Christmas gone already

Christmas came and went so quickly. I made about a million cookies this season.

Christmas shrooms

OK, so I like mushrooms. I found some oyster mushrooms (yes, a chef's fungi paradise) climbing up a dead pecan tree. The magnificent honey colored shrooms combined with the morning sunlight was truly spectacular.

Persimmons....everywhere

I've always marveled at how rich the color of persimmons become when paired with a blue autumn sky. I was told that after a frost these little globes lose their acidic, astringent flavor; not so! I tried making rugelach with them and it was blaaaaaaaaa.

Fall treasures

There's something nostalgic about fall. The change from hot smelling, sun-baked weeds and noisy bug filled forests to the sweet smell of bois d'arc apples, decaying leaves and the calm sound of chirping birds, makes for a bittersweet sensation. I miss the long summer evenings but am anxious about color, holidays, and crisp air.

What stinks???

Hmmm, watch out for daytime skunks.

Quiet May evening yields rarity

I was able to get quite close to this American Bittern. Notice how the bird tilted its beak and head upward, to mimic the grass.

New Lens!

After 12 months of lusting after Canon's 400mm 5/6 L lens, I finally broke down and bought one! I am eagerly looking forward to photographing wildlife with this heavy piece of equipment.

Reptiles, Amphibians.....

I just happened to see this little red ear, chilling along the edge of the pond so I pulled out my pocket mirror to see what he'd do when he saw his reflection.

Later I discovered a (blue?) racer sunning itself amongst some dying yucca plants. Sunday evening I spotted a rather obese skink, sunning itself high in a hackberry tree.

Beaver

I knew about the illusive beaver who frequented our pond for several months, but I only saw it one evening in November and after that, occasionally noticed signs that it enjoyed our swamp willows. Finally it decided to show itself! I disturbed it one dreary afternoon and watched it slide off the bank into the water, and dive down out of sight.

I managed to hide amongst some trees and waited for the beaver to finally return. It glided over and shook itself off before lumbering onto the bank. I was within six feet of it, but with brush and leaves between us, I could not capture a clear picture of it on land.

I sat there and observed it for about 20 minutes, and listened to it joyously munch away. When a light rain began to fall the beaver decided to take a swim, but I caught him sitting out in the open a few minutes later, eating more willow.

Mushroom hunting in Texas

For all of you who are thinking hallucinogenic mushrooms here, it's time to put down the ipod or remote and read about morels. Many of you have been morel "hunting" before and know how tasty these unique fungi are, but for those of you who have never heard about or eaten one, you don't know what you are missing.

We found about 30 morels this spring. We dipped them in seasoned flour and fried those babies up! Discovering just one...then two...then a clump of 8 growing together..then more, in a spot which has never yielded morels before, was exhilarating to say the least.