Southeast Texas Daily Photos

The sun, the rose, the moment

2011-11-27T16:47:00.001-08:00

It was that last trickle of a moment. That finely sliced filament of time, when the sun has resorted to twisting and weaving its rays through the trees, the shining leaves and dusty air. The sun was exhausting itself pushing its evaporating light into dwindling crevices, looking for one last natural beauty to illuminate.

That's when I squeezed the shutter release on this shot. The sun's nature-spun rays recreated the brilliance of its shine on the center of this Knock-out Rose in our backyard.

I know you won't believe this, but it was even more awe-striking to see in person. It was one of those moments when beauty just breaks apart the time around you. I breathed deep as the light vaporized. The wind was still blowing briskly and the temperature was still dropping. In the morning, it will be at freezing -- a frost that may seize this rose in death. The sun may never get another chance to light-paint this rose.

(Click on the photo to see the whole shot.)

Handsome Egret

2011-11-23T14:24:00.000-08:00

I suppose if you were a Great Egret, you might think this is the most handsome face you have ever seen. I was travelling out the old Ferry road from Bridge City when I captured this photo. It's a good place for bird shots. A small canal gives the birds a place to fish -- sitting on the opposite side of the canal from the road gives them a sense of security.

No path is easy

2011-11-21T12:07:00.000-08:00

"You take the high road and I'll take the low road," seems to be the theme here as our grandkids, Sullivan and Sophie, have different ideas about reaching the goal.

This is the playground at Central Park in Beaumont, Texas.

Playground pattern draws interest

2011-11-20T12:02:00.000-08:00

I wish I could tell you what attracted me to this shot at the Central Park playground in Beaumont. The opposing patterns maybe? Maybe the complexity of repetition in the shot.

Grackle games

2011-11-19T11:53:00.001-08:00

These two Grackles were have fun playing King on the Mountain at Central Park in Beaumont this morning. ( I am not sure they understood the rules, though)

Female Grackle sashays near Lake Sabine

2011-11-07T14:34:00.000-08:00

This female Grackle was strutting her stuff by Lake Sabine and Bridge City. I was coming back from Orange the other day and decided to see what lie out that way. I was not disappointed. The Egrets, Ahingas, gulls and Grackles were busy soaking up the sun and winds.

Frost flees its icy form

2011-10-24T08:19:00.000-07:00

This week's first fall frost quickly turned to water drops on the grass leaves in the yard. The sun had only to peak through the tree leaves and the icy cover was ready to shift shapes.

Flies in the backfield, two by tow

2011-10-23T08:12:00.000-07:00

Just a supposition here, but, I'm thinking these flies are practicing for their big game this weekend against the reigning champion fleas. It seems to me to involve too many in the backfield -- it must be some kind of flea-flicker play.

The water-lily in the nearby pond gives them a feel for playing in a dome, I suspect. Notice how big their front line is. How would you like to be a flea and face those heavyweight hovers?

Porch sitters see Beaumont skyline from new center

2011-10-22T08:05:00.000-07:00

The downtown skyline of Beaumont frames the sky from the porch of the new Civic Center which is nearly completion. The grey expanse in the foreground will be a small lake, giving a reflection of the downtown-sky ensemble. It should make for some very poetic photography.

New Civic Center captures skyline

2011-10-21T07:58:00.000-07:00

The new Beaumont Civic Center at the edge of downtown is starting to take shape. The big glass front of the building overlooks Beaumont's skyline.

Fall flaunts its frost

2011-10-20T07:53:00.000-07:00

There was frost on the ground this morning. Fall has fell.

Great Egret makes a statement

2011-10-18T06:33:00.001-07:00

This Great Egret seems to be making a statement, standing on the wildlife management area sign in marshes near Bridge City, TX.

Drought will not let go of SE Texas

2011-09-27T14:25:00.000-07:00

This stagnating drought is taking its toll. Despite a few occasional respites, the dry is soaking into everything. I had stopped by a pond a few years back to take a shot during a former drought and I was devastated by the drying and dying I saw.

So, I thought I would check out another near by pond (one I had not yet explored). It was much the same story this year. The heat-soaked mud bottom was exposed and the cracks were opening deeper and deeper. Maybe some cooler weather will help that a bit. but, today was not that. With the temperature scorching to the upper 90's again, it feels like summer has a dug its claws into Southeast Texas and is going for the kill.

Please, somebody tell the weatherman that summer is over!
It doesn't take a weatherman to know when to call off a drought. Enough, already.

Tomorrow -- the colors of drought.

Eye-catching Northern Cardinal pays visit

2011-09-26T14:08:00.000-07:00

This very healthy looking and brilliantly marked Northern Cardinal cam visiting the other day. He was hard bird to take a photo of -- every time I would step out side he would fly to the trees behind our house.Finally I set up my tripod right next to the door and tried shooting by just slipping my arm out the door. It worked on the third try.

Hummingbird dictator may be vulnerable?

2011-09-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

What's wrong with this tough guy that is terrorizing the other humming birds in my back yard?

He has been claiming the fount of eternal elixir (otherwise known as the hummingbird feeder) as his sole and exclusive property for several weeks now. He fends off any claim by intruders with an aerial battle that rivals F-16s.

That has been going on for a while.

But now, he perches there with his mouth wide open in some kind of "spiking the football" gesture. I don't know if he got into a testosterone-spiked flower or he is just into the super macho kind of the elixir thing, Rambo-style.

It's fun to watch, but the other hummingbirds I am sure are not enjoying it. I have heard talk of a coup.

I may join the conspirators -- this guy is just relishing his role too much.What if I put the other hummingbird feeder on the other side of the yard? Could Mr. Macho defend that much territory?

A lone Hummingbird fends off a flock of frenzied flyers

2011-09-22T08:04:00.000-07:00

This little Hummingbird is creating quite a stir in our backyard -- he has decided that the nectar is all his. My wife, Linda, went and bought a second feeder. Our flying defender then decided both feeders were his and chased any other fellows of the feather away when ever they ventured near.

I decided to move the two feeders further apart to see if that would get his generous juices flowing. It did not work. It just made him have to work harder -- defending a larger perimeter. In this photo after fending off an frenzied attack by a squadron of feathery flyers, he ruffles his feathers. I am not sure if he is trying to enlarge his stature or just trying to refresh himself for the next assault on his flavory fluid.

Lurking lizard nets nothing

2011-09-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

The stealthy hunter has a problem on his hands er, pads. The lurking lizard is stalking the insect that can just barely be seen on the right (the black triangle). Problem is, the lizard is on the other side of the netting and he can't figure that out. I watched the scene play out for about 20 minutes. The insect would move every once in a while, but never fly away. The lizard's best lurking did him no good for his breakfast this day, though I suspect the practice was very valuable.

The flower subs for shade

2011-09-20T19:25:00.000-07:00

The sunlight was coming through the base of this flower in my back yard as it hung down after several days of no rain. That didn't stop the bees and the Hummingbirds from finding what they wanted.

Hummingbird Heaven

2011-09-15T10:16:00.000-07:00

The Hummingbirds have been hanging around our house a lot lately. They actually started coming before we put the feeder up. There have been as many as nine at a time. It's fun to watch their antics over the feeder. One takes a sip and then flies to the top to play guard. If another Hummingbird comes up for a sip, it chases him away. While those two are off playing chase, another will come up and get a sip.

Egrets, herons hunker by the thousands

2011-08-25T20:41:00.000-07:00

On the drive home from Baton Rouge to Beaumont the other day, I was watching several flocks of egrets heading west along side of me. They seemed to slow up at the next intersection, so I decided to pull off the I-10 there to see if I could catch a picture of a passing flock.. When I pulled to a stop, I found a fly-in taking place for thousands of birds which filled nearly every branch of the trees for a couple football fields in length. They were mostly cattle egret, but a few anhingas, ibis and blue heron were mixing in -- apparently, unable to pass up a fait do-do.

They were still flocking in from the south and east, circling the feathery fete and then trying to push their way in for a branch -- occupied or not. There were bird feathers floating in the air and the loud cacophony of the flustering cluster had the hum of a Texas football game after the Hail Mary fell just beyond reach. I surmised they were gathering in advance of northern front bringing lightning and rain. I was in a hurry to snap as many photos as quickly as I could since the rain front and the missing sun were racing to see who could bring on the darkness first.

As I was pulling back onto the I-10, I stopped again because the service road offered another vantage point where birds were bunched on de-leafed trees. I-10 truck drivers, zooming past, who saw me shooting pictures, blasted their horns. It took me about three of these passing blares to realize they were trying to stir up the birds for me to get a better shot.

I snapped off a bunch of shots, but it was hard to get close to the trees and the gathering gloom smothered all the camera tricks I tried.

It was an interesting diversion from a monotonous drive.

Challenging the sun

2011-07-24T18:33:00.001-07:00

My wife, Linda, loved the volunteer sunflowers that cropped up in the back yard earlier in the summer. Enough so, that she bought some seed and now is watching them daily. About eight of them have opened wide to challenge the sun. This is one of the next ones to take on his/her destiny. Its soon-to-be petals are pulling away from the center of the flower and unfurling. Its a lot of fun to watch the slow burst of "sunergy."

That old moon

2011-07-23T14:18:00.001-07:00

There must be a million songs about the moon. Probably my favorite is the Beatles son, "Mr., Moonlight." You can pick your favorite and sing it now. Wax and wane all you want.

Is lizard lucubrating or lollygagging?

2011-07-16T15:10:00.001-07:00

Strange place for a lizard to chose to do his preying. Maybe he misunderstood?

The last rain dance?

2011-06-21T19:16:00.001-07:00

The rains have come back to Southeast Texas. They are not really drought-ending soakings. More like a sprinkling compared to months of sparce moisture. This was the 12 tee-box a the Brentwood Country Club late Sunday evening, the day before the first rain fell in weeks. The sprinklers were shooting high into the air, letting the water fall like rain drops. I guess you could call it a rain dance.

Morning on the golf course

2011-06-06T19:27:00.001-07:00

The sun has barely risen and already people are jetting off to far destinations.

Ironman and mom

2011-05-22T17:43:00.001-07:00

We were in the Woodlands this weekend to support our son, Charles, in his second Ironman competition.
This shot is after he had completed the swim and the 112-mile bike run and was on the second of three 8 mile loops in the marathon part of the event. He slowed down to walk a few feet with mom, Linda, who is obviously beaming. He finished in 12 hours and 24 minutes

Fighting heat and drought in a puddle

2011-05-10T19:27:00.001-07:00

This is a scene I shot a couple years ago down along the coastal highway in Cameron Parish, LA. There was a strong drought and small ponds like these were lucky just to be puddles. Notice that the boat in the foreground had probably been underwater at one time when it filled with silt. The crabs looked to have died baking in the sun. This Rail (possibly a King Rail?) was still trying to eke out a living in this shrinking ecosphere.

Squirrelly encourter of the friendly kind

2011-05-08T16:15:00.001-07:00

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My little friend at work found a peanut and wasn't going to put it down. Not even when I pointed a camera at him.

Tattered, strewn sky

2011-05-06T04:59:00.001-07:00

This is just one more look at that jigsawed sunset that spread out like a lint-covered ceiling a couple weeks ago.

A peak inside a flower

2011-04-29T21:52:00.001-07:00

A peak inside a flower. How was I to know there was a party going on?

Shredded hope

2011-04-25T06:31:00.000-07:00

This is another shot from that amazing sunset this past weekend. With the way the clouds were shredded I expected some wet weather.

By the dawn's early light.

2011-04-22T12:31:00.000-07:00

A cool, windy, morning walk to the State Capitol a couple weeks ago for a Leadership Southeast Texas Event yielded this shot.

Seeing eye-to-eye

2011-04-21T21:52:00.001-07:00

My little friend at work doesn't run off so fast anymore. He does, however, consider 20 feet to be a good distance to stay away -- especially if it involves a little elevation. I try not to scare him by coming close, but we make good eye contact.

The road side nectar trade

2011-04-18T15:30:00.000-07:00

Even the small flowers along the way are marketing their wares to any skyfaring nectar hunter.

Magnolias, the drama

2011-04-17T20:29:00.000-07:00

Our magnolias are blooming. Let the drama begin....

Magnolias, the drama

2011-04-17T20:28:00.000-07:00

Folded, spindled, mutilated and pierce clouds.

2011-04-15T18:40:00.000-07:00

It was a very strange sunset the other night with winds shreding clouds in to tethers with sharps winds aloft. This is a straight up shot that lost some of its blueness in trying to bring out the clouds. Notice the jet piercing it's way across the sky. I can't even imagine what the heavens looked like from up there.

A pair of lounging Black Vultures

2011-04-12T19:04:00.001-07:00

I was just a short walk into the woods when I heard something behind me. I turned around to see these Black Vultures only about 30 feet away and almost at my eye level. I don't know how I missed them when i walked past. I was surprise to even get my camera up high enough to get this shot off before they swooped away to a nearby tree.

Barbs, blooms and bugs along the byways

2011-04-12T18:37:00.001-07:00

Another along-the-road-to-Austin shot. it Spring and this Cactus is taking full advantage of the opportunity. It you can see it, there is a spider web strung like a bridge across the top buds-- no spot on earth is too remote or dangerous for these industrious insects

River Adventures

2011-04-11T18:55:00.001-07:00

Coming through the lock at the Neches River Saltwater Barrier is the Cardinal River Adventures Boat to pick up a group for a tour in the swamps and bayous in Southeast Texas. Normally the Cardinal embarks at the Beaumont Riverfront Park, but construction has moved that. The boat does group and public tours to expose locals and visitors to habitats and natural settings in the Golden Triangle. The land inside the Saltwater Barrier at the end of Bigner Road is itself a nice place for a nature adventure. Several small ponds in the area are favorites for bank-fishers.

Baby Boy Buser and nanny

2011-04-08T04:45:00.001-07:00

We have a new grandson. Shawn and Sarah had a 6 lb. 15 ounce baby boy, who was 19 inches with a head full of hair. In the photo, my wife, Nanny Buser, beams with pride. In case your wondering, the name is still pending. In this picture, the newest Buser was about 12 hours old.

Dowtown Beaumont -- blooming library

2011-04-08T04:31:00.000-07:00

This downtown shot of Beaumont's Tyreall Historical Libarary was taken just before Spring sprung. I actually shot this photo a few weeks ago. Sometimes I don't get around to posting a photo for a while. Some of them I never get to.

Heart-gone, felled in the forest.

2011-04-06T19:03:00.000-07:00

Not even good for lumber anymore, this tree, felled in the forest, shows signs of having lost its heart(wood).

In the still, of the flashlight...

2011-04-06T02:12:00.000-07:00

I was just playing with a new lens set -- actually an old lens set: a Minolta OM lens with and adapter to fit by E-510. You are very observant. I could wait to try it out. So I used a flash. Problem was that it was so dark I couldn't see the flower enough to focus on it. So I held a flash light in my armpit. Turns out I was pretty please, although a flash at night on a flower can leave that shiny surface.

Cactus needling upward

2011-04-05T18:58:00.000-07:00

Along the highway the other day, I spotted this cactus doing its best Spring impression -- prickling upward and protecting its turf.

Life on a tree

2011-04-03T15:12:00.001-07:00

I am not much of an expert on plants, but I suppose this hairy ball growing on a tree limb is a vermiliad of some kind. The flowers looked pretty dried out for a Spring season.

The roads are alive with the .....

2011-04-01T04:53:00.001-07:00

You know its spring when... you can stop almost anywhere along the road and photo one of nature's beauties

Little Green Heon, reflecting on his day

2011-03-28T05:40:00.000-07:00

This was a Little Green Heron I shot a couple years ago. He was sitting contently on the branch catching the last rays of the day.

A lonely house, on the way to Austin

2011-03-27T05:40:00.000-07:00

A lonely house, on the way to Austin. That's all. It just caught my eye. You get to add your own caption.

Archeologists: dirt holds Beaumont's past

2011-03-24T17:18:00.001-07:00

We were out helping a team of archeologists examine one of the many sites on the Spindletop Dome a couple weeks ago. The historical digging comes because of construction of a plant site on the dome -- clearing up and preserving the past before marching into the future. In the picture, Dr. Richard Bothel of Lamar University searches for artifacts in a screen.

Sunset captures church outlines

2011-03-10T04:21:00.001-08:00

Saint Anthony's Basilica Cathedral stands dark against the last rays of the Beaumont sun.

Squirrels in training for wrestling fame

2011-03-01T18:38:00.000-08:00

My squirrel friends at the library were in a playful mood yesterday. I think they were practicing their wrestling moves.

Pelican goes ferry fishing

2011-03-01T04:37:00.001-08:00

A pelican was following low over the water as we crossed from Galveston to the Bolivar Peninsula by ferry. I suppose he was willing to either take a tossed treat or to see what fish the ferry might stir up -- whichever came first.

The fine art of Grackle bathing

2011-02-27T19:38:00.001-08:00

This lady didn't mind bathing in public. And, as long as I was inside my car, she didn't mind bathing right next to me in the puddle, while I waited for my wife to run into the store. When I took this picture, this Grackle had already ducked her head in for a good shampoo and shaken her tail feathers in the water quite a bit. She was settling for a little undercarriage rinse.

The Nut Eater

2011-02-26T08:01:00.001-08:00

This nut eater is one of the friendly, if very shy guys who wonders around the Beaumont Main Library where I work. They play as much as they work scavenging acorns and other delectables. He won't let me close enough to get a good shot of him, unless I am in my car. I can even roll down the window to snap a photo, but I can't open the door -- that sends him scurrying.

I missed the prize under my eyes

2011-02-24T13:58:00.000-08:00

Here's the scene. I pull up to a gas station to fill up with gas. I spy a group of grackles making a racket in the grass. I grab my camera just for some diversion until the pump stops. One of them catches my eye. It's windy, so I don't get a good view, but I snap the shot. Back at my computer I notice that the grackle was not a grackle at all, but a Europan Starling. I had known they were in this part of the world, but I had never noticed one. Makes me want to go back through my grackle shots and see what else I may have missed.

Hoping this icicles are not cyclic.

2011-02-23T13:58:00.000-08:00

One last winter picture -- who knows when I will ever see icicles hanging from the fascia of my garage. Sure am glad I live in the warm South.

Winter's rare true colors

2011-02-22T13:58:00.000-08:00

One last post, today on the winter palette. Tarnished, dark, rust, deep yellows. Stained, mottled. I'm just commenting about it, because this is the coldest I can ever remember for a whole winter down in the South. We don't get to see winters true colors this upclose and personal down here.

Ice -- the thick of it.

2011-02-21T13:58:00.000-08:00

This was a fountain in Giddings (I believe) -- on the road back from Austin a little while back. I never thought I would see ice that thick this far down in Texas.

Winters colors awash in pale.

2011-02-20T14:04:00.001-08:00

One of the things I like about shooting winter shots (not that in Southeast Texas we ever have much of a winter) is the pallet -- nearly bleached grasses, crisp blue skies, dark shadows. Seem the colder it gets, the truer the pallet. This year was about as cold as it ever got. Plenty of time to prove my thoughts true about what the winter colors are -- sans snow, that is, this is of course, the deep South.

Tales of summer won

2010-12-02T19:40:00.001-08:00

It was just a simple flower on the side of the road. But the more I looked at it, it appeared to have a summer's worth of tales written on it. Close encounters with bees, wasps, butterflies and who know what. Maybe even some swashbuckling over who would get the first sip of nectar. Not that it was ever part of the brawl. It just provided the ring so that it could have a front row seat to a summer of feasting. On the side, it was a ancient mating ritual for the flower -- one it never revealed to its nectar-toting stinger-swingers. They flew away with the nectar of the gods. The flower's dream had just begun.

flower

A step down

2010-11-14T18:40:00.001-08:00

Stepping down the steps at Riverfront Park in Beaumont, TX, into the Neches River.

Neches River, Beaumont, Texas

Birds of different feather

2010-11-09T05:03:00.001-08:00

The girls were just out shopping, a lady Cardinal and White Winged Dove.

Fossil friend daubed in creative coats of color

2010-11-03T20:43:00.001-07:00

This was at the Dinosaur Day at the Energy Museum in Downtown Beaumont this weekend. Kids were having fun giving their ideas on what they days of yore looked like. In this case, you might just say it turned out to be a Dino of a different color.

White Winged-Dove, studying her options

2010-10-27T05:00:00.001-07:00

This White-winged Dove looked to be pregnant. She worked her way out on the hanger for the bird feeder, trying to see if there was a better way to get to the birds seed. She didn't find that better way. The ledge on the feeder was made for smaller birds. To eat, she had to keep flapping her wings, holding on with one leg. It seemed awkward, but the bird seed must have taster better than creepy crawly things.

White-winged dove, Beaumont, Texas, bird

Glass-hugging tree frog

2010-10-26T19:02:00.001-07:00

This fellow had chosen one of our windows for a day of relaxation. He was clinging there when I spotted him and stayed put while I ran and got my camera. I wasn't very comfortable with what I shot. There wasn't enough room to get above him, and the lighting was surprisingly dim for outside. So I ran in to check my shots on the computer a couple times before I decided this was about as good as I was going to get. Next time, I will ask the tree frog to move out into the light.

tree frog, nature

Reminiscing the past summer's pastimes

2010-10-15T20:18:00.001-07:00

Pardon my passing musings on the passing of summer's pastimes.
Were that it were crawfish season year round.

Crawfish, Beaumont, Texas

The moon unveiled, slightly

2010-10-10T19:44:00.001-07:00

Under the inspection of a camera lens, the moon reveals a glimpse of her hidden secret.

moon, Beaumont, Texas

Freez-frame, in frozen light

2010-10-05T10:26:00.001-07:00

Emerging after a massive cannonball in the backyard pool, the diver shakes the water from his hair with the pool light as a backdrop.
(I took this shot from a video shot on my Kodak PlaySport hand-held video camera)

Pool, Splash, Beaumont, Texas

Thunderous march

2010-09-26T18:49:00.001-07:00

Marching toward us, belching, moaning, rumbling, this crowd front brought its light show and showers last night.

Beaumont, Texas Weather

Night fall

2010-09-22T04:25:00.001-07:00

Night fell slowly over Lamar University as I was leaving for home.

Sundown, Beaumont, Texas

Catching the early morning plane

2010-09-18T13:49:00.001-07:00

Yawn. That's all. Yawn.

flying, Texas, sunrise

Pollen Party!!!

2010-09-18T04:54:00.001-07:00

Okay, somebody had a pollen party in this flower and didn't clean up after themselves.
This was on the way back from Austin this summer.

flowers, Texas

Life's cruel

2010-09-15T17:57:00.000-07:00

We have quite a few lizards hanging around outside the house. I mean literally hanging. This reptilian villain was up in the cover of a solar light waiting until the moth came along. Despite the fact that the moth was bigger than the lizard, the scaly one seemed to have the upper hand (maybe that should be "the upper teeth") . All of the flapping and shaking that the prey could muster was doing him no good. He did get away for a few seconds though. My dog came by to see what I was shooting pictures of and the lizard decided he liked his skin better -- he dropped down into the garden to hide.

Lizard, moth, survival

Houston Aquarium -- the Wow Factor

2010-09-14T18:48:00.001-07:00

Sophie and Sullivan at the Aquarium in Houston.
The wonderment of youth. Wow.

Lamar University - football is back!

2010-09-12T05:38:00.001-07:00

Football is back!
The Lamar Cardinals took the first home opener in the retrofitted Provost-Umphrey stadium last night.
The Cards defeated the Weber International team in the first football at Lamar Stadium in 20 years.
The fans were ready for the moment and poured onto the field a in a display of pure enjoyment.
Notice the guy on the Southland Conference sign near the center of the picture. He is getting ready to do a cartwheel -- one of about four people I saw doing one as they poured onto the field.

Football, Lamar University

Is Summer Gone?

2010-09-11T06:40:00.001-07:00

Is summer gone?
The days of summer, in quick succession, rise up in sparkling flight,
glisten momentarily in the sun
and then sparkle only in our memory.
Next summer I will swim more, laugh more, hug more,
and find pleasure in the soaking warmth of every day.
--steve buser

Ibis finds perfect nesting spot.

2010-08-26T18:49:00.001-07:00

Just a few changes and this will be a great place to raise baby ibises. This white Ibis mom had the perfect site picked out for a nest when I visiting the Trinity River Waterfowl Sanctuary on the I-10 just east of Houston this Spring.
--steve buser

Hang in there, babe, bee

2010-08-16T19:02:00.000-07:00

A bee hangs from a flower as it gets it's first sip of morning nectar. Notice the water drop of dew hanging just over his head.
--steve buser

Rocking Mocking Bird

2010-04-20T16:29:00.000-07:00

I remember that I still have a tell to tale about the junior Mourning Dove. In the meanwhile, though, this young Mocking Bird has started chirping -- more like squeaking, really-- every time that mom slows down on the steady stream of worms she's been ferrying in. He needs to get big quick because the nest is sitting on the leaf of a palm tree. The windy weather we've been having has probably given him a queasy feeling quite often.
--steve buser

I hope I can fly

2010-04-20T04:43:00.000-07:00

The grandkids were in town this weekend. Need I say more? Sullivan gets a little wobbly on the slide after his shoe sticks and flies off.
--steve buser

Couriers careen through concrete canyon

2010-04-16T04:49:00.000-07:00

This was the scene a few weeks back at the Houston Marathon. The runners, whom normally look larger than life as they slap past, seem dwarfed here. This concrete canyon was near the finish line.
--steve buser

Morning (Mourning) dove goes roque

2010-04-15T18:10:00.000-07:00

A morning full of drama at our house. This junior morning dove was wandering slowly around the day lilies. I am pretty sure she came from a nest in the bush at the corner of the house in the backyard. A pair of pretty amorous mourning doves always fly out of that bush when I come round the house.

I suspect they were not aware of this little gal getting her walking shoes on and venturing out on her own.

Stay tune for more of the Mourning Dove drama.

--steve buser

Spring brandishes fuschias, citrons

2010-04-13T07:33:00.000-07:00

You can change the addage -- this year, it's April showers bring April flowers. After a long, cold winter, the flowers seem even more eager than ever to volcano into an exclamation of color.

--steve buser

Tiger Swallowtail butterfly survivor

2010-04-11T11:27:00.001-07:00

This Tiger Swallowtail looks to have had a close call fending off a hungry predator, perhaps a bird. His beautiful tail is tatters. Nonetheless lives on in his flower-hopping life. It's a cruel world out there, and it's a beautiful, happy world. Juxtaposed.
--steve buser

Bee busy

2010-04-09T17:41:00.000-07:00

When your job is to drink nectar all day, how bad can life bee?
Bees do this to me a lot. I was taking a picture of the flower, but the bee decided that he couldn't wait. These azaleas are a tough task for the bee. He has to climb down inside the flower to get his meal -- it makes all that pollen shake all over him.
--steve buser

Spinning wheel, spinning round

2010-03-31T18:58:00.001-07:00

If this gives you a sense of vertigo, it was meant to. You slide around the track going totaly topsy-turvy and the top and multiple G's at the bottom. If that wasn't fun enough, you stop at the very top and do the whole fun things backwards. You get to pay for this privilege. I think I am still spinning from watching it long enough to get a in-focus shot.
The South Texas State Fair. But then, you probably have an event with that spins this much fun in your neighborhood, too.
--steve buser

South Texas State Fair, Texas, Beaumont

Fair days, fun days

2010-03-31T18:51:00.000-07:00

Linda and I were at the South Texas State Fair this weekend in Beaumont. I observed that a lot of the fun seemed to be the spinning, twisting, grinding, yelling, 10+ G's, that I used to enjoy when it would not put my body into a week of intense pain. Those were the days. Or, I guess I should say THESE are the days, just not for me.
--steve buser

State Fair, Beaumont, Texas

Green Heron practices hunting skills

2010-03-28T12:16:00.000-07:00

It a small lake at the Aboretum in Austin. I suppose that the competition makes a bird like this green heron have to travel some days to find food. Nonetheless, he was patient, practicing all of his hunting skills -- the bank-side waiting, the shallow water-wading, the stealthy, slumped low warrior, the tree branch sniper and more.
--steve buser

Green Heron, Austin, Texas

Roseate Spoonbill -- grooming time

2010-03-21T15:04:00.001-07:00

In a crowded neighborhood like the one this Roseate Spoonbill lives in (Shangra La, Orange, TX) once you have the kids down for a nap, it's time to stay quiet. Many like to do self grooming during the kids's name time. If your a Spoonbill, that's a little harder than it sounds.
--steve buser

Roseate Spoonbill, Texas

Pines busy preparing for the summer

2010-03-17T18:42:00.000-07:00

More evidence of Spring. The pine trees are budding -- getting ready for mating and this year's crop of pine cones.
-- Steve Buser

Pine tree, pine cone

Flower springs out

2010-03-15T18:53:00.001-07:00

Digging in God's rich soil this weekend. Linda looked over and pointed it out. The first flower after what has been a brutal winter. It came sudden springing out this week.

Other signs -- waves of ducks flying high over head -- yesterday they were spaced out about 15 minutes apart.

Robins -- a pack of them flitting through the woods scavenging -- on the road out of our subdivision.

Sprigs, starting to appear. Shoots, shooting up.

Spring.
--steve buser

Spring, flowers

Ring billed gull -- whispering wind

2010-03-09T18:45:00.000-08:00

I fly, held up by the wind. Feeling it's gentleness. Sensitive to the minute differences above and below my wings. It whispers to me. The sky is my domain.
A ring-bill gull at the river front in Port Neches
--steve buser

Ring Billed Gull, Port Neches, Texas

Egret: instant fish dinner

2010-03-08T20:38:00.000-08:00

Splash. It was sudden and explosive. In less that the blink of the eye, the egret sliced the dark soupy waters with his beak and neck to grab some unsuspecting fish.

Hunting time, was suddenly meal time.
--steve buser

Egret, Birds

Shoot for the star

2010-03-07T17:59:00.000-08:00

Linda and I had the grandchildren this weekend. This was the drop-off-- we met our daughter Vicky in Jennings, LA, to pass the grandkids over. Sullivan took the time to show his climbing skills at the park on the Interstate.

He was about halfway down when I decided to take a shot. Always the kind of drama that he is, and letting no good opportunity for showmanship go, he climbed back to the top and told "okay, now shoot."

The climbing piece resembles a derrick. Makes sense, sense it is the Oil and Gas Park, in the town that since 1901 has claimed the moniker of "Cradle of Louisiana Oil."
--steve buser

Jennings, Louisiana, kids

Silent sentry

2010-02-25T16:46:00.000-08:00

This Cooper's Hawk flew across the yard and took up sentry on a fence post in the back yard this morning. I don't think he had the best of intentions. I am sure he was attracted by the large number of sparrows that have been coming around the bird feeder. This morning, he was out of luck -- they had finished off the bird seed the night before. The sparrows, that beautiful blue jay and that handsome pair of cardinals that always come around were searching for food elsewhere.
The drama continues.

--steve buser

Cooper's Hawk, Beaumont, Texas, birds

Washing the sky's belly: GUSHER!

2010-02-23T18:30:00.001-08:00

Three actors that portray the workers at the original Spindletop gusher watch the modern re-creation blow into the sky. Of course, today at the Beaumont Gladys City Museum, it is water washing the sky's belly. The original spewed oil that was as valuable as it was messy.
--steve buser

Boom the moon

2010-02-20T20:20:00.000-08:00

I will confess that the moon you see is superimposed. The moon in this shot was way over exposed, so I borrowed one from another shot of mine.

Still, the juxtaposing, you have to admit, brings up lots of antithesis -- the whisperless quiet of the moon; the fireworks booming through the smoking, sulphur-smelling sky. The moon, peaceful, tranquil. The firework, exploding, like the fireball of a supernova. The steady, steely brightness of the moon. The short-lived, damn-the-torpedoes life of the firework.

The firmament tolerates a variety of behaviors.
--steve buser

Fireworks, Moon, Texas

Houston : a bigger bang

2010-02-19T17:53:00.000-08:00

I guess maybe I just needed some excitement today, because I was drawn to this picture from awhile back in Houston.  We were sitting out on the street by our son, Charlie's place and these big boomers were shaking out bones. It was a hot July night, but we didn't wan to miss any of the excitement.
--steve buser

Fireworks, Houston

Clever critter

2010-02-18T20:33:00.001-08:00

This is one of the cleverest, wiliest little guys you have ever met. He added a lot of excitement to our visit to t the CampJunction in Beaumont.
--steve buser