On Sunday...

Saturday Critters ~ 289 ~

Celebrating Birds

I have had a fascination with birds since I was a child.

It started with my Aunt Dot...

Pop filled the feeders with seed, the suet feeders were filled with suet cakes Aunt Dot made herself. 

I sat with her at the dining room window, 

she taught me the enthusiastic passion I have for bird watching that I have today!

When I watch the birds in my backyard, I often think of her!


Thanks to my sister, 
I am so lucky to have my Aunt Dot's Bird Book!


We use to see lots of Catbirds at her window, you can see the little "x" marks on the page.

So in honor of and in memory of her...here are some,

Catbirds
Actually, just one...that liked having it's picture taken!

Sharing today with

Eileen at Viewing Nature With Eileen

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Part II

Located right in Austin, Texas

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

is dedicated to inspiring the conservation of plants and flowers native to Texas.

The gardens are so pretty, primarily wildflowers in a very natural setting.

I was a little disappointed that the Bluebonnets were spent,

but there were plenty of other gorgeous flowers.

Picking up from yesterdays post...
here are a few more views from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

One hitchhiker on board...

three hitchhikers on the bud...see if you can find all of them!

They provide a great guide book,

with a detailed map,

and guide to what's in season!

Here I am, resting as we waited for an Uber.

Answering a question from Debbi from yesterday...How long did it take to walk the gardens?
I have no idea, it was hot, really hot...
I always have to limit my visits and not be disappointed that I did not see everything.
The library was a great find, air conditioned with great books, we spent at least a half hour there.
I walk slow and start off with the mindset that I will not see everything.

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Located right in Austin, Texas

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

is dedicated to inspiring the conservation of plants and flowers native to Texas.

The gardens are so pretty, primarily wildflowers in a very natural setting.

I was a little disappointed that the Bluebonnets were spent,

but there were plenty of other gorgeous flowers.

Water Lily

Mexican Hats

Coneflowers

This Wind-chime had the most beautiful sound...

Purple Coneflower

One plant isn't much to look at...

put a million of them together and it's a show!

Spread acres of them on the slope of a hill and it is spectacular, wouldn't you agree?

Purple Coneflowers

Cut Leaf Penstemon

Mexican Hats

Flowering Cactus

If you are interested in reading more about the gardens, or perhaps a visit, 
here is a link to their website.

It was a little warm, but we still had a wonderful time!

I have a few more pictures I will share tomorrow!

Yarn Along

It seems like I have been knitting a lot...

but I don't see too much progress.

This is my current knitting view, maybe I am having too much fun!!

Yard Critters

I have a lot of critters in the yard beyond birds!

I have several squirrels that "live" here and I am "kind of" ok with that!

They are fun to watch and their antics are so cute and creative.
The hubs has tried to out wit them,

but so far they have out matched him in a few ways, but he has not given up.

I yell at them continually..."that is not for you"

I have a whistle I blow, but they are unimpressed.

The hubs has greased the shepards hook, but so far, nothing works.

I fill the hummingbird feeder, they empty it...and so far, I too am loosing the battle.

I have cute little chipmunks running around.

You can see this one is missing a patch of hind hair and I have named him Dale.

I find Junior like this when it is really hot, 

he is a drama queen...

he will also strike this pose when there are no peanuts left on the deck rail!

Confusing Domestic Ducks, Ducklings And Other Things!

Most often, Ducks are pretty easy for me to identify with my field guide and detailed books.

But every so often I get a strange looking one, one that doesn't look familiar...

that I can't find in any of my books.

This duck was one of them and the duckling, to the right, was extremely unusual to me.

I have never seen a baby duck so dark in color.

Domestic ducks are born from interbreeding between species.
This duck may be a product of a mallard and another species mating.

This duck had four other chicks that had what I believe to be normal coloring.

They were small, yellow and fluffy.

The chicks were adorable and super fun to watch!

I also saw a lot of...

Female Red-Winged Black Birds


and a lot of Males as well.



And there were a lot of beautiful Mallard Ducks too!