So far Texas has been very rewarding from the scenery to the birding. We did see whooping cranes 2 days in a row, once from land and the other from a boat. With the boat ride we were able to get much closer and could see their behavior better. They are amazing birds and are almost 5 feet tall. Apparently there were only 15 wild birds left in the world 30 years ago. Now the flock that winters in Aransas, Tx is about 200 strong and is the only migrating flock in the world.

We are currently camped at Padre Island National Seashore. Lovely barren landscape of praire and dunes. The Gulf has been rough and we listen to the surf through the night. We glance at it over breakfast. The surf is bringing in sargasso weed and the gulls and sanpipers love it. God has blessed the sanderling clan and they have been fruitful, but even piping plovers are regular here. The grand white-tailed hawks make life dangerous for rodents and reptiles in the grassland.

[img_assist|fid=131|thumb=1|alt=Shark Valley Great Blue Heron Nest|caption=The nest was under construction during our 1/8/06 visit to Shark Valley. Large twigs, some about one half inch in diameter were being used. Upon returning on 2/23/06 it was a treat to see Mom caring for and feeding the Babes.|width=100|height=75]

[img_assist|fid=137|thumb=1|alt=Second Heron Picture|width=100|height=75]

Article of interest which quotes Jon Stewart's recent interview on Larry King.

""Are you insane?""

check out this scary item. Scrol down to item #7 "Great Moments In Education"

""Best of the web" "

There is good fishing at Moreau Lake (for our anniversary!). There are pan fish, trout, bass, pike and pickerel.

Melissa is going to direct an original play that she wrote at SHS 10x10. She is very excited!

We had a great visit with Mom, Dad and family in Florida! We had lots of fun and have great memories. Revisited activities: welcome meal at Siesta Bay (thanks to Mom, Dad, and MH), water aerobics led by (Mom) Grandma, shopping (led by Karen, Anna and Emily), swimming together in the very warm pool and whirlpool, morning beach walks, watching Olympics, kayaking at Lover's Key, great meals at sunset on Fort Myers beach, eating at the Bubble Room on Captiva, shelling at dawn at Bowman's beach on Sanibel (Emily and Marg), farewell dinner at Sweet Tomato. New activities: Boatride to Boca Grande and zooming around the island in golf carts, Poker (led by Bob H. and Karen). Sadly missed activities: trading shells with Tom, MM, James and Pam, running between hot tub and ocean water with the Woods scream (best delivered by Patty and Therese).

Another opinion

[img_assist|nid=164|title=Poker|desc=Sand poker chips and cards next to Estero Island Beach Club|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=75]

I am using the image assist feature that has now been added to the lower left corner of your blog "body (where you insert text like this) to insert 2 photos taken of sand scupltures discovered by Karen, Anna and Emily. By the time we saw them, it was growing dark.

[img_assist|nid=163|title=Baseball|desc=Baseball, glove and bat in sand next to Estero Island Beach Club|link=none|align=left|width=100|height=75]

Hopefully you can still get a feeling for how impressive they were.