Use your imagination to see dog face on butterfly wing

A Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia) butterfly added some color to the January yard

It gets its common name from the profile of a dog's head with a black eye on the forewing.

Note the sharply pointed wings. Most Sulphurs have rounded wings.

It was hard to get a shot of this yellow streak.

Wildlife along the trails at Anahuac

With temps in the 70s it has been a nice couple of January days to enjoy mosquito-free trails in comfort.

At Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge the alligators must still be sleeping because the frogs felt safe enough to sun by the piers.

We saw a Double-crested Cormorant come up with a fish it had speared.

The fish also caught the attention of a Great Blue Heron, which swooped over the Cormorant a couple of times as it swam away with its fishing prize.

When it had trouble swallowing the fish, the Cormorant decided to take it around the bend. The heron followed.

I don't know which bird won the battle, but the fish was definitely a loser.

Lunchtime drama.

The stalker.

And there were plenty of sparrows flitting up, down and all around.

I see you see me see you.

Left eye raptor

This turkey vulture at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge was watching us with its good eye.

The bird's good side.

And its damaged eye.

Coyote and raccoon smile for night camera

There are coyotes in the brushy area behind our house.

Neighbors have talked about missing cats and trapping the animals.

A couple of days ago a coyote was peeking out of the brush line watching our little dog bark at it. Sometimes a coyote wanders into the mowed easement. But that is a rare sight.

Occasionally at night it sounds like there are lots of coyotes out there howling.

There are couple of animal trails through the brush. I set up the camera near a clearing and tossed out some old tortillas as an enticement to stop.

A coyote showed up after nightfall. A couple of raccoons came through later, and raccoons reappeared around 4 a.m.

Duck, duck, goose at Roseland Park

They will keep an eye on you, but in general the human-tolerant ducks and geese at Roseland Park in Baytown don't care about you unless you have treats to toss to them.

They look like living lawn ornaments. But they poop a lot.

Curious squirrel gets first photo

I got an outdoor Stealth camera for the holidays.

When I set it up out back, a squirrel was the first to check it out.

I also got several blurry pics of a raccoon. Or maybe it was more than one raccoon.

The wide, clean trails of Jenkins Park

I wondered how the pathway could be so clean along tree-lined Cary Bayou Trail at Jenkins Park in Baytown.

Then we heard and saw the leaf-blower at work. These city workers keep the trail cleaner than I keep my back porch.

It hit 60 on Monday, but a freeze is predicted

This could be the last day for sunning for a while. Forecasters predict we could get our first freeze of winter this week.

There were two on the rock, but one didn't want its  photo taken.

Hartman Bridge

Hello January coneflower

It has been rainy and coldish (40s and 50s F) for two weeks. But this coneflower decided it was a good time to show off its bloom. It is a welcome spot of color.

Happy New Year from Baytown, Texas.