Category: Anecdotes

Swamp Bunny

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On Easter Saturday, my very talented husband went to a local nature reserve, and spotted this delightful baby bunny. It was only when he came home that he realized it was a new species of rabbit (to us). The Swamp Bunny (Sylvilagus aquaticus) is a SWIMMING BUNNY!!! Just when I thought he had the cutest image ever, it just got better. They live in the southern states in swampy areas. Then he spotted the adult below –

When I googled this darling creature, I found an article about a Swamp Rabbit swimming ‘menacingly and aggressively’ towards President Jimmy Carter’s fishing boat in 1974. The media had field day with this story. Think ‘weak president’ vs ‘aggressive bunny’. There is an real photograph out there of the President splashing his oar in the water to make the bunny go away. There are five different types of rabbit/hare in Texas. I have seen a jack rabbit and one Easter Sunday (really!), a brown bunny visited our old house. I thought it was a cotton tail but maybe it was the Swamp Bunny?

I sent the image to some of my relatives in Ireland and Scotland. Two replied that they hadn’t seen rabbits in years because the population was decimated by a virus – myxomatosis. In Scotland I frequently called my local RSPCA worker to kindly euthanize wild rabbits that I discovered with this terrible illness. The virus was deliberately introduced to rabbit populations to reduce numbers, although it occurs naturally also. In Texas we have coyotes and foxes – nature’s answer to population control.

On the same day he took this image, above, of a purple pleat-leaf flower with a turret bee inside. Texas is home to about 1000 indigenous bees, perhaps as many as 1,500.

Above is a Mexican Bordered Plant Bug – I see these quite often. They are regarded as minor pests and love strawberries,

Above is a black tailed Laphria. This is a robber fly that masquerades as a bumble bee.

Finally, he captured a new species of dragonfly or more accurately skimmer (to him) – a Black Setwing. What a fabulous photography day he had and thank you to him for sharing his images. 💌

Please do not reproduce any of the images

A Moment of Serenity

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TWO GREAT WHITE SOUTHERN BUTTERFLIES ON DAISIES IN ROCKPORT, TX.

I thought y’all might need to see a peaceful image after March Madness. What happened? One minute I was planning a vacation to Mexico, then El Mencho was killed resulting in some cartel violence in parts of Mexico. We cancelled that and rebooked a very tame trip to Rockport, in the south west of Texas. Rockport is one of my favorite places on the Texas coast but this trip was inspired by a trilogy I recently read. It was set in the 1800s when German settlers flocked to settle in a place named Indianola that was destroyed by two hurricanes. I enjoyed the books and my curiosity was piqued. There will be future posts about Indianola.

THIS IS ALL THAT REMAINS OF INDIANOLA

Our nearest town is Tomball, also settled by German immigrants. For 20 years we have been planning to visit a down home restaurant halfway between our new house and Tomball. Finally we made it on a Tuesday, thinking it might be quiet but it was packed with locals. There was mostly family groups and some small company get-togethers. I got out my phone to check the opening times and realized that not one person was using their cell phones. How unusual is that? I quickly hid it in my purse and focused on my catfish!

I was driving along the country road by our house when I spotted a big black and white bird. It was the bald eagle again! I slowed down to a crawl which must have annoyed the car behind me but he was a good Texan and did not toot his horn. It is not okay to toot in Texas, unless there is real danger. We travelled hundreds of miles for our wee vacation and not a horn was blasted.

We regularly visit a coffee shop, a couple of miles from home, and loved this sign at the book shop. The dog is a lovely old gentleman with rheumy eyes. This bookshop has all the books currently banned in certain institutions in our part of the world. More reading; less judgement.

Our local Walmart is close to the bookshop above. I was sitting waiting for my Shingles vaccination when I spotted the menstruation crustacean. Isn’t that the cutest product? I would have loved one of those when I had eggs!

Finally, a lovely shot of dawn from our living room window. It faces east. Sometimes there is mist rising from the pond which adds to the atmosphere.

Hawk Whistling

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RED SHOULDERED HAWK

In retirement we learn new skills. Sometimes it’s crochet or mahjong but in my case it’s hawk whistling. Our new house, with it’s open outlook over the water, is a perfect place for viewing raptors or hawks. I was standing in the drive when I heard ‘Squeaky’, one of our noisy red shouldered hawks. Sometimes she is screeching in a panic, as she did when the bald eagle visited for a fish lunch. This day she was just talking, gently.

RED SHOULDERED HAWK

I could see her in the distance and started to quietly whistle, as you would a dog, or in my case, cats. She soared closer and closer until she was right above my head. She looked at me curiously and I looked at her in wonder. It was a very bright day but I could still see the dark grey banding on her tail.

COOPER’S HAWK

Yesterday, I was in the back yard and noticed a hawk in the distance. I wondered if my hawk whistling talent was all in my neurodivergent head. Again, I gently whistled and this hawk came closer and closer until she circled above my head. I watched her continue to soar and hunt. It was difficult to see her as I was looking at her undergarments from below but noticed that she flapped and glided. This type of flight and her little dark head identified her as a Cooper’s Hawk. Over the next hour, I whistled to her and she came back. How exciting!

COOPER’S HAWK PANTALOONS
RED TAILED HAWK

Last week Teddy and I went to our local mall and had lunch at Nordstrom’s restaurant. We had delicious halibut with fries and a glass of wine. As we walked across the car park there were THREE red tailed hawks circling above our heads. Delicious lunch avec bird spotting, albeit in a car park.

My animal whistling has got me into trouble in the past. Both batches of our deceased cats responded to a whistle (when they chose to…) We were living on a cottage on a farm and my cats were playing in the barn. The farmer was trying to herd the cattle into the barn with his gorgeous border collie – who adored me. I thought my cats might get underfoot so whistled them. A few minutes later, I had three cats and one border collie at my side. The cattle were in disarray and the farmer gave me that look. Not only had I stolen his dog’s affection but had ruined his hard work.

HEIFERS AT THE FARM 1990
PUSS, ONE OF OUR CATS AT THE FARM 1990

I named all his cattle, even though they were going to market later. One, Pal, was a smart cookie and would come when I called her name. I swear she laughed when I poured cold water on her on a hot day. Moo, would moo when asked to. The sheep were pretty dense but when walking past a neighbor’s farm, I whistled and two hand-fed lambs ran to me to get a cuddle!

Teddy and I had a wonderful trip to the Florida Keys many years ago. One of the Keys (Islands) has evolved unique miniature deer and rabbits. I was standing next to another tourist at a little lake and she shared that she hadn’t seen any wildlife. In a second, I pointed out the osprey that was looking at us and the alligator that was feet away. She looked at me as though I was Dr Doolittle but sometimes we just need to stop and be aware of all the wonderful animals that surround us

FLORIDA KEYS OSPREY

The Glen Clova Wedding

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We were delighted to be invited to a wedding in July 2025 in the Glen Clova area of Scotland. It precipitated our trip to Scotland and Ireland to see our families. Astonishingly, on the wedding day it was so hot that we had to open our windows in the hotel. That’s air-conditioning in Scotland…

The photo of me with the sheep above was somewhat tongue in cheek. It was a reference to our own wedding in July 1982 where we posed in hilly area in North Wales, on route to our reception in Corwyn.

Teddy and I, July 1982 running together like Cathie and Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights with a bewildered sheep watching us. We did not have an official photographer – is it obvious??

Back to Glen Clova 2025. Above is the scary single track road that we drove on to reach the idyllic destination. It was even worse at dusk. The location is truly lovely with those gorgeous old hills all around.

The hotel had the prettiest reception hall with a bucolic view through the windows. Our meal was delicious and was local Scottish cuisine. My chicken with oatmeal stuffing brought back many happy memories of my mother in law’s cooking.

Teddy is next to a lovely old stone dyke (wall). You see them all over the UK, still standing after many years.

This was our wedding day in July 1982. Teddy is rocking his long hair with moustache and that is my natural hair color and texture. My dress was an ivory ballgown because all the bright white dresses made my sallow skin look awful. My mum sewed up the neckline to protect my modesty but as soon as I stepped out of the wedding car (inelegantly), the stitches gave way. Teddy was happy…

I will leave you with a couple of images of those beautiful hills where Teddy and his Grandad would walk up the sheep trails. The ceremony took place in the field above where the people are walking. Just sheep and hills – perfect.

Glen Clova is in the north east of Scotland, north of Dundee and east of Perth. It is located within the Cairngorms National Park.

Red Letter Visitor

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I was putting the washing out to dry on the back yard when I heard one of our neighboring hawks screeching. They were very insistent and I wondered if there was a coyote. Normally all the big birds live together quite happily – red shouldered hawks, Cara Cara, red tailed hawks and even an American Kestrel. Teddy came out with his long lens camera and we scanned the skies. Suddenly, I spotted a large bird wheeling above our heads and just below a light plane.

After Teddy took the image we looked at the camera to see the capture and it was a Bald Eagle. Woo Hoo!!! There were some nesting pairs in the previous area that we lived in but we had never seen them. Construction work in the town center has disturbed their habitat. Bald Eagles don’t normally live in this area but we do get winter visitors from up north.

We were amused by the hawks’ understandable anxiety. There is plenty of fish in the pond for them to share. This morning Teddy heard the hawk screeching again and our visitor is back. I think he has found a nest site on the other side of the pond. Bald Eagles have a wingspan up to 7ft and can live between 20 and 30 years. Santa doesn’t need to bring us anything for Christmas this year!!

I wonder if our eagle is from Canada? If so, he is probably our first Canadian tourist this year, eh? 😊 Perhaps our hawk was screeching, “Tarriffs on Texas Fish”

G.C. Chesterton

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I know, I know – it’s GK Chesterton, the author but this is GC (Gulf Coast Toad) Chesterton who resides in our garden. Neither GK or GC were lookers but both have a certain charm. Teddy had just lifted up our patio umbrella which was laying flat because of wind, when something landed on his head and then on the patio. I was so concerned that our newest pet might have been injured but as Teddy pointed out, his head broke his fall… After he regained his composure, he jumped off to wherever he normally lives.

The baby toad above is Junior and he has been living on our front door for weeks. Our Halloween lights have been attracting flying insects so he has been gorging on them before winter arrives. When they are digesting their prey, their little mouth quivers. Do you see the size of the poop next to him?? Geez Louise, how many insects did he eat? Late at night he changes shift with a bright green tree frog, who may be one of the poo-pertrators. We haven’t managed to get a photo of tree frog yet.

I was sitting in the living room, watching TV, when a small movement caught my eye. Was it a pine needle moving in the wind? No, it was the tiniest stick insect who moved quite fast when it saw the cameras. ‘Stick’ was barely an inch long and perfectly camouflaged – isn’t nature amazing.

Another day, I was attempting to wash the windows when this very cheeky Praying Mantis refused to move. I cajoled her into going into the grass but didn’t lift her in case she bit me! She kept trying to go back to the window, even when I was drying it. I have named her ‘Mother’. Praying Mantis eat other stick insects and anything else they can bite, so watch out little one!

It’s getting cool enough to walk around the pond behind our house. If you zoom in you can see a solitary heron on the edge. The grass and trees are suffering somewhat with the drought but it did rain last week and the pond filled up again. There are farms and homesteads behind the trees – I love hearing roosters crowing or a horse snuffling.

Above is a juvenile white Ibis with his protective darker coloring. He will turn pure white as he matures. An Ibis, a Heron and an Egret were sitting together – sounds like the start of a joke!

I was the first in our street to celebrate autumn with a fairytale pumpkin and my fall flag. Within days my display looked minimal – I am surrounded by full size headless horsemen, gigantic black cats, spooky trees and skeletons everywhere. I was looking at my across the street neighbors display and thought ‘have the skeletons moved?’ Daddy moves them every few nights so that the kids get a thrill – me too!

Happy Halloween!

If only I had a brain…

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Teddy and I had a grand day out at our local country town, Brenham, Texas. Over the years we have visited many times and even considered moving there. Like everywhere else in this part of Texas, the town is booming with new construction. The main square, however, is still wonderful. The townsfolk were having a scarecrow competition.

We chose to eat at an Italian bistro located in a craftsman style home. It was quite charming and the tomato bisque was the best I have tasted. Our eyes were bigger than our tummies, however, and we could only manage a third of our dessert. This was my first big drive in more than a year and I was surprised at how well I managed it. We took the country roads and enjoyed the pastoral ambience.

It was fun to browse through the shops, looking at clothes I would never wear. We both bought tops at the thrift store. There are some wealthy ranchers in this area and Houstonians who have second homes in the country. Their cast-offs can be high quality.

There are some lovely murals throughout the town center and they look so good in the vivid sunshine. It is still far too hot here but it isn’t humid so it feels more pleasant.

The scarecrow was my favorite character in the Wizard of Oz. On a tangential but funny note, when my obsessive compulsive disorder was at it’s worst, I had a problem locking the front door. In real life, Teddy had accidentally closed the door on our cat who was unharmed but wailing. I would spend many minutes locking and unlocking the door as we left, whispering ‘no cats, no cats’. Teddy would sometimes break the tension by whispering, ‘no brains, no brains’. Most of the time I laughed and it stopped the compulsion. It lasted for decades, until all the cats were dead. Now I don’t even care if the door is locked…🐈‍⬛

October is OCD awareness month – a spooky month to choose but fits right in with my compulsions! In our new house we have a local small trash collecting company. They don’t have any of those fancy lifts for the wheelie bins, just two young lads on the back of the truck. I kept wondering why there was small bags left at the bottom until I saw them in practice one day. One of the lads opened my bin with his right hand, reached for my bags (missing the small stuff at the bottom). In his left hand was a half-eaten popsicle (ice-lolly) – he must have the immune system of a Komodo Dragon! My OCD fixated on that all day, oh to be so carefree…

The Old Graveyard

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Autumn has started to seep into the deep south.  It’s cooler at night but still hot during the day.  Some leaves are falling with the gentle breezes.  This is my favorite time of year.  I haven’t been driving much this summer as my car refused to get cool.  It’s vintage, like me, and I thought it was just on its last legs.  Teddy took it to the auto shop last week and they fixed it!!  Freon was leaking out of a broken pipe and now the air-con gets too cold.  Fabulous and just in time for winter…

I changed my CDs (old skool) in the car and was enjoying zipping about listening to blues music.  As I turned down the country lane to our community, there was a traffic jam.  So much so that no more cars could turn onto the road.  I thought, perhaps, it was roadworks – the road has plenty of potholes.  As I inched closer, I saw that it was a funeral at our old graveyard.  Suddenly, I felt so sad, even though I have no idea who had died.  I have written before about this graveyard – still beautifully maintained by the community with gravestones going back to the late 1800s. This is my original post – The vultures sealed the deal

The plots are all owned by local families, some of whom may have been here since that date.  It was one of the most charming aspects to our new community.  Our neighbor is the son of a local man who owns 20 acres.  When we moved to this part of Texas, 21 years ago, these farms were all intact with forested land.  There are still farms and trees but we have encroached onto something that would have been idyllic.  Ever since we left Glasgow, we have been incomers to various foreign lands.  Despite the current climate, we feel at home in Texas but we still don’t belong.

I felt sad for all the change I have seen in my lifetime and perhaps for what might have been.  My lovely air-conditioned house is truly a blessing, especially with modern insulation, but it is part of the problem.   One part of me is truly grateful to have all the mod cons, and a car, but I realize that the pace of our technological breakthroughs affects our environment.  When I was young, Glasgow was smoky and black with coal fired generators.  After the Clean Air Act (1956 and 1968) and the discovery of natural gas in the North Sea, it seemed like we could have a better future.

Before we went crazy with Halloween costumes, this was a special time of year for our ancestors.  The autumnal equinox, changing of the seasons and death of the summer.  Samhain and Dia de los Muertos are ancient festivals that have been tweaked to appease our desire for FUN.  Death is an important part of earth’s cycle and every creature on it.  We should both honor and celebrate it.  The more I thought about the early settlers in this area, my mind wandered to all the native Americans who lived here.  I wonder what they thought of all those European settlers ‘sharing’ their land.

Communities have evolved from time immemorial.  Neanderthals bred with Homo Sapiens.  My DNA profile is so varied, it seems like my ancestors had a competition to see how many groups they could interbreed with!  Scientific progress has allowed me to know that my ancestors were Mexican.  With my mostly Irish heritage and a smidge of Native Mexican, I embrace both Halloween and Dia de los Muertas.  I honor my ancestors (even the naughty ones) and I choose to feel both happy and sad in autumn.

Enjoy the season!

Nosy Toes

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Isn’t that the cutest wee face??  It was so nice to see a live raccoon kit on the night camera after discovering the dead one in our garden earlier in the summer.  There have been indications of their visits – the water bowls are thick with mud on occasion.  They like to root in the soil for grubs and such, then rinse them in the water.  A raccoon’s eyesight is poor but their little paws identify their lunch.

This inquisitive little raccoon kit was paddling in the water on a very hot night.  Then it heard the noise of the camera and came to investigate.  If you watch right to end (52 seconds) you will see a closeup of ears and whiskers.  The weather has been horribly hot with no succor from a thunderstorm.  August is always like this but it feels as though summer will never end.  It’s too hot to go out for a walk so I gaze outside the window.

All our usual visitors come daily – squirrels, white tailed doves, chickadees, cardinals, cat birds, sparrows, titmice and the odd possum or skunk at night.  I spotted a red bellied woodpecker last week but I am sure I miss many more critters.  There have been large yellow and brown swallowtail butterflies and many orange ones.  There was a little blue tailed skink on the patio the other night and some damselflies are in residence.  The cicadas and frogs sing to us at night and you can hear their lullaby on the video.

Winter is coming…  It can’t come quick enough!

Ride of the Valkyries

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Hum the tune ‘Ride of the Valkyries’, as you gaze at this image of Sigrún the Swan. She is racing towards us because Teddy dared to frighten an egret with his deadly camera. Her wings are thumping on the water like the noise of 20 Vikings smashing their oars. Sigrún is a relatively new addition to the many critters on our local pond, arriving about 2 years ago. I have been so curious about her (or him). One of the local birdwatchers told us that she was likely bought privately and escaped, or was released, to the large reservoir a couple of miles west.

Every year we welcome flocks of white pelicans who are stopping briefly on route to the north for the summer. These are arboreal pelicans who live on lakes in forests. The birdwatcher told us that Sigrún had terrorized the pelicans so much that they disappeared from our area. I don’t know if she mistook them for other swans or was just being territorial. She regards all the other critters on our pond as her flock (herons, egrets, ducks, geese, nutria, turtles, bluebirds, blackbirds, coots) and doesn’t take kindly to humans intruding…

As she approached, her wings remained up and her neck curled back to fully threaten us. I must admit that I was anxious and stood back from the water’s edge. A swan can easily break a person’s arm. Eventually she calmed down and her wings lowered. We were duly chastised and sloped off trying not to frighten anything else. It was a while before I went around the pond again but I kept thinking of Sigrún. What kind of person buys a wild animal that can’t be domesticated? Mute swans are not indigenous to our area and can be a pest with their territorial natures. I have seen Sigrún sleeping with the other water birds so she is happy with the original inhabitants (apart from humans).

Is she lonely? I haven’t seen another swan in our area. The containment pond isn’t a perfect habitation as it is really a flood defense. The water naturally rises and lowers throughout the year. I pride myself on my rapport with wild and domesticated animals but pride comes before a fall. On my last few visits to the ponds, I talked quietly to Sigrún and gently got closer to her. It seemed as though I was making progress; she was tolerating my presence. Most recently I encountered her on the path that leads around the pond. Talking all the time, I got within about 2 feet of her and she was showing no signs of aggression. Then I got too close, she raised herself to her full height and walloped me with her wing!

Immediately I backed away – she could have hit me harder but it was scary. I was shaking as I walked away from her. Halfway around the pond I realized I would have to turn around and walk past her again for my own confidence. This time she retreated into the water but her neck was still very tense. Usually I am respectful of wildlife; I was so annoyed at myself for frightening Sigrún and myself. I anthropomorphized about Sigrún and thought that my friendship would be welcome. Dejected, I went home with my head bowed and my tail between my legs. (My tail is striped, in case you are interested) Later I sought solace with my much friendlier garden critters.

Until I started researching mute swans, I had no idea that they played a key part in Valkyrie mythology. Valkyries were mythical creatures who led the chosen slain Norse Warriors to Valhalla (Heaven). I thought the swan looked like a Sigrún but for all I know it might be a Thor. Maybe it has a more prosaic name such as ‘Swan in Charge’ or ‘Fluffy’? All my squirrels are named too. At the moment we have a group named the McHughs, which was my mother’s maiden name. These squirrels all have funny wee turned-up noses – just like my family and me. This year we have a wonky sparrow living in the garden but that’s a tale for another time…

Please don’t republish Teddy’s photographs.