NEW PHOTOS FROM 3-27-08 WYLEFYRE SOCIAL @ HOT MAMAS

POET'S SON

ME - AMBERBARBARA

POET

RUTH & RANDALL

KRISTEN

THE MUSICIANS

HAWK

WILLOW

ANNA

NOAH

AMBER'S ANIMAL TALES AROUND AUSTIN VOL. 3/22/08 - Great Blue Heron or Blue Crane?

Saturday before Easter I was blessed by a wild, big blue bird who sat still in one of the ponds at home long enough for me to snap several dozen pictures of her. I believe she sat patiently for so long in order to catch fish. She watched the surface of the water constantly and let me get within 50 feet of her several times, without flying away. I think she stayed at the pond all day. I shot the first round of pictures around 11:00 AM, another round again at 3:00 PM & the last round at 5:00 PM.

I think she is a Great Blue Heron, though someone said she is a Blue Crane, too small of a bird to be a Blue Heron. But when I looked her up online the pictures of the Blue Herons looked more like her then the pictures of the Blue Cranes did. Besides, Blue Crane may be another name for the same kind of bird. I believe Herons are Cranes, or at least they are very closely related. I would love to hear from an expert who knows the difference between Blue Herons & Blue Cranes.

9-27-08 Correction - From Smithsonian Field Guide to Birds of North America, page 109
I think this bird is a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

There are probably too many pictures here. I could not choose which pictures I liked the best. I shot all of these pictures using a Kodak Easy Share Z710 camera. The pictures were cropped & shrank for ease of use on the Internet. I performed no other fancy electronic editing techniques on these photos.

AND TONIGHT

The Full Moon shots only got better!

I took all of these photos at home in my yard in Central Texas, using a Kodak EasyShare Z710 Camera.

I am having a difficult time deciding which of these photos I like the best.

Perhaps this last shot is the clearest, best photo of all.

GREAT SHOTS OF THE NEARLY FULL MOON ON SPING EQUINOX 2008

YUM YUM YUM!

I took all of these moon shots tonight in my yard, in Central Texas, on this Spring Equinox 2008.

Saving the best for last...

LATEST MEDIA COVERAGE ABOUT TIBET

China calls the Dali Lama an evil spirit who is hampering Chinese efforts to keep peace in Tibet???

I guess China cannot handle the fact the protests, in support of the Tibetans, have spread to China & world media, no matter how hard the Chinese try to prevent the media from telling the story.

Source: NPR

AMBER'S ANIMAL TALES AROUND AUSTIN VOL. 3/18/08 or WANNA PET MY LIZARD?

What kind of lizard is this?

Believe it or not one person has already tried to tell me this is a rare and endangered Texas Horned Lizard. I already knew there is such a creature as a rare and endangered Texas Horned Toad but I am not sure about an endangered Texas Horned Lizard.

This lizard surprised me yesterday by getting in the house and remaining close by me, within one foot of my feet, for several hours while I worked at the computer. I guess he was too scared to move. Luckily none of my kitties decided to eat the lizard for lunch.

This lizard measured between six and seven inches from his nose to the tip of his tail. He was the biggest lizard I have seen in the house so far. Late in the day the lizard was caught and released outside in the woods.

KING OF THE HILL

This is my gimpy kitten, Stumpy, who has slightly malformed front feet, sitting up on the Coat Tree (5 feet off the ground). If Stumpy were human, we would classify him as handicapped. He gets around fine but life is a just little tougher than normal for him. You would never know that from his incredible spirit though. Not sure how he is getting up on top of the Coat Tree without knocking everything over.

AMBER’S BEST BUG FINDS AROUND CENTRAL TEXAS VOL. 3-15-08

What kind of moth is this?

Found this lady hanging out on the fence in the yard yesterday. She was the biggest moth I ever saw. Her wingspan measured between 5 & 6 inches across at the widest point.

She stayed in the same place for something like 6 hours, from late afternoon until sometime after 10PM, & she let me get within a foot of her without flying away. We thought maybe she just finished the transformation out of the cocoon into a full fledgling moth & was drying her wings.
























I think Spring has arrived here in Central Texas, no matter what that groundhog said. The wild irises are in bloom too.







I also think I need to admit I picked up another hobby I am passionate about, Nature Photography (to go with the three dozen other hobbies I actively play at ;~)

DOLPHIN RESCUES STRANDED WHALES

Media article at http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/12/nz.whales.ap/index.html

& video at

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/03/12/nz.whales.ap/index.html#cnnSTCVideo


The main story is about a bottle nose dolphin, named Moko by area residents, who guided two distressed pygmy sperm whales, a mother and her calf, to safety. The whales looked like they were about to be beached & possibly die near (300 miles or so away from) Wellington, New Zealand.

Rescuers had already been working to save the whales when the whales became stranded on a sandbar. The rescuers thought the whales might have to be euthanized. Then the dolphin appeared & lead the disoriented whales through about 200 yards & a channel to the open sea & safety.

People at the scene said,

"It was looking like it was going to be a bad outcome for the whales ... then Moko just came along and fixed it. They had arched their backs and were calling to one another, but as soon as the dolphin turned up they submerged into the water and followed her."

&

"Moko just came flying through the water and pushed in between us and the whales. She got them to head toward the hill, where the channel is. It was an amazing experience. The best day of my life."

A local marine expert said,

"We've seen bottlenose dolphins getting lifted up on the noses of humpback whales and getting flicked out of the water just for fun. But it's the first time I've heard of an inter-species refloating technique."


I love Dolphins (& Whales)! I am so happy to hear about animals in nature who consider the welfare of other creature important enough to take care of them when the other creature is truly in need. It makes me feel there is hope for life yet. Not everything is about fitting into the established social hierarchy and life is not just about looking out for one's own interests. Nature does not select against acts of altruism. I hope I am a dolphin in my next life!

MY NEW CAREER

Becoming a Warrior...

(What's this becoming stuff...)

Just modeling medieval garb for TherionArms.com


I have been learning sword technique. My form was not so good in these pics...

GORGEOUS RARE AMAR LEOPARD MAMA & CUB

With more photos at

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/uk/features/article_1393267.php/In_photos_Rare_female_Amur_leopard_cub_at_Marwell_Zoological_park?page=1

She was born 18 November 2007, at Marwell Zoological park in Hampshire, Britain, 28 February 2008. She was bred as part of a European conservation breeding program. Her mother's name is 'Ascha' but they have not named the cub yet.

AN ARTFUL WEEKEND

People who know me know that I have been feeling sad since my brother died last Oct. Often I like to engage in art activities to work through & transcend the sad times. This weekend (Feb. 28 through March 2, 2008) was full of art related activities, & most were free. I should have taken my camera along & taken more pictures.

Thursday night WyldeFyre Collective hosted our weekly Social at Hot Mamas in Austin. (Last Thursday we had Belly Dancing, Ethnic Drumming, Hooping & Fire Dancing/Spinning). I belly danced & fire danced & took pictures of the other performers. It was a intimate, mellow, outdoor gathering, perfect for late Texas Winter/early Spring activity. The night was only a little windy & we all had a chance to talk with & enjoy each other.


Friday I went through all the pictures & posted 85 photos on the WyldeFyre site & recovered after having bad allergies & very little sleep.

Saturday I went to a Russian & Slavic Festival at UT Austin with Mark, the organizer of the Russian Meet-Up here in Austin. That was a great event. 1st we attended a talk on Bulgarian Rom, commonly known as Gypsys. Then we saw a display that included pictures from many facets of Russian Culture (Music, Geography, Folklore & Fairy Tales, the various Ethnic peoples, & much, much more). My favorite part was watching an exhibition of ethnic Hungarian & Romanian dancers. Yum Yum Yum! It was such a lively show I wanted to dance with them as I watched them perform to their traditional music. The mens' steps looked like so much fun. My 2nd favorite part was when we went to a Learn the Russian Alphabet class. WE were late, towards the end of the alphabet. The leaders would post words & ask people to try to pronounce the words in Russian. I pronounced the words in what I thought was a quiet voice that I hoped Mark could hear. At 1st the leaders said, "Very good" to me as they heard me sound out the words. The comments quickly turned to, "Do you speak Russian?". "I am just learning", I answered with a smile, hoping that made Mark feel good as my Russian teacher seeing my progress. I also met some of Mark's Russian linguist friends, PhD students at UT.

If that was not enough for a Sat. after the Russian Festival I went to some other friends' house & ordered a Fire Baton. Yeah, new fire tools will be here soon! We also worked on costume designs for future fire performances & I drew out many designs for leather fire costumes. I don't draw much anymore but when I was a kid I use to draw for hours and hours. Sometimes I still think about taking figure drawing classes, if I ever find some spare time to try my hand at all the other art & language related hobbies I immerse myself in. And writing classes, more dance classes, maybe some piano & or basic singing classes...

As you can see, I have to limit myself some or I would drive myself crazy trying to do everything that interests me.

Then Sunday, several friends went to Hippie Church at Maria's Taco Express in Austin where we saw Carolyn Wonderland (really good blues) for free. I was pleasantly surprised when a friend introduced me to local, well known actor who said, "Oh I know you, I've seen you around." I guess I am becoming a known Austin artist...