Our first published photo is out in the March 2010 issue of the Hemispheres In flight magazine for United and on their web site, as part of the series called Three Perfect Days: Austin.
Our picture is the Austin Skyline taken from the south shore of Lady Bird lake looking north at Down town Austin at sun set Oct 31, 2009.
http://www.hemispheresmagazine.com/2010/03/01/three-perfect-days-austin/
Hi all,
I have finally got around to posting some of our recent pictures from our trip to the Texas coast we took at the end of Nov 2009.
Check out the following new pictures from our site.
This is an Osprey that was trying to eat the fish he caught but the 4 little birds kept pestering him. This was taken at the Laguna Atasta Wild life reserve in South Texas.
This was a fun picture to take, We were at the Goose Island state park just north of Rockport TX when a fishing boat had just came in and the guys started to clean the fish they caught the Pelicans came flying in from every where, it was treat time! In this picture you see the feeding frenzy as one of the guys is handing fish parts to the pelicans.
We are so excited that one of our Austin night time skyline pictures will be in Hemispheres March 2010 issue. This picture was taken on Oct 31, 2009 on Halloween just after sun set.
The parrot calendars are on SALE for $9.99 while supplies last.
http://beecreekphotography.com/order_calendar.htm
Austin Avian Rescue and Rehabilitation Inc.
“Giving Rescued Birds a Second Chance”
http://www.austinavianrr.com/
The calendars are now listed on Amazon.com. Get yours while they last! We have a limited supply and will not reorder.
Visit the Bee Creek Photography web site to view and order your own 2010 parrot calendar. They are $14.99 each plus shipping and sales tax.
The Calendars can be purchased at:
On line at the Bee Creek Photography web site.
J&M Aviary (Austin Avian Rescue) 8647 Highway 290 West Austin, TX
Gallery of Pets at located at the corner of Research Blvd. (Hwy 183) and Duval Rd in Austin, TX.
Calendar Club at Barton Creek Mall, Austin TX.
Calendar Club at Lakeline Mall, Cedar Park, TX.
Calendar Club at San Marcos Prime Outlet Mall, San Marcos TX.
Giving Rescue Birds a Second Chance”
Attention Bird lovers, we all know how much our bird(s) means to us so it is hard to believe people would give them up. Matter of fact according to Jerry at Austin Avian Rescue and Rehab in Austin Texas, they have had record number of birds given up in the last twelve months. Some have literally been left at the door without even a name for the bird. Can you imagine the trauma that bird experienced? One day the bird is in his home and then all the sudden he is in this new environment where no one even knows their name. That is the way it has been at the Rescue this last year and it has been a struggle to keep their head above water. Besides the downturn in the economy effecting everyone, the rescue located in Central Texas been under a severe drought for the last 2+ years and the rescue’s well is dried up. They have to have water trucked in which adds to the cost to operate. Business has been down in general so people are not coming in much less buying anything or adopting the birds. With the downturn business has slowed down to a trickle but the number of birds given up has only increased.
How do we fit in, last spring Tod and I came by to visit with Linda and Jerry at the Rescue and talk to them about taking some picture of the birds, that’s when they told us how bad thing were. So we asked ourselves what we could do to help. Well we are photographers so we offered to photograph the birds at the Rescue so that we could do a calendar or something to raise funds to help them out and spread the word about their situation. We decided to publish a 2010 Parrot Calendar using the pictures we took at the Rescue. The calendars are selling for $14.99 plus shipping and sales tax for those in Texas and all proceeds less printing cost will go to the Rescue so they can continue operations and taking care of the birds.
You can purchase them online at http://beecreekphotography.com/order_calendar.htm.
We also have a gallery of all the pictures we took while at the Rescue that are available for purchase on line at http://pa.photoshelter.com/c/beecreekphotography/gallery/parrots/G0000_g7aOYYiloo/
The pictures in the calendar are birds that been rescued or now live at the Rescue. Some of parrots, due to behavior issues are very difficult to handle and may never be able to be re-homed and end up living the rest of their life at the Rescue. While we were working with the Rescue on this project we fell in love with one of the birds waiting to be rescued. We adopted the Severe Macaw in the calendar called Sassy. She was one of three birds that came from a home where their owner lost her job and then got another job where she had to travel. She could not afford to pay boarding while she traveled and had to give them up the Rescue. Sassy has turned out to be the sweetest bird and loves to sit with us and have her head scratched for as long as we will do it. She has joined our flock with two other birds we have, an Illiger Macaw ‘Bongo’ and a White Cap Pious ‘Sweetpea’. We had no plans to adopt another bird but we are glad we did. So to make a long story short we adopted her and are very grateful to the dedicated employees and volunteers of Austin Avian Rescue and Rehab who make it possible for the birds that have to be given up to be given a second chance.
Cynthia Hestand
Bee Creek Photography
Here is a slide show of the parrots that are in the 2010 Parrot Calendar.
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Last weekend we were in Menard Texas visiting some friends and on the way home we stopped by the The Presidio de San Luis de las Amarillas, know today as the Mission San Saba, just out side of Menard, to take some photos of the ruins. The following is an excerpt of the information that was listed about the old Spanish fort displayed at the site.
Presidio de San Luis de las Amarillas was founded in April 1757 to protect the Mission Santa Cruz de San Saba, established at the same time for the conversion of the Eastern Apaches. The Presidio (fort) and Mission were also intended to promote Spain’s presence in the area and to help deter potential French territorial claims.
Although the Apaches frequented the Mission, they never entered into it to stay. By befriending the Apaches, however, the Spaniards gained their enemies. On March 16, 1758, the allied northern tribes (principally Comanche and Wichita) some 2,000 strong destroyed the Mission, killing two of the three priests and at least six other Spaniards. The Presidio sent a small relief force to the Mission, but the solders were driven back.
The attack represented the first armed conflict between Europeans and the Comanches in Texas. It was also the first time the Spaniards had confronted large numbers of Indians with firearms, acquired in trade with the French. The Mission was never rebuilt.
More than a year after the destruction of the Mission, Colonel Diego Ortiz Parrilla, Presidio commander, led a force of 600 Spanish militiamen and Indian auxiliaries in a campaign to punish the natives responsible for the attach. He was repulsed with heavy losses at the Taovya (Wichita) village on the Red River near present-day Spanish Fort and subsequently was relieved of command. Parrilla’s successor, Captain felipe de Rabago y Teran, replace the log stockade with the stone compound, a portion of which was replicated as a Texas Centennial project begun in 1936. The original rectangular structure measured some 300 to 360 feet long, had walls ranging from 6 to 20 feet height, contained upwards of 50 rooms, and had towers in the corners for defense.
During the years that followed there were numerous attacks against both the Presidio and residents in the area. Rabago continued to occupy the post – “an island in a sea of Indian hostility” – until June 1768, when he abandoned it without authority. It was reoccupied briefly in 1770 by Manuel Antonio de Oca, then permanently abandoned to the ravages of time.
To order your own calendar go to our calendar order page. http://beecreekphotography.com/order_calendar.htm