joseph kennedy

i'm now 52, living in houston "proper", but i grew up in a small community on Galveston Bay called Shore Acres (a couple of miles south of La Porte which is about 50 miles SE of Houston).
there were aces of "woods" which i played in, on and high up-above in self made treehouses.
lantana (as pictured) was everywhere. i always marveled at how one plant was able to produce multi-colored flowers on such a tiny scale. they seemed to be ready made bouquets for my sisters' barbie weddings.
...thanks for the memories.
(unfortunately, right now bolivar, high island, shore acres and la porte are suffering biological recuperation on a grand scale, after hurricane ike)...//sad
[the road to recovery is already in full swing, though. both man and mother nature are making magnificent come-backs!]

It's pretty, isn't it?

I recall a lovely lantana hedge at my late parents' house years ago in Sydney.

Alas, it's now regarded as an appalling invasive weed in Australia, like so many imported species of plant and animals.

Lotus Blossom

grrlscientist — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:59:59 +0000

Lotus Blossom

tags: lotus blossom, flowers, nature, photography, Image of the Day

Lotus blossom.

Photographed at Attwater, Texas.

Image: Joseph Kennedy, June 2006 [larger view].

grrlscientist Thu, 10/23/2008 - 08:59

Tags

Om mani padme hum

Absolutely beautiful! Thank you.
This image is feautured in CelebraZine (Celebrate What's Right in the World) http://kathmandau.blogspot.com/2008/12/celebrazine-03dec08.html

blessings to you and all you hold dear,
CG

Lotus in The Fog

grrlscientist — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 12:59:59 +0000

Lotus in The Fog

tags: lotus field in the fog, flowers, nature, photography, Image of the Day

Lotus Field in the Fog.

Photographed at Attwater, Texas.

Image: Joseph Kennedy, 22 May 2006 [larger view].

grrlscientist Wed, 10/22/2008 - 08:59

Tags

Gulf Fritillary

grrlscientist — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:59:59 +0000

Gulf Fritillary

tags: Gulf fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, butterfly, photography, Image of the Day

Gulf fritillary, Agraulis vanillae,
photographed at Smith Point Hawkwatch, Texas.

Image: Joseph Kennedy, 7 October 2006 [larger view].

grrlscientist Tue, 10/21/2008 - 08:59

Tags

In spite of my best efforts, Gulf fritillary caterpillars have pretty well destroyed my native passion flower vines.

I apologize for posting this completely-unrelated-to-the-post link, but I thought you'd like it:

http://cache.boston.com/universal/site_graphics/blogs/bigpicture/wad_10…

A gorgeous shot of a Common Kingfisher, from boston.com's "Big Picture" blog. ( http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/ ) Enjoy!

I have that same problem, Jim, and I don't want to dust the vine for fear of killing the honeybees that visit the remaining flowers. My passionflower vine also participates in shading the air conditioning unit on the back of my house, so I really rather resent it when the caterpillars destroy it. The vine recovers from the caterpillar onslaught each year, but looks terrible in the interim.

I would recommend using some other type of vine for shading or decoration. The Gulf Fritillary is abundant and widespread. I see individuals in Houston and in Atlanta. Passiflora is the host plant, so if you have Passifloras, you will have Gulf Frit. caterpillars. They are such a joy to see wafting by on their broad wings that I consider it a privilege to have any plant around that attracts them.Passifloras are not without defenses: they have nectaries that attract ants which provide defense in exchange for sugary sap. I have watched female Gulf Fritillaries in Houston lay their eggs on grass stems near Passifloras; it would appear this is a stratagem to give the eggs a chance to hatch without an ant attack. After hatching, the caterpillars move to the Passiflora.

Oooooooh, I love that photo! So beautiful!

Long-tailed Skipper

grrlscientist — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 12:59:59 +0000

Long-tailed Skipper

tags: long-tailed skipper, Urbanus proteus, butterfly, photography, Image of the Day

Long-Tailed Skipper, Urbanus proteus,
photographed at Smith Point Hawkwatch, Texas.

Image: Joseph Kennedy, 7 October 2006 [larger view].

grrlscientist Mon, 10/20/2008 - 08:59

Tags

I have the exact same lantana in my yard and it is covered daily with long-tailed skippers.

Buckeye

grrlscientist — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 12:59:59 +0000

Buckeye

tags: common buckeye, Junonia coenia, butterfly, photography, Image of the Day

Common Buckeye, Junonia coenia,
photographed at Smith Point Hawkwatch, Texas.

Image: Joseph Kennedy, 7 October 2006 [larger view].

grrlscientist Sun, 10/19/2008 - 08:59

Tags

I've seen Common Buckeyes many times, and this is perhaps one of the best images I've seen captured of one.

Honeycomb

grrlscientist — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 12:59:59 +0000

Honeycomb

tags: honeycomb, honeybees, photography, Image of the Day

Honeycomb, photographed at Russ Pittman Park, Texas.

Image: Joseph Kennedy, 12 December 2006 [larger view].

Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/125s f/8.0 at 500.0mm iso400.

grrlscientist Sat, 10/18/2008 - 08:59

Tags

Is that a bird house the bees have taken over?

it looks like a wood duck nest box to me, how about you?

It could be a bat house. Hard to say without being able to see the bottom(to look for slots) or the front(to look for holes.

wow, yes, but that would be a very LARGE bat house, right? the ones i've seen have different dimensions .. much taller and much slenderer than this box. but this was photographed in texas, where it doesn't get nearly as cold at night and in the winter, so the dimensions can be different, i suppose.

Whatever it is, it is cool. I was excited last year to find a wild hive last year in a pine tree with a semi-hollow bottom. I hope it is still active. We have so few left around here.

I saw a hollow log that some honeybees had taken over a few years ago in the Edith Moore Nature Sanctuary in Houston, Texas. You could peer in the end and see the honeycomb.

Moon by Daylight

grrlscientist — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 12:59:59 +0000

Moon by Daylight

tags: moon by daylight, moon, photography, Image of the Day

Home.

Image: Joseph Kennedy, 25 April 2008 [larger view].

Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/400s f/8.0 at 500.0mm iso400.

grrlscientist Fri, 10/17/2008 - 08:59

Tags

Shot in the tropics.

This is very beautiful! Grrlscientist I know it may be a little too late, but I would love to read about dinosaur-bird evolutionary processes and evidences.