Captured a Bird on our walk around Town and Country

Jan and I took a walk around the neighborhood, and along the hike/bike trail in Town and Country Sports Center, where I was certain I would find some birds to photograph. I brought the small camera, a Nikon P90, so I could take some quick shots if anything showed up. We saw some crows, and I was beginning to feel like that might be all I would see. Suddenly a large shape flew out of the tree over my head, and this bird landed in a tree across the waterway. I ran the zoom on the P90 out all the way and took about 5 shots. These two looked the best.

I believe this nest was where the bird flew from

I am very much a novice birdwatcher, but I had not seen this kind of bird in the area before (that I can remember). He (or she) looked around for a couple of minutes then flew on.

I looked the bird up in my Pocket Naturalist Guide, and the closest I can come to is, this might be an Osprey. I did not get a good look at the breast, so that didn't help. Also the Osprey has a dark stripe across the eyes. If anyone out there knows what this bird is, please leave me a note. I will continue to look it up on the 'web and if I find out, I'll post a PS.

Looking back at my previous post, Birdwatching the Day after Christmas, I can see some similarities between that bird and this one. Same yellow nostrils, same curved beak, stripe on tail feathers. But I think the head is lighter colored than the "Christmas" bird.

I will look at the crow and mockingbird photos, and post them on another note if they're ok.

Till next time,

Mike Z

Nakia - An Austin Original with UPDATE

Nakia at South by Southwest sings One More Try

Nakia is one of my favorite Austin singers. He gave a concert at the Open Ears Concert at our church recently and though the audience was way too small just sang his heart out the entire evening.

I think he is going to get a lot more "famous" with folks outside Austin now that he is going to be on the new TV show "The Voice." I can't wait to see how he does.

He deserves lots of ears to hear him sing and play.

Till next time, all the best,

Mike Z


PS: The Voice was on last night, but Nakia wasn't on this week. I'll watch next week and let you all know.
UPDATE: Saw Nakia on the show, he picked Cee Lo Green as his coach. Good choice since he sang one of Cee Lo's songs! I hope he does well. We'll see.

Mickey's Giftshop Across from the Big Rock Candy Mountain

The Weather Station at Mickey's

I was looking through some old travel photos (this one is from our trip from Washington to Texas in 2008) and found this photo of a "weather sign" that was set in front of Mickey's Gift Shop across the road from the Big Rock Candy Mountain in Utah. I had forgotten that we stopped at this spot, but remembered how much the grandkids liked the replica of Fred Flinstone's automobile and other assorted memorabilia.

We were also more than a little impressed that there really was a Big Rock Candy Mountain! For those of you who've seen Oh Brother, Where Art Thou by the Cohen Brothers, you know that Burl Ives sings about this mountain in the opening song. If you click on the link above you can find out how this particular mountain came to be called TBRCM.

I hope you found as much humor in the weather sign as I did. It shows a sly humor that is not abundant these days. Till next time...

all the best,

Mike Z

The lagoon in back of the hotel

It seems like ages since I've posted anything on this weblog (hope someone noticed! :-) except photos from my mobile phone. For keeping everyone waiting, I apologize. I do have photos to post, so I will get them on the 'blog soon. Promise.

This little shot is of the lagoon in back of the hotel I'm staying in tonight. I was getting into the car to find a place to eat, and the breeze felt so good I stopped for a second and just breathed.

The photo isn't the greatest, but I hope you notice the ripples on the water. That is what caught my eye, and that's what I tried to capture for you.

I'm glad to be back. More photos and stories soon.

All the best,

Mike Z