Dragon Fly Mania!

It’s that time of year again and the dragon flies have invaded the lake with full force. The color and beauty simply astounds us. They are such fun little subjects to photograph. Here are our first shots of the year. Hope you enjoy.

 

As Blue as the Clear Blue Sky…

Heather and I’s favorite colors are both blue. So naturally we like to photograph blue birds because we find them to be beautiful. As we’ve mentioned previously, our favorite bird is the Great Blue Heron. Today we wanted to share a few of our favorite blue birds we’ve seen this year including, the Great Blue Heron, Little Blue Heron, Blue Jay, Eastern Blue Bird, Black Crowned Night Heron, Ruddy Duck and Lesser Scaup. Hope you enjoy.

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Also, if you’d like to see more bird and wildlife photography, please check out our Instagram stream at Instagram.com/HeatherandKyle

Great Blue Heron

Blue Jay

Eastern Blue Bird

Ruddy Duck

Yellow Crowned Night Heron

Black Crowned Night Heron

Lesser Scaup – Female

Lesser Scaup – Male

Buffelhead Duck – male

American Wigeon – Male

Natural Beauty, Flowers not Required…

We are constantly amazed at  how beautiful and intriguing the most simple of plants can be. Upon closer inspection we so often find beauty in what was forever right before our eyes. Here are some awesome plants we’ve come across whose beauty could rival the prettiest of flowers…

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Also, if you’d like to see more bird and wildlife photography, please check out our Instagram stream at Instagram.com/HeatherandKyle

Lounging Lizards!

Kyle here! We’ve been taking pictures like crazy lately and another one of my favorite subjects to photographs besides birds are lizards. I’ve entitled this post, Lounging lizards and it will have just that, a bunch of photos of lizards lounging around. Hope you enjoy!

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Also, if you’d like to see more bird and wildlife photography, please check out our Instagram stream at Instagram.com/HeatherandKyle

Green Anole – Male

Broadhead Skink lizard

Green Anole – Female

The amazing world of the insects…

It’s time for some insect photography! These creatures may be small in size by they are great in beauty. Here is a few of the neat creatures we have had the opportunity to photograph. Come dive with us into the world of the insects.

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Also, if you’d like to see more bird and wildlife photography, please check out our Instagram stream at Instagram.com/HeatherandKyle

A neat little caterpillar we stumbled across on a park bench out at the state park. Heather was lucky enough to a few shots of this little critter in action with the macro lens.

A neat little bug we came across out at the lake. We found this guy on some rocks right along the shoreline. We love how the red contracts so nicely with its black body.

Some sort of moth or butterfly we stumbled upon. We like the teal blue color at the back of its wings.

A very pretty orange butterfly we were able to capture up close and personal with the macro lens thanks to Heather’s stealth in sneaking up on it.

Along the beach Heather stumbled into literally thousands of lady bugs. She called me over to where she was standing and I could not believe it. The lady bugs were everywhere. All over the rocks, the branches and the sand. Their numbers looked endless. Such a neat thing to experience.

Another shot of the lady bug invasion. It was a super windy day, so we assume they must have been blown in or something.

This was a gorgeous little butterfly we stumbled on at the beach. It stayed still just long enough for us to get this shot with the telephoto lens. Came out pretty nice we think.

We are told this is called a Sphinx month. It looks like a giagantic bee from far away though! Our favorite thing about it is how fast it flaps its wings and the beautiful pink coloration on the wings.

We like the little red spot on the back of this butterfly. Kind of reminds us of a Cedar Waxing bird.

A neat looking butterfly we came across while hiking out at the state park.

A picture of a lady bugs face. Love the big white eyes!

Another shot of the black and yellow butterfly from before. We found this butterfly hanging around the lake in our apartment complex.

The deep red color of this lady bug is just beautiful

This little bug is pretty creepy looking but still pretty darn cool all at the same time.

Spring is in the air, and the fields…

We absolutely love the spring time. The weather gets warmer and the fields are painted with color. It is the perfect time for exploring the depths of macro photography. Heather says, I’m the bird expert and macro is her thing. I must say, she is pretty good with the capturing the natural beauty of the flowers . Below are some of our recent captures of the greatly welcomed spring time weather.

The bright purple of these flowers quickly caught Heather’s eye.

We saw this along the shoreline. Simple yet elegant at the same time.

The brightness of these flowers painted color all across the field we found them in. They were tucked away just behind a small tree line just off the edge of the lake. A hidden gem, well worth finding.

The rich color of these berries is just pretty. They almost look edible, though we have no clue what kind of berry they were so it was best that we photographed but did not taste.

The pure white color of this flower just brings a sense of peace. A beautifully addition to the spring time mix of colors.

We thought this little insect was a neat looking critter so we tried to capture him in a photo.

Heather really liked the color of this flower. I must say it is indeed pretty.

The State flower of Texas is the blue bonnet and what better place to find some than the State park. We found many fields of blue bonnets and this one was the most pretty.

A close up examination of the blue bonnet.

The only butterfly of the weekend we were able to capture with the macro lens. Thanks to this little critter we were able to capture one. These little guys just never like to stay in one place long enough to get a photo.

Just beautiful.

A field out at the lake with a beautiful mix of colors…

We like to photograph lady bugs. They are just such pretty little creatures. We especially like the ones that are deep red in color.

Recent blooms out at the lake along the shoreline.

Now how is this to brighten up your day?

Beautifully clothed in white…

Great Egret and Snowy Egret fishing along the shoreline.

A beautiful white Muscovy Duck. Their clear blue eyes are just mesmerizing!

White Chinese Goose looking at us with hopes of receiving some bird seed!

A Pekin Duck with a tuft on its head. We loved how clear and blue the water was this day. It photographed nicely.

Snowy Egret coming in for a landing. This egret was changing fishing locations. Just a little while before this photograph was taken, this little bird caught a nice little fish snack.

Great Egret fishing a long the shoreline. This was the third or fourth fish this bird had caught this morning. The winds were heavy and the waves were bringing all sorts of yummy snacks into the shore for the birds to catch!

Common Tern. These birds were just whizzing by out at the lake. They were flying so fast it was really hard to get a photo. Out of dozens of attempts we only managed to get one or two decent photographs.

One of our favorite white birds, the American White Pelican. These birds just look majestic! We love the black outline of their wings and how it contrasts with their pure white body!

The Male Buffelhead duck. He’s not entirely white but he sure is a cute little guy. These guys just love to continuously dive beneath the waters surface. This shot was taken during a brief moment he was above the water between dives. Super neat bird!

Another shot of the snowy Egret. This bird was a visitor to the small lake on our apartment complex. We love the pretty coloration at the base of this birds bill, just beautiful.

We could not leave out the Gulls! One of our favorite pictures of a gull soaring by out at a small pond we visited.

A hybrid Goose of some sort. We are in love with the pretty colors on its head.

A Franklins Gull we saw while out at the lake. Super neat bird with its black head.

This bird just looks pretty! What can we say…

For the Summer… a Delicious (and simple!) Pear Recipe

Hey, everyone – Heather here! We’ve been quite busy lately, but we have been spending more time in the kitchen cooking. I will be updating with more dinner recipes once I’m finished with exams. Until then, here’s something fast and simple that could be a nice snack, healthy dessert, or a dinner side-dish:

Sauteed Pears in White Wine Sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 Pears, sliced
• 3/4 cup sweet white wine (we used a sweet Moscato)
• 1/2 cup pineapple juice
• cinnamon

1. Begin heating wine and pineapple juice in a saute pan.
2. After slicing pears and removing the seeded middle portion, place them in saute pan with the wine sauce.
3. Let the pears heat up for a few minutes, turning the slices over every so often. Cover and let it continue to simmer until pears have softened and are hot.
4. A few minutes before removing the pears from heat, add cinnamon to taste.
5. Remove the pears and let them sit for a few minutes to cool. Enjoy!

Turtles Turtles Turtles…

Turtles are everywhere. These little critters just seem to pop up out of no where. They sure are interesting photo subjects though. Hope you enjoy!

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Also, if you’d like to see more bird and wildlife photography, please check out our Instagram stream at Instagram.com/HeatherandKyle

Dinner at the Lake

One of the coolest things we get to capture when we are out at the lake or park is dinner time. It is always interesting to see the animals foraging and fishing for a hearty meal. Sometimes we see animals eat things we’d have never guessed they’d liked. So in this post we’d like to show a few photos of animals feeding in their natural environment.

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Also, if you’d like to see more bird and wildlife photography, please check out our Instagram stream at Instagram.com/HeatherandKyle