Lady Bird Johnson Reprise

December 7, 2019

I seldom come to the Austin area without visiting the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. When I lived in the area, I both visited often and volunteered there, taking care of the plants we grew to sell at the huge, semi annual native plant sales, and donating my extra babies to them.

This year was no exception, and I enjoyed an early visit on one of the two days members can arrive at 7:30 A.M. Getting to visit early two days a week is is but icing on the membership cake.  This provides the best time to take pictures while encountering very few people. I enjoy getting to support this place that is so important to the survival of native plants,  while being able to use my membership cards to get in free at Botanical Gardens across the country.

At this time of year, the plants are mostly sleeping, but I found a few flowers hanging on. Even so, I enjoyed the long hikes I took, the sound of the two huge wind chimes, and finding a whole new set of play stations for kids in the Arboretum.

The entrance with the Christmas floods still on

These common but enchanting seed pods were everywhere  

One of the late bloomers

Inland sea oats is one of my favorite grasses both because it grows in part shade and because it has herringbone seed heads. 

The water tower is beautiful from all directions - and all the luminaries reminded me of the year I almost melted away while dancing with kids in my Frosty costume at the Christmas festival

I caught this Turk's cap backlit by the early sun

This is the main part of the family area addition done a few years ago

One of the few mistflowers, so loved by monarchs and gulf coast fritillaries 

I think this was a species of penstemon - only found one plant in bloom

Beauty berry had lost it leaves but had lots of berries for the birds

Most of the leaves were off the trees but this was a remarkable leaf all by itself

I found several clusters of these flowers

Asters were still blooming in large numbers

I enjoyed the ball moss and thought of the northern parula that nests in it

Lots of these interesting seed pods

Another set of lovely, empty seed pods 

Spiders must be still finding some insects to catch

A lovely tree still holding on to its gold and red leaves

I found a milkweed pod laying on the ground with its seeds departing on the light wind

I had to check new growth of the scions of Texas historic trees, found in the arboretum - there is a large circle of them started from acorns from their famous parents. 

This oak supervised an art installation and a picnic table

There are several new-to-me installations - this is one.  When I peeked into the little "cone" on the far left,
I found a child hiding inside

I think of endurance when I visit this tree. You are seeing the root end of the trunk, mostly out of the ground. But the tree continues to grow and this time was part of the installations for kids

Another installation - part of Fort Landia - all places for kids to enjoy - the signs are for the historical tree children

Yet another new installation for kids to enjoy

Just as the light got too bright for pictures, and I started to leave, I found more activity in the parking lot plantings.

Butterfly on lantana

I think this is a syrphid fly

Gulf Coast Fritillary on Rock Rose 

I have a few other blogs of visits at different times of years. For a spring visit, click here. For a slightly earlier fall visit, click here.


On a personal note, I am writing this while visiting friends in Louisiana. By the time this comes out, I will have been to Alabama to give my deposition for the trial on my car wreck and met up with another friend and gotten back to Texas to begin a several day of birding and camping, sometimes with only my guest friend, and sometimes with added friends.

I visited at the quietest time of the year.  But the garden only sleeps for a few months before it will begin an awakening and then have lots of flowers and butterflies until next November.


Hope your holidays are happy.  As this blog publishes, I'm having a wonderful holiday trip with a friend to photograph birds down the Texas coast, through the Rio Grande Valley, and back up into the Hill Country.

Visit to McKinney Falls State Park

December 5, 2019

I've had to go to Austin three days in a row. I got a new lens in my eye, then had to go back the following day for a checkup, and then had to get my neck and back worked on. I've been hiking somewhere every time I go to Austin, except for my surgery day. After my appointments, I look up a local hike and go do it. On this day, I decided to go hike in McKinney Falls State Park, to check out the upper and lower falls of Onion Creek.

McKinney Falls is only thirteen miles from downtown Austin and is was an easy park to visit when I lived in the area. It has lots of places to hike and some to bike, as well as lots of wildflowers and birds. It also has swimming holes under both falls and you can fish without a license, as you can in all Texas state parks. It is also the park where I photographed a flower opening over a ten minute period.

My first glimpse of Onion Creek from the bluff above it

A view near the lower falls

Most of the "holes" in the rock are small and shallow.  This one was about four feet deep and supported a tree

It was fun to see these limestone rock formations in dry conditions. Sometimes most of the area is covered by water 

One of the few trees with colored leaves

A view below lower falls

There were a few individuals of a couple of  species of flowers still blooming

Persistence - this little tree seems to be growing in rock

A view of lower falls - in spring the falls will be all along the ledge

Both the swimming holes below upper and lower falls have swim rescue rings

This brilliant grasshopper(eastern lubber grasshopper - Romalea microptera) caught my eye when he flew onto this branch

Near Upper Falls - actually the channel on the right is one of the channels forming the falls now

I found these glowing oak leaves below the trail

The Upper Falls are barely there in this low water

A zoomed in view of the falls

Creek View from the picnic area

These leaves were lying all arranged for their picture

I straddled the carved out channel ,where most of the water is flowing, to take this picture 

Asters were still abundantly blooming - and I figured out how to get to my macro setting on my new camera

On a personal note, I'm in LOVE with my new eye. Now, as predicted, I can barely see out of my left eye and can't wait till Tuesday when I get that lens replaced. 

Hike on Old Baldy Trail

November 3, 2019


After completing several days of camping and exploring across New Mexico, I enjoyed a day of just hanging out and getting in a little hammock time.  The following morning, I  got an early start on a hike I had been wanting to do to the top of Old Baldy. When I had been here the last time, Kris and I had hiked in the park, we took a series of trails that took us to the top of an adjacent mountain, from where I could observe hikers on this trail. I resolved to hike it the next time I got here.


I got out just at sunrise and enjoyed watching the day brighten as I got to the trailhead.

The trailhead is well marked and in the cabin area, across from the food trucks and little store

It was easy to see how this mountain got its name - most of the hiking was on bare rock

But early on some of the path looked like this

The park is along almost three miles of the Frio River - fun for tubing and paddleboarding

The sun was just coming over the mountain as I reached this spot

I was intrigued by the expanding landscape as I came back to overviews of the Frio River

Boulders got bigger near the top

I loved the backlighting of the rising sun on the cacti

Getting near the top

The path is through here

I stopped to admire this tough little penstemon  - aptly named rock penstemon

The view of Frio River from the highest point above it

Another view from the top

A very surprising end of the trail

Another hiker and I traded pictures of each other

When this comes out, I'll be two days away from my first cataract surgery. Can't wait.