1903 Train Depot

This is the old train depot in Elgin.  Elgin owes its existence to a major flood on the Colorado River in 1869.  A new proposed railroad was planned to run from Houston through an area about ten miles south of Elgin on to Austin.  Because of the flood, the railway construction path was moved to the north and a new town was formed and named after Robert Elgin, the Texas Railroad Land Commissioner.  In 1885, a second railway system, the North-South Line,  was laid out and ran from San Antonio to the Waco area.  The depot was built in 1903 and was located at the convergence of these two railroads and serviced eight passenger trains daily at its peak. Today it is a museum filled with old photographs and colorful historical information of an era gone by.

Sun Pillar

A sun or solar pillar develops when the sun is low in the horizon, either at sunrise or sunset.  Light from the sun is reflected off of ice crystal in the clouds that are falling horizontally.  This phenomenum is usually short-lived and this sunrise pillar lasted less than five minutes.

Beep Beep

The very colorful and fleet-footed Texas Greater Roadrunner.  These birds are also known regionally as Paisano and Chaparral Cock and they are a member of the Cuckoo family.  Famous as a snake killer, the bird’s quick agility allows it to capture even highly venomous snakes.  90% of its diet consistes of spiders, insects, scorpions lizards and rodents.  The remainder of the diet consists of fruits of various types.  Also became a very famous cartoon character, who was always trying to outwit old Wile E. Coyote.  Beep Beep!

Cooper’s Hawk

It was a rainy, foggy, cold afternoon when I spotted this raptor perched high in an old tree.  He was surveying the open field below for his next meal.  Unfortunately for bird lover’s, one of the mainstays of this guy’s diet is smaller birds.  We have seen him dive bomb our back yard trying to catch sparrows in his long, sharp talons.  As far as we know, he has not been very successful using these tactics.  He is a beautiful bird, and we must remember the first law of Nature…survival of the fittest.

January You Caption It

“Wow, this moolasses sure is tasty!”  

Submitted by Adam Wilson - Leander, Texas                      Thanks, Adam! 

You can view a larger version of this photo by clicking on ”My Favorites” above.

Spotted Towhee

This beauty is also a winter visitor to Texas.  It is common to the West and Northwest US in the winter months.  It mainly forages on the ground and I had a real hard time trying to capture an image as it was very energetic, hopping from bush to bush and log to log.  It finally stood still for a second or two to allow me to get this shot.  This is my first sighting of a Towhee in central Texas.

Female Cardinal

I found an old dead oak tree on the Shield Ranch last weekend that was teeming with wildlife.  I was able to get images of 6 different species of birds in a span of about 30 minutes. I simply stood real still and they carried on as if I wasn’t there.  It was really cool. This female Cardinal was a real camera hog and posed for me every time she landed.

White-crowned Sparrow

The white-crown is very common in the Northwest mountainous areas in the summer months, and winters in the southern US and Mexico. This is my first sighting of this striking little bird in central Texas.

Woodland Fog

More fog this morning.  This wooded pasture seemed very mysterious and peaceful wrapped in its early morning shroud.

Texas Frost Weed

This very unusual plant is also called the Ice Weed or White Crown-beard.  It blooms beautiful snow white blossoms in the late summer and early fall.  When the temperatures fall below freezing in the winter, and the ground is still warm, the root system continues to send sap up into the stalk of the plant.  The leaves have long sense fallen off, leaving just the erect stalk sticking up.  When the sap in the stalk crystalizes, it causes the stalk to split and thin ribbons of ice push out and form these very unusual ice sculptures.  These plants are commonly found in the Edwards Plateau region of central Texas.

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