First Wednesday again! It’s always a delight to meet up with fellow nature nerds! We had the perfect number of people. It was a Goldilocks number! 🙂
Scenery just inside the gate. The goldenrod (Solidago) was awesome!
The sun striking the duckweed covered pond made it almost look like ice.
Up close with the duckweed!
We headed out in the open prairie with a full complement of gayfeather blooming!
Indeed the Monarchs were thick as fleas. We saw hundreds over the course of the morning!
The white stuff on the cactus is the waxy stuff produced by the cochineal insects. These insects are sucking the sap from the cacti. When squished the cochineal squirts bright red. Many people have used it as a dye. Bethany got her first look at the Cochineal (Grana cochinilla) bugs on the Prickly Pear cactus (Opuntia)! Check out a close up look of the Cochineal in my post “Points to the Heart”.
Anna spotted the Bleeding Flower Moth (Schinia sanguinea)! In fact the Narrow-leaf Gayfeather (Liatris punctata var mucronata) is their host plant.
Anna also found the Southern Plains Bumble Bee on her way to her car. She had cut short the morning so I missed it. Darn. Indeed what a awesome find Anna! And thanks for sharing your photo!
So what Anna missed was the ghost that had dug a hole out from the grave. At least that was the conclusion we drew from the location of the hole. The red arrow points to the their escape route. LOL.
That’s lots of duckweed. Ands so happy about the monarchs. Sounds like a perfect day.
Perfect day to share with all the nature nerds! Happyvto see all the monarchs on the liatris.
I love the monarch report! Looks like a great ramble.
I was able to sit on my back porch for a few hours yesterday and observe the birds and butterflies. Lots of monarchs!
A perfect place to watch’em! 🙂
Important for ghosts to have a door!
😂 yes!