Who are you, and what do you do?

[Thumpalumpacus]

This!

I'm Darrell. I help manage a nature preserve ..

.. but without this, please.

.. in central Texas.

Kidding, I think you have some incredible nature in that state, like birds and especially hummers.

Birds are the raison d'etre for my nature preserve -- specifically, the golden-cheeked warbler. We've counted fewer than three thousand mating couples, and the Balcones Canyonland area of central Texas, where I live, is their nesting- and fledgling-ground in the spring. Hamilton Pool is a small, 250-acre portion of it. We're charged with preserving our acreage in its natural state insofar as is possible. We'll be getting them back in late March, if things go as usual, and say goodbye to them by the middle of July.

I've only seen a couple of them since I changed careers a couple of years ago, but I hear them often.

We have a huge problem, which is that we have too many visitors who come here to swim in the Pool. The explosion of social media means that everyone who comes here posts pics of our stunning grotto, which while it pays the bills for the birds draws so many people that off-trail areas get trampled, microlitter is exploding, and I think it's a matter of time before we either ban swimming -- and reduce traffic, and thereby, income -- or acknowledge the entertainment aspect and say to Hell with the birds and the environment they need. It should be obvious where I stand on the matter.

I take pride in helping to protect all the wildlife in this tiny corner of the world. The pay is much lower than what I earned as a business manager, but the satisfaction is so much higher that corners are happily cut.

Once spring hits here, I'll start a thread with photos that I take out there.