We made it to Colorado in late June, when the heat finally arrived in Texas.

I put out my bird feeders and noticed that the same birds where here as last year.
But, they where not eating out of the feeder.

So I took a few pictures of them and zoomed in on my computer.

Every time I see this one, he or she is carrying an insect.

No kidding! Here's another one!

I guess the rainy Spring has let the bugs reproduce nicely...
and the birds are enjoying some fresh protein!

P.S. The grandkids discovered the reason for so many bugs in the bird's mouth:

There is a nest o 4 fresh hatchlings under the deck of our house. The parent bird is bringing food to it continuously!

Here is a quiz for you. Who is this guy?

Here is a new guy I spotted recently.
Any ideas on what he/she is?

A beaver you say? Not quite. 

But, he is in the rodent family, like the beaver, just smaller.
Only 16-24 inches long, excluding it's 12-18 inch long tail .
The average one is 10 to 15 pounds. 
But that's enough to be major source of protein in some diets.

Its the Nutria, or Coypu, as it is called in South America, where it originated.

Here's another picture.

 It might look small, but it would scare the living daylights out of you if it came close, I swear!

This one was at the marshland of Port Aransas, where birds like to congregate.
(Incidentally there is at least one alligator there too.)

So, how did he/she get there?
Well, do you old folks remember the first "informational" programs on TV?
Around 11 PM to 1 AM back in the 1960's and 70's?
Remember how you could make so much money by raising Chinchillas and then selling them off to furriers?
From what I remember, some of the people who ordered those cute Chinchillas to raise got these, not-so-pretty guys instead. 
There was a commotion for a while back then. 

Well, it seems that many were let loose by their new owners, and now you find these guys free in all continents (except Australia?)! They survived quite well.
Some consider them "invasive" because they seem to eat lots of the local plant (25% of it's body weight per day, year-round!) and thus run off local animal.

Anyway, I decided to watch this one for a while.
After 10 minutes I suddenly noted that a tiny baby had come out of the water to visit with mom.

After about 3 minutes they disappeared into the water again.

And here is another interesting fact:
Did you know the mom's nipples are further out from its belly than many other rodents?
That's so she and the baby can both go hide in the muddy water (same color as her fur)
and the baby can be nursing with his head barely above the water.

OK, OK. I have said enough.
But now you know the rest of their story.

On the other side of the bay from Port Aransas...

is Corpus Christi.

I have to tell you, my favorite part when I lived here, 12 to 35 years ago,
was always the downtown bayfront.

I see that people still come to the T-Heads, to take a break form things at work.

I used to come at lunch time, bring a sandwich and the journals to do a little reading on by sailboat.
The water, birds, and views helped keep the pressure down. 

But, I hear that the price of a boat slip has risen form $79 in my day, up to about $400 a month. 
I can see why there are no longer any of those 22-24 foot sailboats like I used to have.
Instead, this is what docks now.

Anyway.....
Many now come to see the memorial to Selena, our famous singer from those days....

a true favorite of the people of South Texas.

Others come to buy freshly caught shrimp, right off the boats.

And while the fishermen throw off the fish by-catch to the waiting brown pelicans....

those darned seagulls come out of nowhere

and steal about 8 or 9 out of every 10 fish thrown out to them!

Some things don't change.

What the Texas beaches look like

I realized I have not really shown what the mid Texas beaches look like.

Wide open beaches, where you can drive your car directly to the shore.

Or take a golf cart from the shopping area to the beach.

And on this particular night in late May, we got here camping about 7 PM.
It was when the setting sun gives everything a golden hue.
And it it sure did look appealing 

to head towards the water.....

 and take a dip in the ocean with your family and dogs.

Nice birds at the beach

Some of you who live in land-locked areas might not get a chance what we see at the Port Aransas beaches.

There's the sandpipers.

And other moderate sized birds.

And of course there are the dreaded seagulls (guaranteed to soil your hat),
always around, even among much larger birds which you'd think would intimidate them!

The big guys can look very regal, as they stand watch form the sandunes.

In any case, there is fun for everyone with these birds around.

But it is at the other side of the island, on the marshy Laguna Madre side, where you get really close and personal with these guys.

Some might just fly on to the railing of the walkway, a few feet from you,

and keep an eye out for a tasty fish
till he flies off and and choses a spot to wait for his meal.

But takes a few quiet moments to preen himself.

No matter what size, they are all interesting to watch.

What no one looks at while at the beach.

The prevailing winds in the Gulf of Mexico are from East to West.
That explains why so many things end up on the beaches of North Padre Island.

Some are common, but present in different ways.

 Like a "furry" bottle.

But, an onion?

There is a recurring theme: shoes!

Yes, of all sizes!

 But, mainly sandals from local visitors who went into the waves with them on.

They're all covered with barnacles

and some with algae.

Perhaps this is the guy who has travelled the most.

It's a coconut. 
These do not grow in the relative "cold" Texas coast. 
Maybe it is form Florida, blown here by the wind. 
Or perhaps form the Yucatan or even Venezuela, carried here by the Gulf of Mexico currents.

But they have the same barnacles as our shoes.

And with spiny little legs protruding out every once in a while!

Hope you enjoyed a look at part of the beach most people ignore. 

Personally, I think there is beauty just about everywhere.
(Maybe it's form looking at B & W X-rays for way too many years)

Pretty Blue Things at the beach

Last month we went to Port Aransas' beach, outside of Corpus Christi. 
I just got through looking at the pics and was surprised at how many blue things attracted our attention.

Sure there were a few Portuguese Man of War.

But it was these guys that really got our attention.

There were a few clusters of them together, 
but mostly there was just one by itself, 
about every 30 to 50 feet or so.

Some had slightly longer tentacles than others...
but still less than one inch short.

As they get older or shrunk in the air, the bluish soft portion lose their roundness,
and this one is actually more like a septagon.

To me they they seem related to the Sand Dollar,

because when these are alive, the internet shows that they too have short but tan-colored fronds radiating form them.

As ours dry up, they lose their blue fronds and leave behind 
a much more intricate and brittle lace-like skeleton.

Their skeleton seems to vary slightly, specially at its center.


Pretty fragile they are, compared to the mineralized sand dollar.

Now you might think that they are innocuous 'cause they look so pretty.
And, yes the tentacles of the the Portuguese Man of War and other jellyfish just don't seem to sting much when they are dry and you step on them on the beach.

But, I must report that these do have some activity left in them...........at least if you eat them.

Yep, our trusted dog passed a hundred or so of them, smelled a few and then, all of a sudden, decides to grab one with his mouth and swallow it before we can get to him and take it out. 

A little concerned we headed back but he still looked healthy and energetic.

Less than 5 minutes after this pic, he was slowing down and eating grass.
By the time we got back to the van, he was breathing much faster than just from heat.
So we decided to head for our old Vet. in Corpus Christi.
And, unfortunately got caught in Friday afternoon's rush hour traffic.
As he laid on the van's floor (instead of looking out the window) his breathing and heart rate increased, and he started foaming at the mouth....and we fought the traffic.
So we stopped along the way and gave him 100 mg of Benadryl from a CVS pharmacy. 
And being a lab, just getting something in his mouth brought him back to complete normalcy.

Finally we approached the Vet's parking lot 1 1/2 hour after his sea-side "treat". 
By then his vital signs were all back to normal. 
And aside form the sleepiness of the Benadryl, he would have been ready to go back to the beach.

P.S. We returned to the beach the following week and there were no more blue things for him to eat.