Visit to Texas City Dike and Galveston

Two weekends ago, we decided to make another trip to Galveston. It was a good time to see some migratory birds that stop there before embarking on a long trip across the gulf of Mexico.
We set out at about noon after a quick lunch. Traffic was heavy and as we approached Galveston, we decided to visit the Texas City dike. The sign always greets us as we drive to the island and it was time to go check out another small town that we had never been to before. A short drive later, the dike lay ahead of us. After the entry fee of $5 was paid, we drove slowly on the dike that seemed to be a popular fishing and picnicking spot for a lot of sun loving people.

Some of the birds that I was looking out for on the dike were the skimmers, Oystercatcher, and terns. None of them disappointed, and I was even treated to a small flock of American Avocets. 

These skimmers were in large numbers, and after spending some time watching them, I was rewarded with catching them in action. Skimmers have an interesting beak, with the lower mandible being longer than the upper. Their feeding habit is peculiar as they hover over water with just their lower mandible skimming the water for small fish. 

The Oystercatcher is a quiet bird with a long, bright orange beak that is uses to feed on oysters, mussels and clams.  It kept a close eye on how close I was getting. I didn't get ruffle any feathers and stayed where I was.

The American Avocet with adult plumage. Another bird with yet another fascinating beak.

I had seen least terns before, I got to see two more, Forster's Tern (orange and black bill) and Sandwich Tern (black and yellow bill)

After spending over an hour on the dike, we headed back. This road called Skyline drive on the left, running along the sea caught our attention and we decided to check it out. It was a good decision. The views were beautiful with spring meadows on the hillside. 

In this perfect setting, I was delighted to find a lighthouse. There used to be a lighthouse in the Galveston bay called the Half Moon Shoal Lighthouse which was destroyed in the big storm of 1900. Eventually, it was rebuilt in 1902. This one is a replica of it and it stands near the base of the Texas City dike, on Skyline Drive in the Bay St. Park. Being a lighthouse aficionado, I thought this find was very interesting. 

A little further, there was this sculpture of an Indian on a horse, looking skyward with both his arms outstretched, spear in hand. It is called Somewhere on the Trail  by David Govedare. It was dedicated on October 19, 1999, and I am still trying to find the story behind it.

This sculpture of three arrows soon after the previous one was intriguing. I have not been able to gather much information about it yet.

It was a beautiful day and people were taking full advantage of it.

On the way back from the dike and heading to Galveston, I saw this white horse grazing lazily on the side of the road with three cattle egret for company.

The next stop right after this was Lafitte's cove at Galveston. I like how this little paradise is nestled in the midst of so many homes. Just as I started to walk towards the wooded area, in the pond was White-faced Ibis (lifer) and two Black-necked Stilts.

As I turned the corner, there were other birders who pointed out a Rose-breasted Grosbeak to me. From this point on, all the birds I saw at the reserve were lifers, much to my delight!

These Warblers- Black-and-White, Blackburnian, and Magnolia and also the Tanager pair made the visit worthwhile.

We stopped for some dinner on the seawall after all the birding and headed back home. 

A little about the vegetable patch last year

I had a post last year about my little vegetable and herb garden. I was starting back after a long break. When I had a vegetable patch about 10 years ago, I had only cucumbers, okra and some cantaloupe. The crop was great, and we had to give away some of the produce. Then life got busy and I didn't pursue gardening at all for a few years. I did have a few succulents and a few flowers,  but I didn't venture into vegetable growing.

Last year, a couple of great people inspired me into getting myself a raised bed. With the help of some muscle from my husband, who supports my whims and takes keen interest in the progress, we made trips to Home Depot and soon I had a cedar plank raised bed.

Advantages of cedar is that it is untreated wood, and it does not rot or get infested like other kinds of woods. A raised bed exposed to the elements will easily last about 7-10 years, I am told. The plank was 10 by 2 and 16 feet long. We got a bed of 6 by 2, giving me an area of about 12 square feet. The disadvantage of cedar is that it is a little expensive, and not all stores carry planks that size.

Soon, I had 2 cherry tomato plants growing really well in the bed, along with a Serrano pepper and a bell pepper plant. The other half of the bed was herbs. Genovese basil, Thai basil, and Sweet basil. There was also some Oregano that I barely saw until it was September, and some garlic chives that didn't make it beyond 2-3 weeks. I had overcrowded the bed without knowing it. The cherry tomato yield was fantastic, we had at least a bowlful of tomatoes everyday for two months. The peppers got crowded, and bell peppers didn't produce at all until fall, only after the tomatoes were pulled out, and it got a little cooler.

The herb garden was a big success. I even managed to get two jars of pesto from all the basil. Thai basil seasoned a lot of summer salads, noodles, and a healthy version of Basil fried rice. Chives, rosemary, and mint also made it to the kitchen every now and then. I got a little bit of lemon grass from a friend and that took root easily. Soon, it was a good bush. We had a mild winter, but lemongrass tea provided relief to neighbors and friends every time there was a complaint of a scratchy throat or a stuffed up nose.

I had planted zucchini squash earlier on in April, and it seemed to be growing well. It produced a lot of flowers, only male ones initially, and female flowers after about 6 weeks. Yet, it was a total failure. I didn't get even one squash from it. There were 4 plants and they grew enormous leaves and a great number of flowers, but no fruit. I am still not sure what went wrong.

These Zinnias as companion plants to the zucchini seemed to be doing very well.

These lovely bell peppers grew in late September after temperatures had cooled a little. I was happy with the size. I got a few more until December. 

I have learned a few lessons and my vegetable garden this year will be a little bigger and hopefully the yield will be better than last year. There will be a few additions to the herb garden.

Birding- Lifers and Lists

Some events that could be categorized as challenges presented themselves earlier in the year and they kept me from updating the blog as often as I would have liked to.
In an attempt to counter the effects of those stressful situations, I took to visiting nearby places that I hadn't visited in all the years we have been here on the Texas Gulf Coast. The Birding group I have joined on Facebook always has suggestions to offer and a host of information on migratory patterns and sightings. Visits to Surfside, Port Aransas, The Brazos Bend State Park, and Galveston were a result of these recommendations.
Everyday you learn something new is an adage which rings true all the time. Every time I visited the Facebook page of the group, I would see people using words I hadn't heard before.
"This one was a 'lifer'",
"How many in your 'list' now?"
Soon I learned that the first sighting of any species was a 'lifer'. People kept elaborate notebooks with life lists or e-lists that included details of all bird species they had ever sighted along with information about where the sighting took place, date and time and additional information one would consider useful. While I am an avid birder, I had no such list, so I decided to make one. I just added names of birds and where I had seen them. I had over a hundred names already.

Some of the names on my wishlist were Sandhill Cranes, Whooping Cranes, and Wood Storks. While I have yet to see the latter two, I managed to get a good look at a very large flock of Sandhills. They were together with a much bigger gaggle of Snow geese. It was like hitting a jackpot. I had been looking for them for a while. I heard their call and sure enough, there they were! Dozens of them! Coming so close to the sighting of Roseate Spoonbills that had put on quite a show for me at Surfside, this was indeed the icing on the cake.

December- looking back at the year

"Oh my! It's December already!", said my friend. The exact feeling had crossed my mind only a day earlier. What did I manage to do this year, and what are my plans for the next?

Well, one makes plans. And one can hope they come to fruition. I had made plans to visit India and that got a check mark on the list of things to do. 

My 21 year old graduated from school. The quest for a meaningful life for him continues. Many of his needs are being taken care of as of now, but this is a long haul process. I hope I continue to find great resources for him, with the help of friends and professionals. 

This year, more than ever, the importance of a good diet and exercise came to the fore. It will be one goal that will need continuous investment. It is easy to slip on this course, unless you make conscious decisions, keep away from fads and make sensible choices that will work. 

Through the year, on most major holidays, family get-togethers made sure there was plenty to do and fun was added in good measure.   

Some artwork was on the cards, that got done too. In fact, the result on that front was quite encouraging. Two projects for the home and one as a gift. An acrylic painting of bamboo and a crane that I have already shared in an earlier post, and two others. One was a wooden wall plaque, inspired by old traditional doors, covered with some metal sheets and other accessories. This one involved a lot of sawing, sanding and painting and was very rewarding in the end. 

Another acrylic inspired by traditional henna designs was gifted as an engagement gift. The colors in this one were beautiful!

A great find that was totally unplanned, was a group on a popular social media site called Birds of Texas. This was a great resource not just for information, but also getting to see incredible pictures shared by a lot of professional photographers. I started working towards honing my own skills. 

Here are a few pictures I took last week, of a variety of birds. 

More bird pictures and others later... until then... 

In search of the Roseate Spoonbill

Very recently I read an article which stated that if you've been to Galveston Island, chances are you've seen the Roseate Spoonbill, a very attractive looking avian inhabitant that spends a significant amount of time on the Texas Gulf Coast. I was surprised I hadn't ever read about it being in these parts.
The weather was cooling down and after seeing some gorgeous pictures of the bird, I decided it was time to head to Galveston to check out some of its favorite haunts.

We drove there and we got on the road which a lot of people on the birding group I recently joined had talked about. Some had seen the beautiful pink and white bird right by the roadside, preening itself. A mile down the road I saw a big flock of birds in the fields to my right, and there was certainly some pink visible. Excitedly, I got off the car, and took a few pictures. They were too far away, I decided, for a decent picture. We resumed the drive. A small marshy area on the side further down the road looked promising, so I was on my feet again. Before I could say Jack Robinson, two Spoonbills took to the air. I had no time to even adjust my camera. Click click click... a couple of poor pictures later, I found myself focusing the camera on an obliging Great Blue Heron.

We moved on, and soon, I saw about a dozen birds some of which I had never seen before. White Ibis, Grey Ibis, Osprey, Reddish Egret, Willet, Clapper Rail, etc. They all provided for some excellent photos. The Spoonbill remained a mystery.

Road construction on the way back was a good excuse to try out a new route to head home and I decided to take a long detour via the Brazoria Wildlife Refuge. We saw an alligator and a few Flycatchers and Ibis. That rounded up the Saturday birding trip. It was a day well spent, beautiful weather and some great picture taking opportunities presented themselves, only the one that I was after was a no show. I will see it when it's time, I told myself, or maybe not.

Sunday was spent catching up on chores and in the evening, as is the practice, my husband and son set out to go the temple. I usually stay home but it was another beautiful fall day, so I took the camera to check out the lakes adjacent to the temple complex. I often find my connection with divinity as I walk around those trails. On the banks, there was a Great Blue Heron and a Tricolored Heron, a Great White Egret and surprisingly, a White Ibis. I had never seen an Ibis here before. I took a few pictures and headed further around the bend. I had seen a few birds where the path curves around a hillock. A Great White Egret was pushing through the water and a bird with what surely looked like pink feathers was following it. I stared in disbelief! Was it really what I was seeing! Not just one, there were four Spoonbills moving very slowly. A tricolored Heron went past them, and a Great Blue heron too. The four lingered on for a little while longer, decided I was showing too much interest in them, and then took off to the other side of the lake.

I got to take a lot of pictures. Not perfect ones, the light was poor, but was I complaining? No way! What a perfect way to end a weekend that I had decided was going to be the Roseate Spoonbill weekend!

Zen state of mind

Last year, we found a nice walking trail around two large lakes separated by a hillock in between. It was a quiet place at the end of a small street. There were a few people walking the trails and it was nice to find a spot like this in the middle of the city. Armed with my camera, I had a wonderful time taking pictures of several interesting objects all evening. There were mother ducks guarding eggs, young ducklings with their mothers, great blue herons engaged in a courtship ritual and dance and some new kinds of birds I had never seen before.

Then there was this lone heron standing among these trees. Something about the setting made me feel wistful. His reflection in the water, the leaves enveloping his form, the rays of the setting sun and another day drawing to a close. It was my zen moment!

We continued with our walk, and found these bright yellow blooms on the other side of the hillock. The atmosphere was more upbeat here.

Scissor tailed flycatchers were playing on trees on the hillock, their silhouettes with those of the trees made a striking contrast against the grey blue skies.

Long after I got home, the tranquil atmosphere I witnessed at the lake stayed with me. I would often look at the pictures I had taken, to re-live that walk on that beautiful Spring day.

Then one day, I found an article about the art of painting bamboo, which has intrigued me for a long time. It is an oriental art that looks easier than it is. The idea and philosophy behind this art form is very interesting as well. It isn't about perfection of the form itself, as much as it is about the spirit it conveys.
I decided to try it out, the medium I chose was acrylic on canvas, as opposed to watercolor on rice paper. My zen moment was captured on canvas, as best as I possibly could.

My carbon footprint

When I taught High School Biology quite some time ago, my students tell me I was very passionate about natural resources and conservation. I used to talk about recycling and being an informed, conscious individual who makes an effort to show you care about the planet. At that time, very few used to take it seriously. People have gotten more aware with time. There is no dearth of people who want little to do about any of this, but it is encouraging to see so many others who try to make a difference.

Recycling has taken center stage, our recycle bins are bigger then ever and almost everyone's bins are overflowing when the collection truck comes by weekly. My father, who lives in India, has had a composting pit in his backyard for a while now. All his organic kitchen wastes go into it, so do the garden trimmings and leaves. Many from his colony have followed suit. I have been told that several conscientious building societies have opted for composting wastes. That is a big step because it is a collective effort and such efforts make a difference on the large scale.

I had seen a few programs on TV of people who make an effort to minimize what goes out from their house as trash to fill landfills. Recycling is big, paper, aluminum, glass, can all be recycled.
So how did I bring my trash bag to contain so little? My contribution to the landfill is now down to a minimum. I started a compost pit in a corner in my yard. Earthworms were in abundance and rains made sure everything was going great. Then I got composting tumblers-

All my vegetarian kitchen waste and garden waste goes into this. Since we are primarily vegetarians, almost all of my kitchen stuff goes in here. I don't add lawn trimmings to the batch I want for my vegetable patch, because I have used something for the weeds on the lawn. I need to find an alternative for that soon.
At the end of every 4-6 weeks, I have a fresh batch of dark brown, nutrient rich compost matter for my flower and vegetable beds. I hope this works well in the long run and I can manage to keep my carbon footprint small on this majestic planet of ours!
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As I wrote this, there was some article in the Washington Post. It talked about global warming, what scientists had to say about the planet and painted a worrisome picture of even the near future. As I finished reading the article and moved to the comments, here was one that was so on the other side, I decided to put it here so people get an idea how many kinds of thought processes are out there. Here it is-

"Hansen and the other top scientists haven't PROVED that this is going to happen.
Until they do, isn't it best to listen to the guys Koch and Peabody have hired to play scientists on Fox News, and just keep on burning oil, gas and coal?
After all, switching to renewable energy will certainly cost something.

I'm not about to keep using my lousy old iPhone 6 for an extra year or give up HBO and Cinemax, just because MAYBE the coasts are going to be underwater when I retire.
If youngsters want a livable planet when they grow up, they need to make it happen themselves.

I'm tired of worrying about the impact of my lifestyle on other people, especially when all I need to do is watch Fox News and believe the pre-packaged denial philosophy they so expertly package for their corporate sponsors.

My motto is: Live for Today - Babies are Overrated."

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Reap what you sow...

I am not talking about the post title as a moral, but it's literal meaning. The gardening bug got to me this spring and I planted a few seeds in the yard. I even made a raised bed with the help of a little muscle from the spouse. After a visit to one of my friends who has a green thumb and is an avid gardener, I was very inspired. I decided to start small. A quick trip to Home Depot brought home a untreated Cedar plank, cut to size, and some galvanized nails. Soon, my raised bed was ready, a little one, but I was very proud of it. Filled it up with some great soil and I was ready to go.
Herbs were first on the list and I planted a few seeds in a planter before transferring them into the bed. Three kinds of basil, (Thai basil for the first time-it's great in salads and Thai dishes), Oregano, Thyme, Chives, Mint, Rosemary, Garlic Chives were all on the list.

I got cherry tomato plants, no taller than 3 inches tall, from Whole Foods and put them straight into the bed. They started to grow... oh so fast! In no time, they were almost 4 feet high. I had to scramble to get supports for them, because in no time, there were laden with flowers and fruit.

There were so many little green tomatoes on the tree at one time! I was wondering when they would ripen. Patience!

Two zucchini plants were in the ground but I guess I didn't read up before getting them. To this date, they only get male flowers, and I have yet to see a fruit. I must follow up and see where I went wrong.

Meanwhile, my backyardigan friends were having fun in the yard, playing among themselves and getting a snack from me every now and then.

Bell peppers and Serrano peppers were also bought as little plants and they went into the raised bed too. Bell peppers have been slow, but I did get quite a few Serranos. The initial fruit were very bland but now they are finally getting some zing to them. 

The Thai Basil was happy, some pretty purple blooms soon appeared and the leaves garnished a whole lot of salads and curries.

Everything comes to he who waits... the tomatoes in abundance. For about two-three weeks, we got  approximately 30-35 cherry tomatoes to snack on everyday. Then it slowed down some, now there are a lot of flowers again. I actually graded them according to color.

Among flowers, from what I had earlier from last year, the Calla lilies bloomed, so did the Mogra (Asian jasmine), Pink Jasmine, roses and Gerber daisies. It was a small garden. I have a long way to go to get to the stage my friend is at, she hardly visits the store to shop for vegetables and herbs, she has them all in her backyard. It is a good start though, some hits, and some misses. You live and learn!