Port Aransas, TX, is a fun place to be this time of year.  There are all kinds of migratory birds passing through, and from day to day, you never know what you will see.

Last week, we went for a walk with friends through the newly developed “Charlie’s Pasture” area on the island.  From a viewing tower, we spotted what looked like a Great Blue Heron wading/fishing a distance away.  The only thing was, the nead and neck were kind of pinky colored.   I zoomed all the way out on my camera, hoping for the best and took a couple of pictures.  When I got it up on the computer monitor, I knew it wasn’t a blue heron — but what was it???

Okay, I know it’s a pretty bad picture, but it was enough to identify this critter.  It’s a Reddish Egret.  It’s so much fun to see something new, and I hope I get to see one again close up.

Today at the birding center, I saw some of the American Avocets in the water.  I usually see them on shore, so it was fun to see them swimming.

A single Roseate Spoonbill was hanging out on the same point where the alligator was a week ago or so.  There were many avocets, ducks of all kinds, dowitchers, black-necked stilts, and turtles on this little point also.

Today I stopped over at Paradise Pond and THAT’s where all the Great Blue Herons were hanging out.  

They weren’t wading in the water, but rather they were mostly in trees, with one deciding to fly over the pond, which was pretty exciting.  It’s hard to beat blue herons for for picture-taking.  The bird that circled overhead is the one that is picture up in the bare tree branches.  That was a rare treat; I’ve never seen one of them sit up there before.  Then he decided to get down lower into the brushy part of the tree, and kind of crashed and thrashed his way down through the branches.  For such a graceful looking bird, he moved through the tree like a gawky teenager! 

Wonder what I’ll see tomorrow?

–Sue

I wanted to do some comparison pictures between the two cameras (see previous post on the specifics) to see just what the differences are as far as the wide angle and zoom.  I took these pictures off our balcony this morning.  This is in the regular, unzoomed mode.  Old camera (Lumix FZ20 on left) and new camera (Lumix FZ35) on the right.  The new camera has more of a wide-angle lens:

Next I took photos zoomed in the full optical distance:  12 x on the left, 18 x on the right:

And finally I took a picture with each camera fully zoomed out through the optical and the digital, so 48 x for the old FZ20 on the left and 72 x for the new FZ35 on the right.  It doesn’t make a huge difference in the appearance at the end because the new camera starts out at a wider angle and that uses part of the zoom up (in my non-camera-expert speak).

You can see quite a difference in the first set of pictures. I like that wide-angle lens and it would have been nice on our Yellowstone trip. There is less difference in the second set at the maxed-out optical zoom. On the third set, with the digital zoom maxed out, there is a greater difference.

What doesn’t show here is whatever difference the increased megapixels will make (5 to 12.1), because I reduced all the  pictures down to the same pixel count for the internet.  I have noticed before that my old camera doesn’t have the most true color, and I’ve been correcting that with editing after the pictures are on my camera.  It’s apparent in these comparisons that the pictures on the left are too blue.

Well that was fun, for me anyway, and now I guess it’s time to get out there and shoot some pictures!

–Sue

I have loved my “old” camera — a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ20.  It came out in 2005; I bought mine in 2006.

Taking bird pictures, it seems you’re always wishing for more zoom.  I talked to a couple of serious bird photographers who were toting cameras with gigantic lenses and big, sturdy tripods; they even said they wished for more zoom.  *sigh*

About once a year, I research my dream dslr camera body and dream big lens.  Then I cringe at the cost, and pack that dream back up and stuff it in the back of my head.  This year, I thought to myself (because DH sure doesn’t want to hear this kind of talk), maybe I should just bite the bullet and get what I want.  Picked out my camera body and lens, started reading through the specs, and the lens weighs 8 pounds!!!  I would need to lug a tripod around!!!  I slept on that notion, and decided that wasn’t for me.  I will give up the big long lens in favor of a camera I can actually hang around my neck.  So what did I get? 

I have liked my Panasonic so well, I decided to go with their Lumix FZ35.  18x optical zoom, 4 times digital zoom.  12.1 megapixels.  Lens in the nonzoomed position is more of a wide angle.  Came out in 2009.  It is smaller and lighter than my old camera, which should be a plus for me.  After having three days to play with it, I like it.  I am still figuring things out.  It has more features, and everything isn’t in the same place.  It will take a little time to adjust to it.

So of course I went to the birding center today.  Here is a wide view from the top of the viewing tower:

You would be amazed at how many birds are in the picture — they just aren’t out in the open.  Notice the red circle.  I saw a Roseate Spoonbill drop in there for a landing so I zoomed in:

The spoonbills were cavorting on the other side of the cattails!  Do you think a single one would come on over to MY side of the cattails?  Nooooo… 

But they were joined by a flock of American Avocets (I think that’s what they are, anyway):

These pictures were all taken with my lens pretty much zoomed out.  I am going to try having some 4×6 prints made to see how they look and how much different the increase in megapixels makes.  It was fun to see the spoonbills today!  They have been pretty elusive this year.

And what am I going to do with my FZ20?  DH spoke for it, so it will be fun to go birding together with our his and hers cameras.  Actually, I want to sneak over there by myself with both cameras and do some comparisons with the two cameras.  Maybe this week.  Before the cold returns. 

–Sue

It’s been a fun and busy time — today is our “crafting day” and I have 20 people signed up to make a little cover for the purse-sized tissue packet.  I made three different ones from three on-line patterns, and none of them fit the current size of the tissue packs, and they all gaped open.  When I have time, maybe I’ll post the tutorial for my “new & improved” version.  They are such a simple little project, so I hope all goes well today.

And I bought a new camera!  Hopefully this afternoon I will have a chance to go to the birding center to try it out, side by side, against my old one.  Details to follow.

But for today, here is a puzzle for you (and for me) for a red-eared slider.  He just had his eyes and nose out of the water, and he was HUGE:

–Sue

Or did you play duck, duck, goose as a child?  We see a lot of ducks down here in coastal Texas, and the day these pix were taken, they were hunkered down against the sharp breeze, enjoying a nap.

What really caught my attention, though, was this picture:

Yes, it’s true, ducks close their eyelids.  If you look closely, you can see the bottom eyelid comes up to the top.  Another interesting fact is that ducks have a third eyelid (like many other animals and birds) that closes over the eye from the side.  It’s called a nictitating membrane.  They can see through that third eyelid, which is a good thing when they are flying or diving into the water.

Here you can see it’s a female Northern Shoveler.  Isn’t it interesting how the spots on her beak kind of match the spots on her feathers?  She looks very coordinated and “put together”, so I guess animal prints are still “in”.

Here is the male Northern Shoveler she was hanging out with.  These ducks look a little manic to me — I think it’s the golden eye.

–Sue

DH and I went back to the birding center today.  He missed seeing the ‘gator yesterday, and we thought we might be lucky and catch a glimpse of him (or her) again.  (By the way, I read on line that at least a couple of years ago, there were two alligators:  “Boots” and “Bags” — get it?  Alligator boots & bags?)  No such sighting today, but this was almost better!

We could see where he had traveled!

These channels are probably a couple of feet across, and quite deep!

In all the dozens and dozens of times I’ve been there, I’ve never seen ruts like this in the water.  Don’t care to ever meet this guy when he’s hungry!

–Sue

I know I’ve said it before, but you never know what you’ll see at the Leonabell Turnbull Birding Center in town.  Some days the birds are few and far between; some days they are almost performing for you.  Some days you see things to make you realize it isn’t always a walk on the beach to be a bird.

The first things I saw were four Black Vultures circling high overhead.  Makes a person stand up a little straighter, trying to look healthy and fit.

After I took this photo, I looked down at my camera, looked back up — and they were GONE!  It was a little Alfred Hitchcock-ish.

I spent some time photographing some ducks that were in close (tomorrow’s pix) before I got to the observation tower and saw the alligator!  We saw him once about four years ago and hadn’t seen him since.

He was making himself quite at home, probably having a little nap, out on a point that is frequented by all kinds of birds.  There are a few ducks hanging back along the water’s edge.  What I noticed after I got this picture up on the computer is the cluster of roseate spoonbills in the tall grass towards the left of the alligator.  I was just hoping the ‘gator didn’t have any pink feathers stuck between his teeth.  I zoomed in on the alligator, but his head was hidden:

Someone there said they heard the ‘gator is 15 feet long, but they were estimating he’s more like 20 feet.  I don’t think it really matters.  He was BIG.

There’s more than one kind of “bird lover” that likes to hang around the birding center!

–Sue

I did a random-number generator “drawing” for the winner of my 100,000 visits / Beachy / Wish-You-Were-Here give-away.  I added all the comments from the five days, which totaled 70.  Did a drawing from 1 to 70, and the winning number is…

Lucky Number 13!  Oh, my, somebody from the first day!   

Congratulations, Kerry!

And a BIG thank you to everyone who takes the time to read my blog, whether you entered the drawing or not, I truly appreciate every one of you. 

I will be posting some bird pics later today.  Wouldn’t you know it — we haven’t seen the alligator for almost four years, and only hours after our out-of-town guests left yesterday, GUESS WHO I SAW???  Anyway, I’ll post about it later today.

Congrats, again, Kerry!  I know she’s a Minnesota girl and could use some virtual beach time!  Well, Minnesota has miles and miles of beaches, but they are only being frequented by snowmobilers and ice-fishermen and -women this time of year. 

By the way, Kerry has a fun blog.  She’s an excellent photographer, pianist, scrapbooker, mom and homemaker.  Be sure to drop by!

–Sue

and Last Day to enter.  Yes, you can enter again today even if you entered a comment on a previous day.  Just be sure to enter on this posting.  The drawing by random number generator will be tomorrow (Saturday).

Even though it’s rainy today here at the beach, we’re going to put on a sun-shiney face and finish describing what’s in the give-away bag.

So far we have a spiral notebook, a sachet packet, a wristlet purse, an ornament, notecards, and an exfoliating peppermint foot soap.

The last of the items are the absorbent car coaster (my friend Pat gave me a couple of these one year, and they are pretty neat).  Great in the warm weather when your cold drinks *glisten*.  (We refined girls don’t say “sweat”!)  And then there’s a yard of turquoise fabric with some tiny little swirls highlighted with a touch of gold.  I liked this fabric, and it reminded me of water.

There you have it, that’s the entire Wish-You-Were-Here package!

And DH will be so thrilled when he sees this, but I love this picture.  This is a good memory of warmer times at the beach, but hopefully we will be walking barefoot in the water soon!  (And doesn’t he have great legs?)

Be sure to fill in your e-mail address on the comment form.  (Thank you, Cindy, for taking care of that!)  And you don’t need a blog to enter…

–Sue

NOTE:  In yesterday’s comments, Cindy #2 didn’t fill in an e-mail address in the space provided when you make your comment.  Nobody sees that e-mail address but me.  Cindy, if you leave another comment, please fill in the e-mail address, or click on “contact me” at the top of this page and e-mail it to me. 

Welcome to my blog and my give-away! 

Most of the country has had such, shall we say, less-than-desirable weather this winter, I thought it would be fun to have a beach-related give-away!  Today is Day #4 out of 5 days, so be sure to stop by tomorrow for another chance to comment and have an extra entry in the “drawing”!

Comment on this post for a chance at the prize package (even if you’ve commented previous days — you’re allowed one comment per day).

So far, I’ve described the peppermint foot scrub, the wristlet, the shell-inspired ornament, and the flamingo notebook.  All things I love and I’ve bought for myself!

Two more items in the photo are a seashore fragrance packet (I’ll ask you if you’re sensitive to fragrance if you win — it’s in a zip-lock bag for now), and a box of sea shell note cards, blank on the inside.  Here’s a photo of what I think is a female Ruby-crowned Kinglet, peeking up at me:

Good luck!

–Sue