It was fairly chilly this morning with a low of 28F. So not a hard freeze yet. But I did check my Frostweed just in case. But that was a no on “frosting” the Frostweed yet.
Our frosty path this morning!
While I checked out the Frostweed, the Lantana had a nice frost.
Plus after just talking about the twining yesterday, I noticed the Snailseed’s vine apparently goes counterclockwise.
On Oct. 28th, Kathy shared three gorgeous Scissortails. They certainly were bright!
Additionally Kathy included this mini stalked puffball. Searching I found a group of fungi called Gasteroid. These are any kind of fungi that encloses it spores inside its fruiting body. Probably the most common genus for us is Lycoperdon. Thanks Kathy!
This little one was the first Junco that I had seen in the front yard. I know that several of you have told me you had’em a week or so ago. Yahoo!
Here was a bird that caught my attention yesterday. Slowly I walked closer to get a better shot. Additionally I did not have my binoculars so a closeup shot was essential to get an ID.
A bit closer.
Dark legs and heavy streaking on the breast.
Here I lightened the shadows so perhaps you can see the yellow eyes. Well, I had some thoughts about what it was. Referring to the Sibley Guide and Claire (thank you Claire!), we agreed that it was a Sage Thrasher (Oreoscoptes montanus). Normally the bird is found out West. There are few electronic records (iNat or ebird) for North Texas, but none for Wise County! Additionally, in Pulich’s book (1988), The Birds of North Central Texas, there are no records for Wise County either. I checked my old copy of TOS Handbook of Texas Birds (2004), none listed either. There is a second edition (2014) but I don’t have it. So if you do, maybe you could check and let me know what it reports. Thanks in advance!
Definitely an exciting new bird for the Pollinator Ranch!
The more you know, the more you see and the more you see, the more you know
4 Comments
Oh so good to see a junco. Such fond memories since I don’t get them often here.
But WOW on a Sage Thrasher!
Thanks for sharing my photos. I was so glad the scissortails cooperated.
Oh so good to see a junco. Such fond memories since I don’t get them often here.
But WOW on a Sage Thrasher!
Thanks for sharing my photos. I was so glad the scissortails cooperated.
I was amazed at how bright the scissortails were. Great photo!
Cool find on the age thrush! Maybe it will stick around for a few days.
Perfect video for this hallowed day – jewel wasp shenanigans!
I wonder if the tropical depression brought the thrasher up from the southwest! Really neat!