http://www.democraticunderground.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Sun, 22 Nov 2009 09:10:14 Sun, 22 Nov 2009 09:10:14 Male ruby throated hummingbird

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/maestros/Nature/Summer%2008%20Wildlife/RubyThroatedHummingbird30.jpg[/IMG]

Female ruby throated hummingbird just after lift off

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/maestros/Nature/Summer%2008%20Wildlife/RubyThroatedHum... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Maestro/103 Fri, 22 Aug 2008 07:33:20 The original is [link:www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x8019668|thread is here] if you are interested.

All of these are from the Lower Rio Grande Valley in far south Texas.

I'll start with a a very shy and secretive bird, the yellow billed cuckoo which i... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Maestro/101 Sun, 17 Aug 2008 13:26:33 I have spent the better part of the summer outside and traveling even with these high gas prices to try to find some wildlife that I have never seen or just wanted to photograph again. Having said that, these first photos are from my backyard. Hummingbird migration is really picking up so I have b... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Maestro/100 Fri, 15 Aug 2008 07:56:56 Cross-posted in Lounge

I spent three weeks of June mostly on the road visiting family and different wildlife areas. One of my favorite places to shoot is down in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. I have a ton of new shots that I am trying to process before getting back to work, but I will start with... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Maestro/102 Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:22:32 I am not sure if I have posted these here. I do not think I have, but if I have I apologize in advance. Anyhow, I am fortunate to have Mississippi Kites return every summer to nest. They usually come in by late April and leave by late August to spend the rest of the year in South America primaril... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Maestro/99 Fri, 06 Jun 2008 22:23:07 My father and I have always had a rocky relationship. I took care of him during his drunken tirades as a teenager, after I had suffered disappointment after disappointment from him as a drunk an all around poor father. I watered down his JD as a kid so he wouldn't get so stinkin' drunk in the even... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Maestro/98 Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:24:54 My next door neighbor just received a phone call from Ft. Campbell. His son, a private in the Army, was on patrol in a Humvee in Iraq, we do not know where, when a roadside bomb shredded the humvee. He has multiple fractures in one leg, a broken arm and a possible broken vertabrae. He is in trans... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Maestro/97 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 22:08:36 The first ones are of an upland sandpiper. What is amazing about these birds are that they are just passing through my area after starting their spring migration in Argentina. I found them in the pastures around my area.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/maestros/Nature/Waterfowl/UplandSan... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Maestro/96 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 07:19:04 Here's a bit of a summary of what I have been posting over in the Photo Forum. I know some here like the boids so....

Downy woodpecker
http://Maestros.smugmug.com/photos/268161733_6fEvS-XL.jpg[/img]

Red Bellied Woodpecker
http://Maestros.smugmug.com/photos/268484483_pdZbt-XL.jpg[/img]

ht... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Maestro/95 Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:08:24 He had three great albums that best could be classified as alt-rap, hip-hop with a jazz influence especially with the last two. Anyhow, I used to frequent a locally owned indie record store in the mid to late 80s where he worked before "making it." Then after his third album he dropped off the fac... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Maestro/94 Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:45:34 I was perusing through the [i]Texas Observer[/i] on the web when I noticed this article. I have since noticed that it made Alter Net too. That is good because it needs exposure. Anyhow, it is about the border wall and how illogically this is being planned. First, let me categorically state that ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Maestro/93 Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:38:36 Source: [b]AlterNet[/b]

In the first six years of the Clinton administration, 13.7 million jobs were created. In the same period, under Bush, only 3.7 million jobs were created. Barely keeping up with population growth, if that. (Source: Fox News)

Now let us look at median income. That's as oppo... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Maestro/92 Sat, 19 Jan 2008 14:07:00 These next few are from the Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi, Texas.

River otter
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/maestros/Nature/OtterPortraitTexasStateMuseum.jpg[/IMG]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/maestros/Nature/OtterSidePortraitTexasStateMuseum.jpg[/IMG]

This guy ... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Maestro/91 Tue, 04 Dec 2007 20:56:24 I don't always use a long lens. Thanks to my daughter who first saw these frogs, I was able to capture some images of an American Green Tree Frog at Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. They liked the reeds and tall plants in the marshy areas of the refuge. I used my macro lens for these shots. I "... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Maestro/90 Sat, 01 Dec 2007 21:42:23 I chartered a boat to take us to see the whoopers which are not easily seen from the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge proper. For photography the company I used was fantastic! He is a small operator out of Rockport; not one of the large Whooping Crane touring companies. He is much more flexible a... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Maestro/89 Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:11:11 I am certainly an advocate for wildlife and the environment. In fact for Thanksgiving, I took my family to the see the critically endangered whooping cranes of Aransas NWR, the only truly wild flock left in the world. Here is one of the pictures I took of them.

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Maestro/88 Thu, 29 Nov 2007 21:56:30 His words state exactly how I feel. It's all about the cheap labor conservatives!

[div class="excerpt"]So now comes the con -- the dishonest argument over illegal immigration trying to divert our ire away from the corporate profiteers, outsourcers, wage cutters and foreclosers that buy influe... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Maestro/87 Sat, 24 Nov 2007 10:56:29 I am at a loss. If the dems will not stand up and fight for the environment as Al Gore is trying to do, who will? We really need to show support in the form of incentives to help this industry become more available to more people. The corporatocracy has gotten to Reid and Pelosi apparently. I re... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Maestro/86 Thu, 15 Nov 2007 14:06:17 costs skyrocket. Well, all I have to say is this report right here doesn't help. It disgusts me and just shows you how elitist some think they are and it further disgusts me that some would cater to them like supplicants to a king. "Sorry I can't serve the needy. It's my tee time." "Wait, who ar... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Maestro/85 Sat, 10 Nov 2007 21:01:50 This is not about immigration. It is about racial profiling and racism. I know that many here at DU do not support the plight of undocumented immigrants. Many, perhaps only some, but my perception is many, seem to think that they are burdening the school system, the health care system and whatnot... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Maestro/84 Fri, 05 Oct 2007 11:11:20 automaker friends?

I know the answer. My question is rhetorical, but seriously, when is our government going to say that something needs to be done to protect first our country from rampant pollution and then be a world leader in this respect? It is very frustrating. I watch as pristine land... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Maestro/83 Mon, 24 Sep 2007 20:05:31 These are just a bunch of unrelated photos....

I'll start with something small.

Up close with a ruby throated hummingbird in a hackberry tree (from the same series from last week but different photo)
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/maestros/Nature/Small%20Birds/Hummingbird_willow8... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Maestro/82 Mon, 17 Sep 2007 22:38:02 [link:www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=FFFCB503-E7F2-99DF-3C67B106B2D76E59&pageNumber=1&catID=1|Nice to see that an American based company is responsible for at least one of the sites.] :eyes: The article says that most, if not all of these sites, could be cleaned with relatively cost-effective... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Maestro/81 Fri, 14 Sep 2007 06:48:12 My family and I went down to visit friends at a lake near Corsicana, Texas. Our friends know that I like to bird with my camera so they suggested I take their kayak and poke around the rather isolated coves in the lake. They didn't realize my camera equipment was so extensive, but ignoring the bet... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Maestro/80 Tue, 04 Sep 2007 18:10:00 Source: [b]Truth Dig[/b]

[div class="excerpt"]The Next Quagmire
By Chris Hedges

The most effective diplomats, like the most effective intelligence officers and foreign correspondents, possess empathy. They have the intellectual, cultural and linguistic literacy to get inside the heads of those... http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Maestro/79 Mon, 03 Sep 2007 15:11:42