and an easy drive this time around). Arrived back in Dallas on Aug 24.

Alaska 2007 - in Alaska

Arrived in Alaska on May 24th. Spent the first week in the Fairbanks a ...

Updated: Aug 19, 2007 11:06pm EST

St Paul Island : We spent a wonderful week (7/27/2007-8/3/2007) on this little 6 mi X 10 mi island out in the Bering Sea. Mornings were usually foggy, afternoons mostly fog free. It could drizzle at any time. We had a day and 2/3 of steady light rain that cancelled air traffic in and out - and halted our photography. No trees. Lots of Northern Fur Seals, Arctic Foxes, puffins, auklets, amd murres. Very few passerines, though Gray-Crowned Rosy-Finches, Snow Buntings, and Lapland Longspurs were common. As were Rock Sandpipers, Ruddy Turnstones, and Kittiwakes.

St Paul Island

We spent a wonderful week (7/27/2007-8/3/2007) on this little 6 mi X 1 ...

Updated: Aug 10, 2007 5:10pm EST

Alaska 2007 - Trip up. : Our "Big" trip for 2007. Left Dallas on April 30. Travelled thru N TX (including the TX Panhandle), W OK, W KS, Central NE, W SD, WY, MT, BC, AB, and YT. Made it to Tok, AK on May 24. Stops of note included Prairie Dog St Park in KS, Badlands Natl Park and Custer St Park in SD, Glacier Natl Park in MT, Banff and Jasper Natl Parks in AB, Canada, and Muncho Lake, BC. Saw lots of wildlife including deer, elk, buffalo, black bear, moose, and caribou. Drove thru high winds, rain, sleet, snow, and hail. Thought about turning back after the 2nd hail storm. But overall, the trip was a destination in itself, and the weather, at least, was not as hot as that which we left behind.

Alaska 2007 - Trip up.

Our "Big" trip for 2007. Left Dallas on April 30. Travelled thru N TX ...

Updated: May 25, 2007 1:42pm EST

Port Arthur Rookery : This rookery is located on Motiva Refinery property on 7th Street. Photos are arranged sequentually by month from March to June. No birds returned to this rookery in 2006 - probably because of the damage done by hurricane Rita. But a few birds (Cormorants and Great Egrets mostly) returned for 2007.

Port Arthur Rookery

This rookery is located on Motiva Refinery property on 7th Street. Pho ...

Updated: Mar 27, 2007 2:10pm EST

Bosque 2007 : February 4-22, 2007 trip thru central & west Texas to Bosque NWR. Mostly birds, but some Big Bend scenics toward the end.

Bosque 2007

February 4-22, 2007 trip thru central & west Texas to Bosque NWR. Most ...

Updated: Feb 24, 2007 11:19pm EST

Anahuac NWR : Anahuac NWR - in Chambers County midway between Houston and Beaumont, just south of the little town of Winnie. Hard hit by hurricane Ike. Still a great place to visit.

Anahuac NWR

Anahuac NWR - in Chambers County midway between Houston and Beaumont, ...

Updated: Jan 07, 2007 10:42pm EST

Rio Grande Valley : First images are from February 2005 trip to RGV - very rewarding. Later images (starting with the Javalina) are from December 2006.

Rio Grande Valley

First images are from February 2005 trip to RGV - very rewarding. Late ...

Updated: Dec 11, 2006 4:45pm EST

Belize 2006 : Feb 20-27 trip with Kozi Birding of Houston. Great trip.

Belize 2006

Feb 20-27 trip with Kozi Birding of Houston. Great trip.

Updated: Mar 02, 2006 8:31am EST

Central Texas : We spent several days in May, 2004, around the Texas Hill Country. Photos are arranged East to West. I moved the photos taken at South Llano River St Park to a seperate gallery.

Central Texas

We spent several days in May, 2004, around the Texas Hill Country. Pho ...

Updated: Sep 16, 2005 2:23pm EST

Bosque del Apache NWR - 2004 : Bosque NWR - Nov 27-30, 2004. IPT w/Arthur Morris.

Bosque del Apache NWR - 2004

Bosque NWR - Nov 27-30, 2004. IPT w/Arthur Morris.

Updated: Sep 11, 2005 3:47pm EST