I have had he eastern bluebird around for a while. Catching him for a good shot was quite another task! As you can see patience pays off!

Dive Bomer

So I was getting ready to leave for work and heard quite a racket outside. When I went to see what was gong on I saw this blue jay dive bombing the red shouldered hawk! He made a couple of passes and I was able to catch both of them in one frame.
You may want to click the picture for a bigger view

Parrots

In South Texas they have quite a population of parrots that have migrated up from Mexico and Central America

 I was able to get a few nice shots of them on a previous visit. Then I got to thinking...are they cavity nesters? Why yes they are!

 While down at the RGV Birding Show last fall I aske if any one had beed successful in getting them to nest in nest boxes. It seems no one had really given it the time and effort to see.

 So after discussing the project with several folks including Arroyo Colorado Audubon,
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Arroyo-Colorado-Audubon-Society/105945876118026
 I got into the shop and started building nest boxes.

 Feb 2012 six nest boxes were sent south to hopefully be a new safe home for the parrots. You can follow our progress at the Parrot Project Blog.
http://parrotproject.blogspot.com/
Lets hope we have picture of little green heads poking out of the entrance holes soon!

Spring is Coming

Springtime in Texas comes early. We are enjoying one of the best seasons of the year. Soon Bluebonnets like the one below will blooming all along the Texas Highways. Former First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson was instrumental in starting this program.

On December 22, 1982 (her 70th birthday), she and actress Helen Hayes founded the National Wildflower Research Center, a nonprofit organization devoted to preserving and reintroducing native plants in planned landscapes, located east of Austin, Texas. This earned her the nickname of "Johnny Appleseed" of Wildflowers. The Center opened a new facility southwest of Austin on La Crosse Avenue in 1994. It was officially renamed the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in 1998 in honor of Johnson, who raised $10 million for the facility.On June 20, 2006, the University of Texas at Austin announced plans to incorporate the 279-acre (1.1 km²) Wildflower Center into the University. (wikipedia)

Welcome to Paul Batchelder Outdoors!

 My Dad was quite a photo enthusiast in his own time. I can only imagine how he would have enjoyed the digital age!

My goal is to provide you with interesting stories and photography of my travels. I have been in 48 of the 50 states..I am only missing Maryland and Delaware. I have been to Canada and Mexico and six countries in Europe. This blog will try and capture the beauty and fun of future travels!

This mule deer was caught one early morning while I was in Colorado Springs. I was up early to catch sunrise on the Garden of the Gods park and Pikes Peak above and this guy was sneaking in behind me.