They’re saying it’s not a very good year for wildflowers, but I am seeing a few.   A good example are the ones I happened to see this week near Noack, Texas.   Texas Bluebonnets, now getting some colorful company from Castilleja indivisa, more commonly referred to as Texas Indian paintbrush.  As each wildflower season comes around, I try to ignore them, but they just keep reeling me into their orbit.   

Photos tonight are from rural outposts in two Central Texas counties.  The opening photo was taken in Travis County.   Although home to Austin, this bit of Travis County is just a few miles from our home in Taylor.   The second image is a few miles east of Granger.    Farm country, friends.

Before they’re swept away by bigger weeds, I thought it a good idea to post bluebonnet photos when seeing something worthwhile.   Bluebonnets don’t always show up at the same place, but they appear to thrive each year in front of this old barn near Jonah.     Other wildflowers are coming soon.  Hopefully, they’ll find their way to this site. 

Spring in farm country.   Three photos offered tonight, from three counties near us.  The opening image was taken tonight, a sunset in northeast Travis County.   The second photo is a beautiful field of corn in Milam County.  The last photo, wheat beginning to thrive in Williamson County.    It’s a beautiful bit of Texas.

Well before dawn this morning, I was on the road to Georgetown to cover a bike ride.   My usual route from Taylor takes me past the San Gabriel River and a long-retired truss bridge spanning the water.   This photo was made thirty minutes before sunrise, when blue time was still with us.   This road can be busy at times.   A lot of folks know this route.  At 6:45a.m., it was quiet.  I was able to step out of my car to take this photo.  Ideally, I’d have used a tripod and lower ISO, not a good idea this time.  A few years ago, this was one of the darkest areas in East Williamson County, Texas.  I actually spent a night sitting on that bridge, trying for a meteor shower photo.  It didn’t work out so well, but not for lack of trying.  Since then, a fuel storage facility has opened nearby, bringing with it a good bit of light pollution.   It looked good this morning. 

So this morning I’m looking for safe places to pull over and photograph participants in a bike ride that began in Georgetown.   The map indicated I’d see a few along a stretch of road north of Walburg.   After finding a good spot to catch the action, I was joined by the fellow pictured here, seemingly owning the road.  After a few minutes I gave up on this spot, encouraging Mr. Chicken to go home.   Still hoping to find some cyclists, I looked over a detailed map with a constable who was directing traffic, assuring me the cyclists would  be pedaling along the chicken’s road.   Once again, I drove back to the same secure spot and parked.   My greeter  left the security of his yard for a second  visit.   The constable guessed the chicken thought I was toting food. The dang cyclists never did show up. In rural Texas, free range takes on new meaning.

A couple photos from the Wuthrich Hill area, including its centerpiece, Prince of Peace Lutheran Church.   This view is from a bit over a half mile from the church.   And a car makes its way up a hill under a restful evening sky.

I’ve been looking for this little burrowing owl for quite a while.  Friends Linda Nickell, Sherry McRae and Kellie Moulton finally pointed me in the right direction.  She really is a little thing, right at home next to a herd of cattle outside Granger!

Berry Springs Park & Preserve in Georgetown is easily my favorite park in that area.   The city parks are great, but Berry Springs, a county park, is a place you can wander and not worry about having enough personal space.   These photos were taken on a pleasant evening this week, beginning with a dad and son, the little guy filled with joy.   If you hike around enough, you’re likely to find some of the park’s deer population, but when humans get near, they put it in high gear.  Bluebonnets were the main  reason I visited Berry Springs so are included in this post.   They’re still sprouting, but it was good to see our Texas state flower.  

Each year since coming back to Texas (2009) I’ve looked forward to the return of egrets returning to Murphy Park to nest and bring new family members into the world.   We call it the rookery, an island in the middle of the park’s lake.   They’re returning this year, but the island’s vegetation appears to have been trimmed, making nesting a harder task.   The egrets are still coming, but moving into nearby trees.   The island remains a good place for our resident cormorants.  This time around we’ve been lucky to also have a few Ibis in our midst.   For now, the island is a cozy place for the cormorants.   We’ll see what develops.